Big Brown Eyes (1936)

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

James Edward Grant (story)
Bert Hanlon (writer)

Release Date:

3 April 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Mystery

Plot:

Sassy manicurist Eve Fallon is recruited as an even more brassy reporter and she helps police detective boyfriend Danny Barr break a jewel theft ring and solve the murder of a baby.

Plot Keywords:

Manicurist | Police Reporter | Beautiful Woman | Barber Shop | Female Reporter

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Det. Sgt. Danny Barr
Joan Bennett	...	Eve Fallon
Walter Pidgeon	...	Richard Morey
Lloyd Nolan	...	Russ Cortig
Alan Baxter	...	Cary Butler
Marjorie Gateson	...	Mrs. Chesley Cole
Isabel Jewell	...	Bessie Blair
Douglas Fowley	...	Benjamin 'Benny' Battle
Henry Brandon	...	Don Butler (as Henry Kleinbach)
Joe Sawyer	...	Jack Sully
Dolores Casey	...	Cashier
Doris Canfield	...	Myrtle
Edwin Maxwell	...	Editor
Helen Brown	...	Bereaved Mother
Sam Flint	...	Martin

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording Sound System)

Company:

Walter Wanger Productions

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Quotes:

Benny Battle: [at the barber shop] Every time I turn around I see another bull.
Benny Battle: [Danny emerges from under a towel in the next chair] Well, if it isn't Daniel Barr, the handsome dick.
Danny Barr: Gettin' yourself dolled up?
Danny Barr: Yeah, there's nuttin' like spendin' a half hour in a barber shop that makes a new man out of ya.
Danny Barr: When did ya get out outta the can?
Benny Battle: About an hour ago, thanks to the habby-us corpus.
Danny Barr: Yeah, and that shyster lawyer of yours.
Benny Battle: I wouldn't talk like that. Ya might get pinched for slander.
Eve Fallon: Yeah, and don't carry any matches; they're liable to charge you with arson.
Benny Battle: Hey, Chalkie, get me a pineapple soda. Get me a big lump of whipped cream on it, and a nice red cherry. How's it, babe?
[...]

Watchable, but unmemorable

An adequate comedy/mystery, one that is serviceable while playing but will scarcely be remembered long after it concludes. In all fairness, the jumbled screenplay by Bert Hanlon and director Raoul Walsh has a reasonable degree of intriguing ideas spread throughout the picture's scant runtime, but the various story threads never gel into a completely coherent picture and the film is further hindered by some woefully leaden dialogue among it's lead characters. The film is still wholly watchable, and even enjoyable during certain stretches due to it's lead performers. The chemistry between Cary Grant and Joan Bennett (as a bickering couple thrown into a case involving stolen jewels and murder) is breezy and natural, and the duo significantly better the film with their thoroughly winning performances.