Big Town Girl (1937) User Reviews

nothing new about a masked singer

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 19 December 2021]

Claire Trevor stars in "Big Town Girl" from 1937 with Donald Woods, Alan Dinehart, and Alan Baxter.

Trevor play a singer, Fay Loring, who goes on the run from her criminal husband (Baxter). She changes her identity and goes to another city where she gets work in a department store. She is overheard singing by a slick agent, Larry Edwards (Dinehart) who thinks he can make her a star.

The problem, Fay can't be a star because she can't appear in public, lest her husband find her. She and Edwards come up with a gimmick - a masked singer. See, everything old is new again.

In this case, she is a French countess who wears a mask so as not to embarrass her family. A reporter, Mark Tracey (Donald Woods) who is suspicious of yet another scheme by Edwards, is determined to find out who she is.

Delightful, short film with another fine performance by Claire Trevor. Alan Baxter as her husband is horrendous. The rest of the cast is very good and fun.

Typical B picture but with the wonderful Claire Trevor

[robluvthebeach · 7/10 · 11 November 2016]

This is a fun, not too surprising "B" picture from the Fox Studio that Claire Trevor did quite a few in the late 1930's. She escapes a very sordid relationship with a bad guy who goes to jail and changes her name to start fresh and a new career in a department store. While there she is caught singing and in a quick New York Minute she is now being promoted as a singing star in disguise. She uses veil, mud packs, etc to keep her disguise as a 'singing countess' and there is one reporter who wants to uncover who she really is for a good story. However, when she is exposed and the ex-boyfriend sees who she is, there will be trouble in store.

This is a typical programmer but always delightful to have Claire Trevor in a lead role (though the movie is just over an hour in length). I viewed this film online, so it is out there for people to find and view.

Spunky B with classy Claire.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 18 September 2023]

Lots of fun in a cheesy, campy way, a mixture of crime drama, screwball comedy and musical, with Claire Trevor headlining as a cabaret singer turned sheet music saleswoman turned masked radio star, hiding from criminal husband Alan Baxter. He is on his way to prison in the opening scene, escaping and going to meet estranged wife Trevor who wants no part of him. Singer agent Alan Dinehart overhears her singing and agrees to allow her to disguise herself, one of many phony countesses on the silver screen in the 1930's. She has to deal with aggressive reporter Donald Woods who senses a story behind her glittery mask.

A much better film thanks to the presence of the sparking Trevor who achieved acclaim and an Oscar nomination the same year for "Dead End". What flame she manages to spark with Woods comes from her, and in her big production number, she manages to come close to rivaling Ginger Rogers, while in her comedy scenes definitely echoes Joan Blondell and Carole Lombard. Lillian Yarbo, as the maid Scarlet, is a real scene stealer, and probably the most beautiful black screen actress of the 30's. Baxter is a dark presence, while Dinehart is very amusing. A tense atmosphere and thrilling script makes this one a must.