mukava991 The clumsily contrived "Big Brown Eyes" manages to hold some interest because of a fast pace and the magnetism of Cary Grant and Joan Bennett. She plays a wisecracking manicurist (too much a gum-chewing replica of her character in "Me and My Gal" opposite Spencer Tracy four years earlier) who engages in mutual flirtation with Grant's police detective. The plot involves a slippery jewel theft ring run by Walter Pidgeon (who would team wonderfully with Bennett 5 years later in Fritz Lang's "Man Hunt") that the cops just can't seem to crack. Bennett, driven to inexplicable frenzies of jealousy over Grant's innocent professional attentions to an older woman (Marjorie Gateson) whose diamonds have been stolen, bangs him over the head with a tray of utensils, is fired for bad behavior and promptly gets a job as a reporter with the town's newspaper. Overnight she is writing front page copy and leading the investigation into the jewel theft ring. Further absurdities take place until the predictable ending. Nowhere is there any reference to the anatomical features of the title, though one would assume they belong to the leading man, Cary Grant. The lack of connection between title and content is the perfect indicator of a tossed-together script. This Raoul Walsh-directed feature does what it can to supply action and speed and colorful incidentals in place of logic and wit and real dramatic substance. But despite the star power it can go only so far with such thin material.

secondtake Big Brown Eyes (1936)Well, the big brown eyes that come to mind here belong to Cary Grant, who is coming into his own here. You'll recognize not only the looks (the eyes are heavier in the earlier films) but a mature attitude, the relaxed and cocky and sarcastic fellow that is so famous.The leading woman is Joan Bennett, who plays Grant's love interest. Bennett is not well known as a type the way Crawford or other women from her period are, and it's partly because she plays a kind of generic character, in this case a blond, sweet, smart, fun woman. She actually became more famous later in a couple Fritz Lang dramas (as a brunette), also playing a type. what she had going for her was a natural and fluid ease before the camera. And an ability to fit a part, not steal the show.Because the show belongs to Grant. And Grant here is a cop, Danny Barr. He tends to insert his casual confidence and slow ease as a cop and it's actually a pretty interesting fit, not at all the stereotype created by harder boiled types, or more witty ones (name a half a dozen famous ones). It's fascinating to watch him at this pivotal point in his career. It's usually pointed out that Grant's persona solidified in 1937 in "The Awful Truth" but having watched most of these films from this period it really seems that he's fully himself here, a year earlier. History is right in the sense that "The Awful Truth" pushed Grant's career up a notch simply because it's a better movie. And he has a more prominent role in it.Here, the action is spread between Grant and his cops, Bennett and her life bouncing from being a manicurist to a reporter, and the "bad guys" who are up to their usual no good. These thugs are actually pretty convincing, falling short of the hardened awful types of some movies. One of them (the kingpin) is a young Walter Pidgeon, who is not quite right in his role, but it's fun to see him so early in his career. "Big Brown Eyes" is poorly name, but besides that it's not a bad movie at all, and if you follow the several plot lines (all connected) it gets pretty interesting. Every now and then when the plot is sped up (thankfully) the camera shows a whole range of characters close up and at a tilt. It's both affected (a little at odds with the rest of the movie) and successful (at speeding up the plot with appropriate humor and agitation). There are some fun twists (like when Bennett accidentally makes a fingerprint dusting using some talcum powder. And there are lots of turns, people quitting jobs and leaving town, and some odd shocks, as when the baby is killed.In the end it's also a romance with Grant in the lead role, well done and sharply acted. See it.

MartinHafer Mega-stardom for Cary Grant still was ahead of him when he made this amiable romantic mystery with Joan Bennett, though the film is still well worth watching and is one of the better films in this era. By 1937-1939 he was pretty much a household name, with films such as THE AWFUL TRUTH, HOLIDAY and GUNGA DIN to his credit (BRINGING UP BABY was perhaps the best of the films of this time period, but in 1938 it was a financial flop).As for Joan, though much of the film I thought she was her sister Constance, as Joan died her hair platinum blonde for the film and she's best known as a raven-haired actress. It's amazing how much alike they look given the same hair styles. She, too, had better and more popular films in the future and so this film is one from both their transitional periods--clearly they were stars, but not of the first order.The film is a wonderful blend of comedy, romance and mystery and is one of the better examples of this odd genre combination. While it isn't up to the tip-top standards of THE THIN MAN (but what was?), it was certainly a very good film. What I liked best was the writing for Joan's character. She was a wonderful 'broad'--a worldly and wise lady who had some of the best one-liners I've ever heard in a film of the era. She was enticing AND mouthy at the same time--whatta dame! The mystery involves an evil private detective (Walter Pidgeon) who is not above a lot of larceny in order to make it in his racket. Not only does he find stolen items, but he's not above having others killed or dealing with crooks to get it. During most of the film, Grant plays a police detective (an odd casting decision, I know) who is in love with Joan AND is assigned to a case involving Pidgeon--though at this point, no one knows he's "Mr. Big" behind everything evil and corrupt Grant is investigating. Throughout the investigation, Joan in the role of a reporter, does amazingly well in helping her boyfriend and even though they snipe at each other a bit, they are a great screen couple.Overall, a delightful film that is close to earning an 8. Very well written and surprisingly good for an earlier Grant film.

wordsmith_57 Big Brown Eyes would have been a big fat bomb if Cary Grant hadn't carried the movie. Even in such an early picture (1936) his debonair, yet cheeky gentleman style is evident. Playing a detective seemed odd, yet no matter what role he is cast in, he makes it his own. His romantic interest, Joan Bennett, seemed a tad too hard around the edges to play his girlfriend, but she did manage some decent repertoire with Grant, especially when the packing scene in Grant's apartment. Overall, the picture is uneven. It can't decide if it is a serious crime/drama or a light comedy. There is a scene where a stray bullet kills a baby (intimated) and there is nothing funny about that. Another scene a man is shot while arranging roses. It's incongruent action like these scenes that makes this movie just short of unwatchable. I have yet to see a Cary Grant movie that I didn't like, and this one seems a practice for his all out great flick His Gal Friday. Big Brown Eyes is watchable, only because of Cary Grant.