So Big! (1932)

That was an excellent one.

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

So Big is a film based on a novel and has a wonderful cast to bring it to life. Barbara Stanwyck is the lead, a woman whose life isn't perfect but which she works hard to be proud of. In the beginning, she is a wealthy girl, but when her father dies, she is sent away to a small town to live with a farmer and become a schoolteacher. There she meets a boy (George Brent) with an enthusiasm for life that she shares and she becomes his inspiration to become an artist. Later, she weds and has a child (Dickie Moore) who she plays a game with that explains the title of the film. Sadly, these scenes are short and the film progresses toward the future where her grown-up son enters the world and experiences trials that challenge his values. In the process, he meets Bette Davis, a beautiful artist with similar principles as his mother.The problem with this film is that it seems to constantly be gathering speed and presenting a back-story, but there is no major climax. One watches and wonders who is the main character, Stanwyck or her son. It seems to be more of a discussion on how to live one's life than a story. The cast will bring audiences, but they will come away confused.

Barbara Stanwyck is a young woman who becomes a teacher in a farming community. She gets married, has a son and tries to teach him the true value of life--which is beauty and nature. But he's more interested in money and position. Can she make him see her way?Very well-done with another great Stanwyck performance and a young Dick Winslow giving a fine performance as Roelf...also a very young Bette Davis shines as a young artist. Very lavishly done...but the film is seriously lacking. The film is very short (80 minutes) and the story seems extremely rushed and lacks focus. I've never read the book but I know it runs over 300-400 pages--there's no way that can be condensed to 80 minutes. So I do recommend the film (I'm giving it an 8) because it is very well-done and the entire cast is great. If only it weren't so short!Also it's a shame that you have two wonderful actresses (Davis and Stanwyck) in the same movie and they don't even share a scene together!

"So Big!" has been filmed three times, once before this version (a lost film from the original flapper Colleen Moore) and once after. But this is the treatment that rings true; this is the "So Big!" that really is so big.Barbara Stanwyck successfully ages from schoolgirl to aged mother in this film. The story is beautiful (based on Edna Farber's novel) and the acting is superb. You can't help but cry at the end! Don't miss an early screen appearance from Bette Davis!"So Big!" is shown on Turner Classic Movies at times, but make sure it's the Stanwyck version and not the Jane Wyman re-remake. It's worth the effort.

Well acted by Barbara Stanwyck, and, in a lesser role, Bette Davis. Stanwyck's make-up to age her throughout the film is remarkable. I must mention one part of the film that, though unintentional I'm sure, to me was funnier than the campfire scene in "Blazing Saddles". In several scenes Stanwyck asks her small child, "How big is my boy? How big is my son?" The small boy stretches out his arms and says, "Sooooo big!". Thus the name of the film. But toward the end, Stanwyck, as an old woman is in bed, and she asks her now grown adult son who is standing at her bedside, as a way of remembering the past, "How big is my son?". And he replies by taking his two index fingers and expanding then about 10 inches apart, and say with a smile "So big!"