The Big Shot

While the score of 9 is exceptionally high, I think it's merited if this short movie is compared to other B-movies of the era. The "B-movie", if you don't know, is a low budget short movie (usually about an hour) that was made as a second feature in a double feature. In other words, you'd have an "A-picture" (a top film with top stars and budget), a short film or cartoon (or both), a newsreel and also a B-movie--all for the price of admission in the 1930s and 40s. Often, people assumed that B's were bad or ultra-cheap films and while this often was the case, there were quite a few B's that are actually more entertaining and memorable than the A's. As for me, I love B's--particularly well-made ones or the B series films (such as the Crime Doctor or Charlie Chan series, for example).

As far as B's go, they don't get much better than this one. Much of this is due to the exceptionally good writing for this film. The movie is very original and filled with wonderful gags and twists. Additionally, the star, Guy Kibbee, was his usually affable and enjoyable self. As usual, the film begins with him being a bit of a boob, but you see during the film he's actually pretty smart and naturally ends up showing everyone--but the journey there is quite enjoyable. In many ways, this persona is like a non-intoxicated and more likable W. C. Fields--such as in his movies IT'S A GIFT and YOU'RE TELLING ME--where the lead is actually much smarter than people assume and he ends up making good by the end.

Very enjoyable, clever and entertaining--this is about as much as you could expect from a B.