| The Big Pond | |
|---|---|
 theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Hobart Henley |
| Written by | Play: George Middleton A. E. Thomas Scenario: Garrett Fort Robert Presnell Sr. Dialogue: Preston Sturges |
| Produced by | Monta Bell |
| Starring | Maurice Chevalier Claudette Colbert |
| Cinematography | George J. Folsey |
| Edited by | Emma Hill |
| Music by | Irving Kahal Al Sherman Lew Brown Ray Henderson Sammy Fain Al Lewis B. G. DeSylva Pierre Norman |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English, French |
The Big Pond is a 1930 Americanpre-Coderomantic comedy film based on a 1928 play of the same name byGeorge Middleton and A. E. Thomas.[1] The film was written byGarrett Fort, Robert Presnell Sr. andPreston Sturges, who provided the dialogue in his first Hollywood assignment, and was directed byHobart Henley. The film starsMaurice Chevalier andClaudette Colbert, and featuresGeorge Barbier, Marion Ballou, and Andrée Corday, and was released byParamount Pictures.[2]
The Big Pond was nominated for theAcademy 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" byIrving Kahal,Pierre Norman andSammy Fain and "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight" byAl Sherman andAl Lewis.[3][2]
During a vacation inVenice, Barbara Billings (Claudette Colbert), daughter of a prominent Americanchewing gummagnate, falls in love with Pierre Mirande (Maurice Chevalier), aFrench tour guide from a noble family that lost its fortune duringWorld 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 "big pond" inNew 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 thenfired when he is wrongly accused of spillingillicit 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 inCleveland 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.[2][4]
The Big Pond and itsFrench language versionLa grande mare[6] were shot simultaneously at the ParamountAstoria Studios inAstoria,Queens,New York City.[7][8] Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert, Andrée Corday and Nat Pendelton played the same roles in both versions.[6]
Maurice Chevalier was nominated for a 1930Academy Award for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" for his performance inThe Big Pond as well as his performance inThe Love Parade (1929).[8]
TheFrench language version ofThe Big Pond, which was filmed simultaneously with the English version, was calledLa grande mare. The cast was:
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 byBarney Rogan.[6] 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.[9]