A busboy (busman, really) so adores a nightclub singer that he devotes his life to caring for her after she becomes paralyzed; she treats him like dirt. It sounds like a good premise for a romantic comedy except that this is a serious drama. Ball plays such a self-centered, ungrateful jerk that it defies logic that anyone would voluntarily cater to her. Fonda loves her so much that he pushes her in a wheelchair from New York to Florida! And remember, this is not played for laughs. The finale is so utterly ridiculous that one figures it must be a comedy. No - still serious. The fine supporting cast features the likes of Palette, Moorehead, and Levene, but the script is lame.

The Big Street (1942)Packed with great actors, major and minor, in a fast fast whirlwindFirst of all, Agnes Moorehead and Ray Collins played the previous year in another raging movie of some fame (Citizen Kane, yup), and here they are loaded up against a dozen other great character actors, plus a couple big names. Headlining is the well known Henry Fonda, still young, but fresh off of a couple great films, Grapes of Wrath (1940), and The Young Mr. Lincoln (1939). But in a kind of startling role for those who know Lucille Ball as a brilliant and goofy t.v. comedian a decade later, we have her here as a big-eyed femme fatale, or would-be femme fatale until fate takes a turn.You might think this one is a screwball comedy the way it starts, but keep watching-- there is violence and trauma soon enough, and the movie takes a turn that Fonda is worthy of. There is a Frank Capra feel-good element amidst the hardship, but it is full of verve, and all these odd characters who really are (were and are) what New York is at its best. The director Irving Reis (with photographer Russell Metty) keeps the scenes snappy, and sometimes moves from a closeup of a face to a background quickly, to let a character make a dramatic point. There are lots of movie tricks, quick fades from scene to scene to show the passing of time, and some tacky back projection, and it really goes along with the fairy tale narrative.And there really is an unbelievable ending, which you have to take with the whole flavor of the movie, a kind of sincerity/fantasy mixture.

I found this film to be highly disappointing, basically I would only recommend it to Lucille Ball fans. Henry Fonda plays a guy who thinks that a selfish arrogant nightclub singer (Ball) is a goddess. He even calls her "Your Majesty". At the end of the film we're supposed to believe that Ball's character has changed her ways, magically, upon realizing that Fonda is in love with her -- somehow she didn't notice while he was wheeling her in a wheelchair from New York to Florida. The film's only real redeeming quality is the good character performances from Fonda's friends, who spout Damon Runyan dialogue with appropriate panache and rough grace. This film attempts to mix drama and comedy but fails to achieve either with anything but sporadic success.

Henry Fonda was a star when movie was being cast and he wanted a well know as his co star not a B bit player like Lucille Ball. Carole Lombard was asked and she turned it down recommending Ball. Fonda was anxious to get movie obligation behind him and join the Navy. So he agreed. Neither Fonda or Ball played their role in a Runyan style, where you develop a "liking" for the character. I felt the story line was good but Fonda and Ball played outside the usual Runyan cast of characters. Too bad....Poor directing I would say.... Ford could have pulled it off....the movie was not promoted so few people saw it back in '42. Nevertheless call it a watershed movie for two future stars and one of the last pictures before WW2 "propaganda" movies. Jane Fonda says that her father was in love with Lucille years later.......I wonder what there social interaction was during this shooting?