LGM Film Club, Part 536: Big City Blues

Going back to last night’s discussion of Mervyn LeRoy’s excellent Three on a Match, let’s revisit other of his films from 1932, Big City Blues. This is less successful. It’s more of a one act bit than a fully fleshed out movie. A young yokel comes to New York from small-town Indiana. He is naive as all hell and acts it and delivers his lines like you told him “be a young clueless yokel who drinks a lot of milk because you just think it’s good for you.” He’s met by his cousin, a total grifter and flim-flammer who lives the high style life by pretending to be somebody and leeching off anyone with money. They have a party. A bunch of showgirls come. Our yokel falls for Joan Blondell and who wouldn’t. Two of the toughs at the party have a fight. One of them is Humphrey Bogart in another of his early roles for LeRoy. A girl dies after being whacked on the head with a bottle. There’s a murder investigation. The cops want to fry our yokel. But then the true murderer is discovered. Our yokel flees back to Indiana, broke and smarter, but also really wanting Blondell. So he decides to save up to go back. Also, his dog meets him at the train. The end. At least we were spared any child actors I guess.

I do imagine films like this played well to the vast numbers of people not in big cities in 1932 who were both fascinated and a bit scared by them. It does look glamorous and fun and dangerous all at the same time. If you really were from Indiana, I can see where you’d be intrigued but would you take the risk? Or would you instead move to somewhere like Muncie, a choice no one has ever regretted?