Big City (1948) - Turner Classic Movies

Brief Synopsis

Three bachelors adopt an orphan, then fight over custody when each falls in love.

Cast & Crew

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Norman Taurog

Margaret O'brien

Midge [also known as Mary Ellen Rachel O'Donnell Andrews Feldman]

Robert Preston

Reverend Phillip Y. Andrews

Danny Thomas

Cantor David Irwin Feldman

George Murphy

Patrick O'Donnell

Karin Booth

Florence Bartlett

Photos & Videos

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Big City (1948) -- (Movie Clip) You've Got A Crush

Big City (1948) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Gonna See A Lot Of You

Big City (1948) -- (Movie Clip) When You Find A Kid

Film Details

Also Known As

Brothers of the East Side

Genre

Crime

Drama

Musical

Release Date

Mar 23, 1948

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.

Distribution Company

Loew's Inc.

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 43m

Sound

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

9,265ft

Synopsis

One day, in New York City's East Side, cantor David Irwin Feldman rescues an abandoned infant girl he has found on an apartment building stoop. After caring for the girl for a few days, David and his friends, Phillip Y. Andrews, a Protestant minister, and Patrick O'Donnell, an Irish American Catholic police officer, decide to adopt the girl jointly. Judge Martin O. Abercrombie consents to the adoption in the hopes that it will bring together the East Side Jewish, Protestant and Catholic communities. As part of the agreement, however, the judge stipulates that the first of the three men to marry shall become the sole and permanent foster father. After naming the girl Midge, the three bachelors take up the responsibility of rearing the girl. Time passes, and Midge, now a grade school student, suffers the taunts of her schoolmates when she tries to explain her "family" situation. When one of Midge's classmates, Lewis Keller, pelts her with a tomato, Midge loses her confidence and tells Phillip that she is ashamed that she has no mother. Later, Midge's teacher, Florence Bartlett, tells Phillip that she is opposed to their parenting "experiment" because it makes Midge "different" and mixes Midge up in three different faiths. Phillip, however, argues that the three faiths have a "common denominator," and that Midge is learning manners from Pat and singing from David. Realizing that he has not convinced Florence of the success he, Pat and David have had in rearing Midge, Phillip invites Florence to visit their home and see the results for herself. Phillip's plan works, and Midge changes her opinion about the unconventional family. While David falls in love with Florence, Pat begins courting "Shoo-Shoo" Grady, a street-smart singer at Bernie's Bar. Midge and Shoo-Shoo become fast friends, but their friendship is soon questioned by David when he sees Midge imitating the singer's sultry style. While David and Phillip prohibit Midge from spending time with Shoo-Shoo, Pat makes an unsuccessful attempt to persuade them that the singer is actually a good influence. Pat and Shoo-Shoo secretly marry, but soon after Shoo-Shoo learns of David and Phillip's decision, she leaves town. An outraged Pat takes his case to court, but Phillip and David refuse to give up custody of Midge without a fight. When Judge Abercrombie asks Midge to decide her fate, the girl says that she loves all three men and believes the only way to resolve the dispute is to put herself in the custody of an orphanage. Abercrombie agrees with Midge's suggestion, but the decision is protested by all three foster fathers, who tell the judge that they are willing to relinquish custody rather than see Midge sent to an orphanage. Realizing that the three men, Florence and Shoo-Shoo all love Midge, Abercrombie decides to return Midge to them and discard the stipulation he made about marriage.

Director

Norman Taurog

Cast

Margaret O'brien

Midge [also known as Mary Ellen Rachel O'Donnell Andrews Feldman]

Robert Preston

Reverend Phillip Y. Andrews

Danny Thomas

Cantor David Irwin Feldman

George Murphy

Patrick O'Donnell

Karin Booth

Florence Bartlett

Edward Arnold

Judge Martin O. Abercrombie

Butch Jenkins

Betty Garrett

"Shoo Shoo" Grady

Lotte Lehmann

Page Cavanaugh Trio

Song specialties

Connie Gilchrist

Marles Noie

Peter Roman

Brick Sullivan

Jack Worth

Hank Mann

Heinie Conklin

Ben Moselle

Bobby Barber

Sailor Vincent

Clarence Hennecke

Charles Sullivan

Stanley Blystone

David Leonard

Lotte Stein

Arthur Walsh

Joy Ames

George Davis

Skeets Noyes

Patricia Vaniver

Maynard Holmes

Wilson Wood

Doris Kemper

Jerry Mickelsen

David Bair

Frank Mayo

Colin Kenny

Sherry Hall

Irene Seidner

George Calliga

Robert Emmett Keane

Donald Gordon

Crew

Preston Ames

Leo Arnaud

Orchestra Arrangement

Irving Berlin

Johannes Brahms

Anne Morrison Chapin

Whitfield Cook

Jack Dawn

Makeup created by

Frankie Day

Dubbed "Kol Nidre" and "Ok'l Baby Dok'l" for Margaret O'Brien

Stanley Donen

Dorothy Fields

Cedric Gibbons

Sydney Guilaroff

Hair styles Designer by

Inez James

Aben Kandel

Additional Dialogue

Nanette Kutner

Miklos Laszlo

Jimmy Mchugh

Sidney Miller

James Lyman Molloy

Marsha Norman

Dubbed "What'll I Do" for Karen Booth

Joe Pasternak

Walter Popp

Charles Prescott

Voice double for Robert Preston

Helen Rose

Women's Costume

Gene Ruggiero

Charles Schrouder

Voice double for Edward Arnold

Jerry Seelen

Douglas Shearer

Recording Director

Sid Sidman

Assistant Director

Alfred E. Spencer

Associate (Sets)

Fred Spielman

Georgie Stoll

Robert Surtees

Director of Photography

Janice Torre

Edwin B. Willis

Videos

Big City (1948) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Gonna See A Lot Of You Rare solo number for wonderful Betty Garrett, as singer "Shoo-Shoo" Grady, being courted by cop Pat (George Murphy), song by Fred Spielman and Janice Torre, in MGM's Big City, 1948.

Big City (1948) -- (Movie Clip) When You Find A Kid School-age Margaret O'Brien narrating, her discovery and the meeting of her three "fathers," Cantor Feldman (Danny Thomas), Rev. Andrews (Robert Preston) and Officer O'Donnell (George Murphy), plus "Mama" Feldman, early in MGM's Big City, 1948.

Big City (1948) -- (Movie Clip) You've Got A Crush School-age Margaret O'Brien narrating, her discovery and the meeting of her three "fathers," Cantor Feldman (Danny Thomas), Rev. Andrews (Robert Preston) and Officer O'Donnell (George Murphy), plus "Mama" Feldman, early in MGM's Big City, 1948.

Film Details

Also Known As

Brothers of the East Side

Genre

Crime

Drama

Musical

Release Date

Mar 23, 1948

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.

Distribution Company

Loew's Inc.

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 43m

Sound

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

9,265ft

Articles

Big City (1948)

July 21, 2010

Three bachelors adopt an orphan, then fight over custody when each falls in love.

Producer: Joe Pasternak
Director: Norman Taurog
Screenplay: Ann Morrison, Chapin Whitfield Cook (writer); Miklós László (story); Nanette Kutner (adaptation); Aben Kandel (additional dialogue)
Cinematography: Robert Surtees
Art Direction: Preston Ames, Cedric Gibbons
Music: Lothar Perl, Albert Sendrey, George Stoll (all uncredited)
Film Editing: Gene Ruggiero
Cast: Margaret O'Brien (Midge), Robert Preston (Rev. Philip Y. Andrews), Danny Thomas (Cantor David Irwin Feldman), George Murphy (Patrick O'Donnell), Karin Booth (Florence Bartlett), Edward Arnold (Judge Martin O. Abercrombie), Butch Jenkins (Louis Keller), Betty Garrett (Shoo Shoo Grady), Lotte Lehmann (Mama Feldman), Connie Gilchrist (Martha, the Judge's Maid).
BW-103m.

Big City (1948)

Big City (1948)

Three bachelors adopt an orphan, then fight over custody when each falls in love. Producer: Joe Pasternak Director: Norman Taurog Screenplay: Ann Morrison, Chapin Whitfield Cook (writer); Miklós László (story); Nanette Kutner (adaptation); Aben Kandel (additional dialogue) Cinematography: Robert Surtees Art Direction: Preston Ames, Cedric Gibbons Music: Lothar Perl, Albert Sendrey, George Stoll (all uncredited) Film Editing: Gene Ruggiero Cast: Margaret O'Brien (Midge), Robert Preston (Rev. Philip Y. Andrews), Danny Thomas (Cantor David Irwin Feldman), George Murphy (Patrick O'Donnell), Karin Booth (Florence Bartlett), Edward Arnold (Judge Martin O. Abercrombie), Butch Jenkins (Louis Keller), Betty Garrett (Shoo Shoo Grady), Lotte Lehmann (Mama Feldman), Connie Gilchrist (Martha, the Judge's Maid). BW-103m.

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

Working titles of the film included Catherine (Unfinished Symphany), Brothers of the East Side and Home Is Where the Heart Is. July 1947 Hollywood Reporter news items indicate that producer Joe Pasternak purchased the rights to Miklos Laszlo's story in 1937. Information in the file on the film in the M-G-M Script Collection at the AMPAS library indicates that the initial script was based on a story, or possibly an unpublished novel, by Laszlo entitled "Catherine (Unfinished Sympathy)." Script materials also indicate that in 1942, "Brothers of the East Side," the title of Nanette Kutner's treatment, was submitted, based on an idea by Pasternak. Several treatments and outlines were written over the course of the next four years, variously titled "Brothers of the East Side," "Catherine" and "Home Is Where the Heart Is." Additional writers who worked on these treatments included Charles Larson and Warner Law, but the extent of their contributions to the completed film has not been determined.
A February 1947 Hollywood Reporter news item noted that actor Van Heflin was "pencilled in" for the part played by Robert Preston. A July 1947 news item indicated that M-G-M writer Leslie Kardos was set to make his directorial debut with this film. The picture marked the screen debut of Broadway actress Betty Garrett and opera star Lotte Lehmann. Although a November 1947 M-G-M News item noted that former Keystone Kop players Hank Mann and Heinie Conklin appear in the film as police officers, they actually played "drunks." According to a 1953 Hollywood Citizen-News article, writer Walter Abbott received a "very good settlement" from M-G-M following his $100,000 plagiarism suit against the company. Abbott claimed in the suit that the studio based Big City on his story entitled "Choir Boy."

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