Editing The Big Pond

{{Short description|1930 film}}
{{About|the 1930 film|other uses of Big Pond|Big Pond (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Big Pond
| image          = The Big Pond.jpg

| caption        = theatrical poster
| director       = [[Hobart Henley]]
| producer       = [[Monta Bell]]
| writer         = '''Play:'''<br>[[George Middleton (playwright)|George Middleton]]<br>A. E. Thomas<br>'''Scenario:'''<br>[[Garrett Fort]]<br>Robert Presnell Sr.<br>'''Dialogue:'''<br>[[Preston Sturges]]
| starring       = [[Maurice Chevalier]] <br>[[Claudette Colbert]]
| music          = [[Irving Kahal]]<br>[[Al Sherman]]<br>[[Lew Brown]]<br>[[Ray Henderson]]<br>[[Sammy Fain]]<br>[[Al Lewis (lyricist)|Al Lewis]]<br>[[B. G. DeSylva]]<br>[[Pierre Norman]]
| cinematography = [[George J. Folsey]]
| editing        = [[Emma Hill (film editor)|Emma Hill]]
| distributor    = [[Paramount Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1930|05|03}}
| runtime        = 78 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English, French
| budget         =
| gross          =
}}

'''''The Big Pond''''' is a 1930 American [[pre-Code]] [[romantic comedy]] film based on a 1928 play of the same name by [[George Middleton (playwright)|George Middleton]] and A. E. Thomas.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/10659 |title=''The Big Pond'' |website=IBDB.com |publisher=[[Internet Broadway Database]] }}</ref>  The film was written by [[Garrett Fort]], Robert Presnell Sr. and [[Preston Sturges]], who provided the dialogue in his first Hollywood assignment, and was directed by [[Hobart Henley]]. The film stars [[Maurice Chevalier]] and [[Claudette Colbert]], and features [[George Barbier (actor)|George Barbier]], Marion Ballou, and Andrée Corday, and was released by [[Paramount Pictures]].<ref name="pre-code.com">{{cite web|last=Reid|first=Danny|title=The Big Pond|publisher=Pre-Code.com|url=http://pre-code.com/the-big-pond-1930-review/|date=May 14, 2013|accessdate=June 10, 2019}}</ref>

''The Big Pond'' was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] for Maurice Chevalier. It also provided Chevalier with his first American hits "[[You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me]]" by [[Irving Kahal]], [[Pierre Norman]] and [[Sammy Fain]] and "[[Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight]]" by [[Al Sherman]] and [[Al Lewis (lyricist)|Al Lewis]].<ref>{{cite book | author=Sherman, Robert B. | author-link=Robert B. Sherman | author2=Sherman, Richard M. | author2-link=Richard M. Sherman |title=[[Walt's Time]] | year=1998 | location=Santa Clarita | publisher=Camphor Tree Publishers | isbn= 0-9646059-3-7 }}</ref><ref name="pre-code.com" />

==Plot==
During a vacation in [[Venice]], Barbara Billings (Claudette Colbert), daughter of a prominent American [[chewing gum]] [[Business magnate|magnate]], falls in love with Pierre Mirande (Maurice Chevalier), a [[French people|French]] tour guide from a noble family that lost its fortune during [[World War I]].  Pierre loves Barbara in return and sings to her that "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me". Although Barbara's mother (Marion Ballou) likes Pierre, her father (George Barbier) and her fiancé Ronnie (Frank Lyon) see him as a fortune-hunting foreigner.  In order to get rid of him, Barbara's father decides to give him a job doing the hardest work at his factory across the "[[Atlantic Ocean|big pond]]" in [[New York City]].

Despite doing tough work, Pierre genuinely enjoys his job, impressing his coworker (Nat Pendleton). He also captivates his landlady (Andrée Corday) and her young helper (Elaine Koch) with his Parisian charm and humor. Unfortunately, Pierre becomes exhausted from his work and falls asleep on the night that he is to attend Barbara's party. He is then [[termination of employment|fired]] when he is wrongly accused of spilling [[Prohibition in the United States|illicit rum]] on chewing gum samples.  However, the incident inspires him to devise a new product for the company – rum-flavored chewing gum. The product is a success. He wins back his job and finds favor with Barbara's father, who promotes him.

Although Pierre hopes to use his new position to marry Barbara, he neglects his relationship with her in the process. While he plans to open a new branch of the company in [[Cleveland]] and to adopt "You Brought a New Kind of Love" as a new sales jingle, a frustrated Barbara declares that she will marry Ronnie instead.  However, Pierre whisks her away in a speedboat and the two reconcile and embrace.<ref name="pre-code.com" /><ref>TCM [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/68700/the-big-pond Full synopsis]</ref>

==Cast==
*[[Maurice Chevalier]] as Pierre Mirande
*[[Claudette Colbert]] as Barbara Billings
*[[George Barbier (actor)|George Barbier]] as Mr. Billings
*Marion Ballou as Mrs. Billings
*Andrée Corday as Toinette
*Frank Lyon as Ronnie
*[[Nat Pendleton]] as Pat O'Day
*Elaine Koch as Jennie

==Songs==
*"Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight" by Al Sherman and Al Lewis
*"This Is My Lucky Day" by [[Lew Brown]], [[B. G. DeSylva]] and [[Ray Henderson]]
*"Mia Cara" and "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me" by Irving Kahal, Pierre Norman and Sammy Fain<ref>TCM [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/68700/the-big-pond Music]</ref>

==Production==
''The Big Pond'' and its [[French language]] version ''[[The Big Pond#French version|La grande mare]]''<ref name=mare /> were shot simultaneously at the Paramount [[Kaufman Astoria Studios|Astoria Studios]] in [[Astoria, New York|Astoria]], [[Queens]], [[New York City]].<ref>IMDB [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020690/locations Filming locations]</ref><ref name=tcmnotes>TCM [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/68700/the-big-pond Notes]</ref> Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert, Andrée Corday and Nat Pendelton played the same roles in both versions.<ref name=mare />

==Awards==
Maurice Chevalier was nominated for a 1930 [[Academy Award]] for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" for his performance in ''The Big Pond'' as well as his performance in ''[[The Love Parade]]'' (1929).<ref name=tcmnotes />

==French version==
The [[French language]] version of ''The Big Pond'', which was filmed simultaneously with the English version, was called ''La grande mare''.  The cast was:

*[[Maurice Chevalier]] as ''Pierre Mirande''
*[[Claudette Colbert]] as ''Barbara Billings''
*Henry Mortimer as ''Mr. Billings''
*Maude Allen as ''Mrs. Billings''
*Andrée Corday as ''Toinette''
*William B. Williams as ''Ronnie''
*[[Nat Pendleton]] as ''Pat O'Day''
*Loraine Jaillet as ''Jennie''

Writer Preston Sturges was fluent in French, but additional dialogue was provided by Jacques Bataille-Henri.  The technical credits for the two versions are the same, except the editing for the French version was done by [[Barney Rogan]].<ref name=mare>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020935/ |title=''La Grande Mare'' |website=IMDb.com |publisher=[[Internet Movie Database]] }}</ref> One critic noted that the French-speaking audience sounded as though they had picked up on risqué lines that must have been edited-out of the English-language version, due to the Production Code. Chevalier said that this lent extra charm to the French-language versions of his films.<ref>{{cite book | author=Ringgold, Gene | author2=Bodeen, Dewitt |title=Chevalier: The Films and Career of Maurice Chevalier | page=90 | year=1973 | location=Secaucus, NJ | publisher=Citadel Press | isbn= 0-8065-0354-8 }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{AFI film|782|The Big Pond}}
*{{IMDb title|id=0020690|title=The Big Pond}}
*{{IMDb title|id=0020935|title=La grande mare}}
*{{TCMDb title|id=68700|title=The Big Pond}}
*{{TCMDb title|id=561611|title=La grande mare}}

{{Hobart Henley}}
{{Preston Sturges}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Pond, The}}
[[Category:1930 films]]
[[Category:1930 romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:American romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:French-language American films]]
[[Category:American multilingual films]]
[[Category:American films based on plays]]
[[Category:Films directed by Hobart Henley]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films set in Venice]]
[[Category:Films set in New York City]]
[[Category:1930 multilingual films]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Garrett Fort]]
[[Category:1930s American films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic comedy films]]