Living in a Big Way

Director: Gregory La Cava Gregory La Cava

Overview

In this black-and-white tunefest, Gene Kelly stars as an ex-GI who discovers that his wealthy war bride is an insufferable snob. Flying in the face of his in-laws, Kelly insists upon using his wife's money to open a charity home for the families of those soldiers who didn't come back.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/19/2012
UPC:	0883316453506
Original Release:	1947
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:44:00
Sales rank:	46,219

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Marie McDonald	Margaud Morgan
Charles Winninger	D. Rutherford Morgan
Spring Byington	Mrs. Minerva Alsop
Phyllis Thaxter	Peggy Randall
Jean Adair	Abigail Morgan
Clinton Sundberg	Everett Hanover Smythe
John Warburton	Stuart
William 'Bill' Phillips	Schultz
John Alexander	Attorney Ambridge
Phyllis Kennedy	Annie Pearl
Bernadene Hayes	Dolly
Gene Kelly	Leo Gogarty
Shelley Winters	Bit Part

Technical Credits

Gregory La Cava

Irving Ravetch

Pandro S. Berman	Producer
Gregory La Cava	Director,Screenwriter
Irving Ravetch	Screenwriter
Douglas Shearer	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

While Living in a Big Way was a big flop upon its release, and while it will never rank among Gene Kelly's best films, it actually is a diverting little mini-musical, certainly flawed but just as certainly containing a number of very good things. Among those very good things are the musical numbers, inserted well into production when it was decided that Big should be a musical rather than a straight comedy. These numbers, which include a very fine sequence with Kelly and a dog and an excellent one involving the star with children, are definite highlights that are sure to be appreciated by musical fans. Unfortunately, the numbers don't work so terribly well in the context of the film itself; a musical isn't something that can be thrown together willy-nilly. Things have to be structured just so, with the numbers serving very specific functions. The fitting in of musical numbers can be either by very conscious design or by intuition (or in some rare cases by sheer luck), but Big misses out in this department, and so you're left with something that's not really a musical and not just a regular comedy either. You're also left with a beautiful but dull and frequently annoying leading lady in Marie McDonald; worse, the story ends with Kelly and McDonald together, but there's greater chemistry between Kelly and Phyllis Thaxter, and so viewers feel cheated that they don't end up as a couple. In addition to showing off his singing and dancing, Kelly also gets to demonstrate his fine comedic sense, and Thaxter is quite good as well. The supporting cast, especially Charles Winninger, Spring Byington and Jean Adair, is great company as well. Great it ain't, but Big is a pleasant entertainment.