FILM REVIEWS

Big Brown Eyes (1936) B-

Joan Bennett gets star billing in Raoul Walsh’s “Big Brown Eyes,” playing against handsome Cary Grant before he became a major star.

Director Walsh and Bert Hanlon adapted to the screen an original story penned by James Edward Grant.

As Eve Fallen, Bennett is a glib hotel manicurist, who becomes a sob sister newspaper reporter, joining forces with jaunty detective Danny Barr (Cary Grant) to get the goods on a vicious insurance racket.

Eve unwittingly puts her life in danger by dating a supposedly rich socialite Richard Morey (Walter Pidgeon), who is actually the brains behind the criminal operation.

A hybrid of screwball comedy and romantic l mystery, “Big Brown” is not satisfying on either level, but it’s fun to watch the two stars on screen, alongside a supporting ensemble that includes Lloyd Nolan and Isabel Jewell .

At the time, viewers were upset by a scene in which a baby is shot in its stroller.

Credits

Running time: 76 Minutes.

Directed by Raoul Walsh.

Released April 3, 1936.

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