"So Big!" is an anomaly of a movie for the early 30's. While most movies were featuring high society folks in all their splendor, "So Big!" attempted to highlight the honor and nobility of farming life.
It failed.
Selina Peake (Barbara Stanwyck) was the daughter of a gambler. After he died she was left to make a way for herself so she set out to teach in a small town outside of Chicago. She taught in a small schoolhouse on a small farm where she met and fell in love with Pervus De Jong (Earle Foxe), a crude Dutch farmer. The pair were an odd couple that had failure written all over it, but Selina beared down and made herself into a farmer's wife with cooking, cleaning, mending, and farming.
The couple had a son they named Dirk (Dickie Moore). When Dirk grew up he wanted nothing to do with farming or being regular. Although he went to school for architecture he got into trading bonds because the money was better. His mother tried to impress upon him that money wasn't everything, but he wasn't hearing it.
When the older Dirk (Hardie Albright) met Miss Dallas O'Mara (Bette Davis) he was smitten. He tried his best to woo her, but he wasn't quite her type. Had he been creative, passionate, or a risk taker, then she would possibly love him--but a bonds trader looking to make a lot of money; that was a no. And it was then that Dirk thought that having money wasn't everything. He was willing to go back to being an architect if it meant Dallas would marry him.
Whereas I appreciate the sentiment of this movie, they did a poor job conveying their message. Or I should say, they did a poor job making the viewer believe that money wasn't everything. The problem was the subject: Dirk. He never expressed that he loved architecture. It wasn't as if he said, "I love being an architect, but there's no money in it." He was never torn. He was miserable being a low-paid young architect and he wanted out. He was driven by money and he found it trading bonds. So, as much as his mother or even his paramour tried to convince him that he shouldn't be doing a job just for the money, they never once asked him what he loved to do. Selina spoke as though slaving and struggling was a reward in and of itself when that's a ridiculous belief. Dallas, however, did speak about chasing dreams, but she never once asked what Dirk's dreams were.
"So Big!" failed to be convincing and never presented a resolution. They presented Roelf Pool (George Brent), a man who chased his dream of painting and became successful, but it was more of a throw-in and it didn't prove anything except that Roelf was exceptional at art and had always been exceptional. What was Dirk exceptional at? We never find out.
It failed.
Selina Peake (Barbara Stanwyck) was the daughter of a gambler. After he died she was left to make a way for herself so she set out to teach in a small town outside of Chicago. She taught in a small schoolhouse on a small farm where she met and fell in love with Pervus De Jong (Earle Foxe), a crude Dutch farmer. The pair were an odd couple that had failure written all over it, but Selina beared down and made herself into a farmer's wife with cooking, cleaning, mending, and farming.
The couple had a son they named Dirk (Dickie Moore). When Dirk grew up he wanted nothing to do with farming or being regular. Although he went to school for architecture he got into trading bonds because the money was better. His mother tried to impress upon him that money wasn't everything, but he wasn't hearing it.
When the older Dirk (Hardie Albright) met Miss Dallas O'Mara (Bette Davis) he was smitten. He tried his best to woo her, but he wasn't quite her type. Had he been creative, passionate, or a risk taker, then she would possibly love him--but a bonds trader looking to make a lot of money; that was a no. And it was then that Dirk thought that having money wasn't everything. He was willing to go back to being an architect if it meant Dallas would marry him.
Whereas I appreciate the sentiment of this movie, they did a poor job conveying their message. Or I should say, they did a poor job making the viewer believe that money wasn't everything. The problem was the subject: Dirk. He never expressed that he loved architecture. It wasn't as if he said, "I love being an architect, but there's no money in it." He was never torn. He was miserable being a low-paid young architect and he wanted out. He was driven by money and he found it trading bonds. So, as much as his mother or even his paramour tried to convince him that he shouldn't be doing a job just for the money, they never once asked him what he loved to do. Selina spoke as though slaving and struggling was a reward in and of itself when that's a ridiculous belief. Dallas, however, did speak about chasing dreams, but she never once asked what Dirk's dreams were.
"So Big!" failed to be convincing and never presented a resolution. They presented Roelf Pool (George Brent), a man who chased his dream of painting and became successful, but it was more of a throw-in and it didn't prove anything except that Roelf was exceptional at art and had always been exceptional. What was Dirk exceptional at? We never find out.