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Big City

1937, Movie, NR, 80 mins

Big City: Review

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In this war of the taxicabs film, unions and union organizers come off as distasteful. Tracy and his immigrant Russian wife, Rainer, are caught up in the turmoil; he is an independent driver refusing to join any organization, she his loyal supporter. The screen is filled with brawls and taxis smashing into each other like battering rams. When a taxi garage is bombed, Rainer is inexplicably blamed for the crime, involving the deaths of several drivers. The district attorney has no evidence, but, despite Tracy's vociferous objections, manages to have her deported. Before her ship sails, in one of the most ludicrous scenes on record, the frantic husband bursts into Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant, where the mayor and other bigwigs are dining, and pleads for his wife's return. Mayor Grapewin decides on the spot that Tracy has enough evidence to prove his wife innocent and, contrary to federal laws in force at the time, overrules higher authorities and stipulates Rainer can stay in America. Next comes the mad dash for the departing boat, Tracy, the mayor, and others racing for the pier in taxicabs, while opposing drivers try to wreck their cars. They reach the ship just in the nick of time, pluck Rainer from her cabin, and put her in an ambulance where she delivers a baby (!) while Tracy battles the opposition union leader to a pulpy victory; he then goes off with his new family to enjoy the fruits of American freedom. Hokey and contrived, this Borzage saga would have been nothing more than mediocre fare had it not been for the considerable talents of Tracy and Rainer and the able direction of Borzage, who zipped up the pace and delivered all the action he could create in lieu of an intelligent script. leave a comment
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