Big City Blues (1932)

A naive kid (Eric Linden) from a small town in Indiana travels to New York City in the hopes of starting a new and exciting life. It isn't long before he's exploited by his slick cousin (Walter Catlett) for his savings and things take a turn for the worse when a chorus girl (Josephine Dunn) is killed in his hotel room. Based on the play NEW YORK TOWN by Ward Morehouse and directed by Mervyn LeRoy (QUO VADIS). This pre-code drama is really a moral tale about a decent small town boy who goes to the wicked city and gets fleeced and mixed up with no good party types and goes home with his tail between his legs. Of course, so not to offend New Yorkers, the kid makes a speech about how he wasn't ready for New York and one day he'll go back and conquer it. It's an okay movie but a little preachy. For me, the highlight of the movie was Linden's encounter with a much older woman (Jobyna Howland) who's seen it all and takes the lad under her wing. A spunky Joan Blondell is Linden's romantic interest. Also in the cast: Humphrey Bogart, J. Carrol Naish, Lyle Talbot, Inez Courtney, Guy Kibbee, Clarence Muse and Grant Mitchell.