Hahsit Babe!

Big Brown Eyes is an early Cary Grant comedy, co-starring Joan Bennett. Here's the setup: Bennett is a trash-talking manicurist whose boyfriend is "handsome policeman" Cary Grant. The big barbershop she works at is a hotbed of gossip, and she quickly becomes a star reporter. When a jewel theft leads to a baby killing (which kills the laffs for a few frames), Bennett and Grant start chasing the thieves/killers, even if they have to quit their jobs to do it.

The banter is breezy and the tone is cool. One of the bad guys is id'ed by his habitual greeting of "Hahsit, babe!", which is the title of one of the two stories this movie came from (the other - "Big Brown Eyes"). However, possibly due to the dual sources, the script has some lapses of coherence and continuity.

So take that as a big warning. Other than that, this is a pretty nifty little crime comedy. Plenty of sweet lines, great character actors (A young, handsome Walter Pidgeon as villain) and stylish deco sets. Just don't expect it to really make sense.

Update: BBE comes on a disk with another Cary Grant - Wings in the Dark: Aviator Grant is developing instruments to allow flying "blind" when, ironically, he is blinded. Barnstormer Myrna Loy falls in love with him and tries to help him back to self-sufficiency and self-respect. The problem is, Grant is a self-centered, self-pitying jerk, and Loy is patronizing and manipulative. That aside, this is a pretty well-done melodrama, with Grant doing a decent blind act. Loy is pretty lovable, if you can get over the creepiness of her watching Grant with tears in her eyes when he doesn't know she's there. But if you like Grant as a self-centered pilot, try Only Angels Have Wings, instead.