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Disc #1 -- Living in a Big Way
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Chapters
- Chapters
Disc #1 -- Living in a Big Way
1. Chapter 1 [1:31]
2. Chapter 2 [2:42]
3. Chapter 3 [3:00]
4. Chapter 4 [4:18]
5. Chapter 5 [1:30]
6. Chapter 6 [2:37]
7. Chapter 7 [2:29]
8. Chapter 8 [3:56]
9. Chapter 9 [2:11]
10. Chapter 10 [4:10]
11. Chapter 11 [5:22]
12. Chapter 12 [2:17]
13. Chapter 13 [1:51]
14. Chapter 14 [1:34]
15. Chapter 15 [1:19]
16. Chapter 16 [2:24]
17. Chapter 17 [3:53]
18. Chapter 18 [3:51]
19. Chapter 19 [3:25]
20. Chapter 20 [1:09]
21. Chapter 21 [2:32]
22. Chapter 22 [4:27]
23. Chapter 23 [1:38]
24. Chapter 24 [3:06]
25. Chapter 25 [4:42]
26. Chapter 26 [1:32]
27. Chapter 27 [2:37]
28. Chapter 28 [4:02]
29. Chapter 29 [1:06]
30. Chapter 30 [3:07]
31. Chapter 31 [1:40]
32. Chapter 32 [1:35]
33. Chapter 33 [4:16]
34. Chapter 34 [2:42]
35. Chapter 35 [3:43]
36. Chapter 36 [2:42]
37. Chapter 37 [2:07]
38. Chapter 38 [:23]
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Directors
Gregory La Cava
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Producers
Pandro S. Berman
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Editors
Ferris Webster
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Screen Writers
Gregory La Cava
Irving Ravetch
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Set Designers
Jack D. Moore
Edwin B. Willis
Others
Art Director - William Ferrari
Art Director - Cedric Gibbons
Choreography - Stanley Donen
Choreography - Gene Kelly
Cinematographer - Harold Hal Rosson
Costume Designer - Irene Sharaff
From Musical by - Lou Alter
Makeup - Jack Dawn
Musical Direction/Supervision - Lennie Hayton
Screen Story - Gregory La Cava
Sound/Sound Designer - Douglas Shearer
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. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
