Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

edwagreen Sociologists would have a ball with this 1952 anthology film describing the different facets of American life- it's various forms of culture whether they be religious, social, political, etc.The anthology is made up of 8 straight stories,vignettes, if you don't know and has quite an array of movie talent in the film which is narrated by Louis Calhern.Even Nancy Davis shows up as a prim and proper schoolteacher who runs into conflict with a student's father when she tells him to have his son's eyes checked for glasses.Gary Cooper salutes Texas and there is an effective display of contributions of African Americans. Ethel Barrymore is upset in her story that she wasn't counted in the census and S.Z. Sakall portrays a bigot against Greeks whose daughter, Janet Leigh, quickly weds Greek Gene Kelly.The problem with the film is that each segment only lasts for about 20 minutes or so and therefore there is little time for character development. Marjorie Main steals her vignette as the mother of a dead Korean War soldier who gets a visit from Keith Brasselle, a fellow serviceman, who reads a letter that his friend sent just before his death. This was poignant, but too brief as well.The film depicts various forms of Americana.

MartinHafer "It's a Big Country: An American Anthology" is a very unusual movie and is clearly a product of its times. While such a schmaltzy bit of unabashed patriotism and propaganda would be laughed at today, following WWII and in the midst of the Red Scare, it all made perfect sense back in the day. It was intended to hammer home the goodness of America and its people...though perhaps it comes on a bit strong here and there.The film is made up of eight different stories. To me, this is the biggest weakness of the film. Perhaps paring it down to three or four stories would have worked better...especially since some of the stories are underdeveloped or just didn't work all that well. Here's a breakdown of the stories:1. Two guys are on a train. One is a loudmouth (James Whitmore) and he strikes up a conversation with a guy who seems, at first, to just want a bit of peace and quiet (William Powell). This one was very forgettable and a bit stupid. This one merits a 3.2. Ethel Barrymore plays a lonely widow who was somehow missed in the census. With the help of a newspaper editor (George Murphy) she gets counted. VERY schmaltzy and utterly ridiculous, this one is still very enjoyable and merits a 6.3. In a tribute to the accomplishments of Black Americans, a montage of famous Blacks is shown while the narrator describes their many achievements and contributions. This is totally unlike most of the rest of the film and instead of a fictional story, it's a mini- documentary. For 1951, it's very liberal and positive...though folks today will likely think it's a bit of a 'whitewash' by making everything look too positive for this minority group. Despite this, I think it's quite good for the time in which it was made and I give it an 8.4. Mr. Szabo (Cuddles Sakal) is a Hungarian man with many daughters...who he dearly loves. However, Mr. Szabo is a bigot when it comes to Greeks--he hates them and insists Hungarians ALWAYS will hate Greeks. Not surprisingly, his oldest daughter (Janet Leigh) ends up falling for a Greek (Gene Kelly) and this causes many problems...as well as forces Mr. Szabo to examine his own prejudices--hammering home the message that Americans should be united. However, I do wonder-- do Greeks and Hungarians really dislike each other? I don't think this has ever been true...and would love to know more from anyone who knows more about this. Making Kelly and his brothers Turkish-Americans...that would have made a lot more sense since there has been a long, long tradition of distrust and dislike between these groups. This segment easily could have been longer and more developed and was one of the more enjoyable segments thanks, as always, to the wonderful Cuddles Sakal. Of course, I'd love him in ANYTHING! 8.5. A Jewish soldier (Keefe Brasselle) returns home from the Korean War. Among the first things he does is visit the mother (Marjorie Main) of a fallen buddy. The message is about more than tolerance for others but about our need for each other--and the strength Americans derive from its many ethnic groups. EXTREMELY preachy and schmaltzy but well done. 6.6. This is a bizarre one. The narrator begins talking about Texas when Gary Cooper (dressed as a cowboy) interrupts and begins talking at length about his beloved Texas (though Cooper was actually from Montana!). It plays much like a travelogue...to a foreign country! This is among the shortest segments and is kind of funny...and forgettable. 6.7. Van Johnson plays a young minister who has just arrived in Washington, DC and the church is the same one the President usually attends. His preaching sucks--mostly because he is more concerned with impressing the President than the congregation. Among the least watchable of the segments, 3.8. Nancy Davis (Reagan) plays a school teacher who notices that an Italian-American kid cannot see very well...so she sends a note home. The father (Frederic March) is angry...his son sees just fine...or so he thinks. He's so upset he goes to see the teacher about this. Somehow, this idiotic father thinks that needing glasses is the same has having a hearing problem. Huh?! Well, regardless, the teacher has a tough time getting through to him. This segment seems to have less lot to do with the overall theme of the film but was okay otherwise. 5.Overall, this is a fair film--with several really good portions and several which just don't work well. In many cases, by allowing the story to slowly reveal itself would have made the message less preachy and obvious. Subtle, it ain't but an interesting little experimental film.

jjnxn-1 Collection of stories to show the melting pot aspect of the USA. The film is blessed with an array of talent that only could be pulled together in Hollywood at its peak. Episodic by nature and all the vignettes have their charm but the first three are really the best.William Powell and James Whitmore breeze their way through a lively discussion of the ever evolving nature of the country. Their reactions to each other are what makes the skit.Next up is a little story about not being lost in the crowd made charming by Ethel Barrymore's gentle performance. The next segment is a tribute to notable African Americans which is nice in and of itself but that's also why it's a bit problematic. Considering the time it was made the isolated state of the short would have made it easy to snip out in the South. Of course the same could be said for any of the stories but since their are not people of color in any of the other segments it's rather obvious that was the intention at the time. Still it's a nice opportunity to see the significant Americans it spotlights.The other sections all showing various slices of life, aside from Gary Cooper's star bit simply representing Texas, are pleasant but are on the sticky side of sweet.

vincentlynch-moonoi I understand this film did poorly at the box office. And I understand. A lot of it is pretty uninteresting, although its intent -- to instill pride in America -- was admirable. What's interesting about this "flop" were the big stars in it: Ethel Barrymore, Gary Cooper, Nancy Davis (not a big star, but the future First Lady), Van Johnson, Gene Kelly, Janet Leigh, Marjorie Main, Fredric March, George Murphy, William Powell, S.Z. Sakall, James Whitmore, and Keenan Wynn.So how did a film with such a stellar cast flop? It was 8 unrelated "skits" about some aspect of American life. So each star was on camera for maybe 5-10 minutes only. Some of the stories were dumb and/or boring. Lots of propaganda-type film in between. A couple of the stories were interesting -- for example the Italian family segment (headed by Fredric March) was well done, as was the census story headed by Ethel Barrymore.This is NOT one for your DVD shelf, but is worth one watch for the big stars.