Big Time (1929) - A messy but fun look at vaudeville life

If you have an hour to kill and don't mind some crackly audio from 1929, Big Time is actually a pretty fun time capsule. It’s perfect for people who love that old vaudeville energy, but if you hate characters who talk like they just drank ten cups of coffee, you will probably hate this one.

Lee Tracy plays Eddie and he is just... a lot. He’s a dancer who thinks he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, which is a bit funny because his dancing is just okay.

Then you have Mae Clarke as Lily. She’s basically the only reason the movie has any heart at all.

There is this one scene where they are practicing a routine in a small room and the camera just stays on their feet for a long time. I actually really liked that part because it felt less fake than the staged stuff in Her Actor Friend.

The plot is super simple. Eddie gets famous, gets a big head, and this other woman—a chorister—starts whispering in his ear to break him and Lily up.

The chorister is definitely the villain, but her hats are honestly way better than anyone else's in the cast. 👗

I noticed a weird shadow on the back wall during the dressing room scene that definitely shouldn't be there. It looks like a crew member’s arm just hanging out in the shot for three seconds.

Eddie wears this one suit that looks a little too tight in the shoulders. It made the serious argument he was having with Lily feel very hard to take seriously.

Some of the jokes are really old and don't really land anymore. Daphne Pollard is in this and she spends most of her time just shouting her lines at the top of her lungs.

It reminds me a bit of the loud comedy style in The Laugh on Dad where everyone is just competing to be the loudest person in the room.

The movie gets way better when they stop the drama and just do their little stage acts. The chemistry between Tracy and Clarke is decent, even if Tracy is acting for the back row of a theater that isn't actually there.

It isn't exactly a masterpiece like Alias Jimmy Valentine. But it has this raw, nervous energy because sound was so new back then.

I think the ending comes out of nowhere. It’s like the director realized they only had five minutes of film left and had to wrap everything up with a bow. 🎀

Still, it’s worth a look if you want to see what show business felt like a hundred years ago. Just be ready for a lot of fast talking and some very shiny shoes.