The Big Show (1936): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1936, The Big Show is an action, drama, romance and music film directed by Mack V. Wright, running about 71 minutes. “A Roundup of action actually filmed at the Texas Centennial!” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. At the Texas Centennial in Dallas Autry confuses two girls by being himself and his own stunt double. When cowboy star Tom Ford disappears, Wilson gets his double Gene Autry to impersonate him. But Ford owes gangster Rico $10,000 and Rico arrives to collect. He fails to get the money but learns that Autry is an impersonator and now blackmails Wilson and his movie studio. Original version runs 71 minutes, edited version runs 59 minutes.

Who’s in it. The Big Show stars Gene Autry as Gene Autry/Tom Ford, Smiley Burnette as Frog, Kay Hughes as Marion Hill and Sally Payne as Toodles Brown, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 4.2/10, The Big Show has proved divisive with audiences.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, FlixFling and Amazon Prime Video with Ads and rent or buy it from Amazon Video and FlixFling. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Big Show page.

If you liked it. Fans of The Big Show tend to enjoy The Dark Knight, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Inception and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.