Lon Chaney and Marceline Day

Directed by                Tod Browning
Written by                 Tod Browning, Waldemar Young
Starring                      Lon Chaney, Marceline Day
Cinematography        Henry Sharp
Editing by                   Harry Reynolds, Irving Thalberg (uncredited)
Distributed by            MGM
Release date                March 24, 1928
Country                       United States
Language                     Silent, English intertitles

This film is part of our series 'Hidden Gems'. It can be watched by registered users who make a donation. For more details, please click here.

"The Big City" is a classic crime drama.  We have included this film in our program to illustrate the work and contributions of our star Marceline Day.

The last known copy of the film "The Big City" perished in 1967 in the MGM vaults fire that also destroyed "London after Midnight".  Silent Era lists this film as "survival status: unknown".  It is not available for viewing, so we have to rely on newspaper articles from the 1920ies.  If you have any information about a surviving copy of the film please let us know.

Here are just a few of the reviews for this film:
 
No one in the world can look so 'hard boiled' and menacing as this Lon Chaney  and few can look so sympathetic in the very same role.  In his latest starring vehicle, "The Big City", Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's gripping romance of New York's underworld, Chaney plays the role of a hardened detective.  And no character could demand more of an actor's histrionic talents.  He has to be the very embodiment of the law - and still be as human as anyone else.  Few beside Lon Chaney could play this complex role adequately, and of it Chaney has made a masterpiece of motion picture acting.

"The Big City" is a delicate romance told in a setting of NIGHT CLUBS AND BRIGHT LIGHTS, holdups and police and gangster battles woven into an amazing blend of thrills and surprises.  Marceline Day in the role of a little shop girl, innocently caught in the underworld, is appealing. (Mirror)
 
Chaney plays the role of a police sleuth, and Betty Compson is seen as a member of the underworld. Marceline Day, however, has the big female lead as a shop girl who is enmeshed in an  plot engineered by a detective.  A very ingenious plot and well acted by a very fine cast. (Portland Guardian)
 
Chaney and his associates come in conflict with a gang of jewel thieves: a sensational hold-up of a popular night club, gun battles and duels of wits between the detectives and gangsters; these are all breathlessly exciting backgrounds for a charming love idyll of a boy and a girl.  Miss Day, a shop girl innocently enmeshed in the underworld, has some remarkable scenes. (Recorder)
 
Marceline Day in the role of a little shop girl, innocently caught in the underworld, is appealingly sweet. (Sunday Times)
 
"The Big City" is a delicate romance, told in a setting of night clubs and bright lights, police raids in the underworld and battles of "crooks," woven into an astonishing blend of thrills, surprises, and romance.  In this colorful, swift-moving picture of New York night life, Lon Chaney plays the role of a detective, and, avoiding the use of elaborate disguises which characterized many of his previous appearances, he gives a truly marvelous performance.  Briefly, the story is that Chuck Collins, a New York detective, is detailed to circumnavigate the machinations of a gang of cabaret thieves.  Assuming the role of proprietor of a dance hall, he is accepted by the underworld as a fellow-gangster.  Move and counter-move follow in rapid succession, and finally Chuck captures the entire gang.  The leading feminine role, taken by Marceline Day, is that of a shop girl enmeshed in the underworld plot engineered by Chuck, and an admirable study she makes of it, too. (The Brisbane Courier)
 
A vivid story of the underworld of New York, it shows just how far the influence of a young girl of strong character and high ideals can affect the lives of people born and bred to crime.  Marceline Day lives up to her name as 'Sunshine', the sweetness of  her smile capturing all hearts. (The Register)
 
Marceline Day does splendidly with her role. (Motion Picture News) 
 
Marceline Day, as Sunshine, has never played with more charm and depth. (Picture Play Magazine)

The Big City

• Lon-Chaney-and-Marceline-Day-in-The-Big-City-fine-emotional-acting.jpg

  Lon Chaney and Marcelins Day do some fine emotional acting in "The Big City" (1928). 

  http://silent-hall-of-fame.org/images/FilmStills/Marceline-Day/The-Big-City/Lon-Chaney-and-Marceline-Day-in-The-Big-City-fine-emotional-acting.jpg

• Marceline-Day-in-The-Big-City-51.jpg

  Marceline Day shines brightly as Sunshine in "The Big City" (1928).

  http://silent-hall-of-fame.org/images/FilmStills/Marceline-Day/The-Big-City/Marceline-Day-in-The-Big-City-51.jpg

• Lon-Chaney-with-a-gun-in-The-Big-City.jpg

  Lon Chaney with a gun in "The Big City" (1928).

  http://silent-hall-of-fame.org/images/FilmStills/Marceline-Day/The-Big-City/Lon-Chaney-with-a-gun-in-The-Big-City.jpg

• Marceline-Day-as-Sunshine-in-The-Big-City.jpg

  Marceline Day as Sunshine in "The Big City" (1928).

  http://silent-hall-of-fame.org/images/FilmStills/Marceline-Day/The-Big-City/Marceline-Day-as-Sunshine-in-The-Big-City.jpg

• Marceline-Day-on-the-set-of-The-Big-City.jpg

  Marceline Day on the set of "The Big City" (1928).

  http://silent-hall-of-fame.org/images/FilmStills/Marceline-Day/The-Big-City/Marceline-Day-on-the-set-of-The-Big-City.jpg

• Marceline-Day-in-a-portrait-for-The-Big-City-00.jpg

  Marceline Day in a nice portrait for "The Big City" (1928).

  http://silent-hall-of-fame.org/images/FilmStills/Marceline-Day/The-Big-City/Marceline-Day-in-a-portrait-for-The-Big-City-00.jpg

• The-Big-City-poster.jpg

  A poster for "The Big City" (1928).

  http://silent-hall-of-fame.org/images/FilmStills/Marceline-Day/The-Big-City/The-Big-City-poster.jpg

• Lon-Chaney-in-The-Big-City.jpg

  Lon Chaney is furious in "The Big City" (1928).

  http://silent-hall-of-fame.org/images/FilmStills/Marceline-Day/The-Big-City/Lon-Chaney-in-The-Big-City.jpg

• Tod-Browning-and-Lon-Chaney-on-the-set-of-The-Big-City.jpg

  Director Tod Browning and Lon Chaney on the set of "The Big City" (1928).

  http://silent-hall-of-fame.org/images/FilmStills/Marceline-Day/The-Big-City/Tod-Browning-and-Lon-Chaney-on-the-set-of-The-Big-City.jpg

• Lon-Chaney-and-Betty-Compson-in-The-Big-City.jpg

  Lon Chaney and Betty Compson in "The Big City" (1928).

  http://silent-hall-of-fame.org/images/FilmStills/Marceline-Day/The-Big-City/Lon-Chaney-and-Betty-Compson-in-The-Big-City.jpg

• Lon-Chaney-and-Marceline-Day-in-The-Big-City.jpg

  Lon Chaney and Marcelins Day in a scene from "The Big City" (1928).

  http://silent-hall-of-fame.org/images/FilmStills/Marceline-Day/The-Big-City/Lon-Chaney-and-Marceline-Day-in-The-Big-City.jpg

   Lon Chaney and Marceline Day

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• Tod Browning, Lon Chaney, Marceline Day, silent film, silent movie stars, free classic film, old movies, silent film streaming, silent era, archive films, rare films, silent drama, silent classics, classic crime movies, lost film