Big Brown Eyes (1936)

Name: Big Brown Eyes
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Romance
Released: 1936-04-03
Duration: 77 min
Rating: 6.3
Cast: Cary Grant, Joan Bennett, Walter Pidgeon, Lloyd Nolan, Alan Baxter

Big Brown Eyes (1936), directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Cary Grant and Joan Bennett.

04/03/1936 BR Comedy, Crime, Mystery and Romance 1h 17m

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Synopsis

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.

George T. ClemensCinematography
Raoul WalshDirector, Screenplay
Robert L. SimpsonEditing
Walter WangerProducer

About the film

Big Brown Eyes is a 1936 American mystery crime comedy film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Cary Grant, Joan Bennett and Walter Pidgeon. It was produced by Walter Wanger and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

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Plot

Police officer Danny Barr is chasing jewel robbers. His girlfriend, Eve Fallon, is initially working as a manicurist, but quickly takes a job as a reporter assisting in the effort against the jewel thieves. Fallon and Barr become disgusted when one jewel gang member is acquitted after killing a baby in Central Park, and both leave their jobs. Soon thereafter, Fallon gets a lucky break while giving a manicure and the case is solved.

Cast

Cary Grant as Det. Sgt. Danny Barr

Joan Bennett as Eve Fallon

Walter Pidgeon as Richard Morey

Lloyd Nolan as Russ Cortig

Alan Baxter as Cary Butler

Marjorie Gateson as Mrs. Chesley Cole

Isabel Jewell as Bessie Blair

Douglas Fowley as Benjamin 'Benny' Battle

Henry Brandon as Don Butler

Joe Sawyer as Jack Scully

Reception

The film recorded a loss of $14,645. Critics have regarded it as "disposable" and "inconsequential" with "shoddy writing and generally uninspired performances."

Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene gave the film a positive review, characterizing it as "a fast well-directed and quite unsentimental gangster film, pleasantly free from emotion".

More recent writers have been kinder to the film. Grant biographer Scott Eyman called it an "unheralded gem in Grant's catalogue, a snappy comedy-drama [...] a cheerfully disreputable pre-Code film unaccountably made after the Code, with speedy cross-talk that prefigures His Girl Friday." Writing for The New Yorker, Richard Brody hailed the film's "cocksure grifters and workaday wiseacres who dish out sharp-edged patter—none more than Grant and Bennett, whose gibing often resembles quasi-Beckettian doubletalk. Here, Grant offers early flashes of the brash, suave, and intricate antics on which his enduring comedic persona is based."

References

External links

Big Brown Eyes at IMDb

Text from Big Brown Eyes on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brown_Eyes

Trivia

It cost US$ 289.696 and grossed US$ 359.009 in theaters — 1.2 times its budget.
It premiered on April 3, 1936, a Friday.
It runs 1h17 — short for a feature film.
This film's quiz has 12 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosWalter Wanger Productions, Paramount Pictures
CountriesUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
BudgetUS$ 289,696
Box officeUS$ 359,009
StatusReleased

More about this film

Set in

New York City

Cast

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Crew

George T. Clemens Cinematography
Raoul Walsh Director
Robert L. Simpson Editing
Walter Wanger Producer
Gerard Carbonara Original music
Bert Hanlon Screenplay
James Edward Grant Story
Raoul Walsh Screenplay

Questions about this film

What is Big Brown Eyes about?

Big Brown Eyes: 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.

Who directed Big Brown Eyes?

Big Brown Eyes was directed by Raoul Walsh in 1936.

Who stars in Big Brown Eyes?

The cast of Big Brown Eyes includes Cary Grant, Joan Bennett, Walter Pidgeon, Lloyd Nolan and Alan Baxter.

How long is Big Brown Eyes?

Big Brown Eyes runs for 77 minutes, or 1h17.

How much did Big Brown Eyes cost and how much did it make?

Big Brown Eyes had a budget of US$ 289,696 and took US$ 359,009 at the box office — 1.2 times its cost.