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The Big Street Review:
Damon Runyon specialized in "parables of Broadway," and although sometimes those parables transferred very effectively to other media -- e.g., Guys and Dolls -- other times they did not. The Big Street is not bad, but it is marred by some excessive sentimentality and plot contrivances that strain credulity. While the figure of a man willing to give up everything for the woman he loves is a familiar one, as presented here it comes across as slightly ludicrous (through no fault of Henry Fonda's), and the whole idea of the trip to Florida comes across as unbelievable. (Interestingly, despite the fact that the sappy ending is equally unbelievable and manipulative, it somehow works.) What saves Street and makes its excesses tolerable is the cast. Lucille Ball pulls no punches in delineating a vain, selfish and exasperating character, and is clearly not afraid to risk alienating audience sympathies when required. It's a brave change-of-pace for Ball and works beautifully. Fonda projects an innocence and commitment that are invaluable and almost convince the viewer that a person really could be so self-sacrificing for such an unworthy person. And Agnes Moorehead and Eugene Pallette are an unexpected delight. Fonda and Ball would team up again many years later in Yours, Mine and Ours. Craig Butler, All Movie Guide