There's a good reason you've never heard of this title. Similar to another Barbara Stanwyck film, Stella Dallas, So Big! lacks depth, while being disgustingly saccharine. The film starts out promising enough. I did keep watching. But midway through I could not understand why the Stanwyck character was making certain decisions and I absolutely couldn't believe the character was so happy about it. It was as though the film was a summary of plot points lacking character motivation. Sure, those things could have happened, I guess. But the film failed to communicate why. And even when it would have been natural for the character to be regretful, she was unnaturally positive and cheerful.I gave the film three out of ten because Stanwyck still communicated great emotion, I liked the costumes, & I did enjoy the brief appearance of Bette Davis. So don't even bother with this film unless you're a Barbara Stanwyck or Bette Davis fanatic. Stella Dallas is similar and a much better film.

Well-off, motherless Selina is raised by her father, who teaches her to find beauty and joy in all aspects of life. When the father dies, a friend of the family arranges for Selina to move from the city to "High Prarie", a rural town where Selina is to live with a farm family and teach in the local schoolhouse.Selina arrives all wondrous at her new surroundings, even commenting on how beautiful the cabbage field is. The boobs in the farm family all laugh at her, except 12 year old Roelf who agrees that the cabbages are beautiful and even makes a drawing of the field for Selina. Roelf is a kindred spirit, and sees beauty all around him, and wants to be an artist. While a teenager, he runs away and goes to Europe where he eventually becomes a well-known sculptor.Back home, Selina marries local farm-boy Purvis de Jong and has a son with him, Dirk, nicknamed "So Big" (Selina says to little Dirk, "How big is my big boy?" and little Dirk spreads his arms wide and answers "Soooooo big!") Selina is widowed while Dirk is still young, and Selina keeps her little family together by maintaining the farm, even growing a special variety of asparagus dubbed the de Jong asparagus.Flash forward to Dirk's adulthood. He is bored with his entry-level architect job, ashamed to admit he's *THAT* de Jong of the de Jong asparagus fame, and he hangs out with a married woman (the details of their relationship are not delved into). Selina wants her son to appreciate the beauty in life, much the way her own father encouraged her when she was a child. Dirk, however, has only dollar signs in his eyes, and he quits his architect position to become a bonds-trader in the stock market.Dirk meets a young (and extremely lovely) Bette Davis, who is making some advertising drawings for his firm. Dirk falls in love with her, but she doesn't return that love. She tells him she can only love a man who works with his hands and appreciates art, someone whose beauty shines from the inside (unlike Dirk who clearly doesn't have any of these qualities). Bette goes to Paris, meets Roelf and returns to High Prairie with Roelf who very much wants to see Selina again. The reunion between Roelf and Selina is sweet and may make you reach for a hankie. While the four of them -- Selina, Roelf, Dirk, Dallas (the Bette Davis character) -- are visiting in Selina's home, Dallas watches Selina and Roelf at the window. Dallas remarks to Dirk how beautiful his mother is (although at this point in the movie Stanwyck is made up to be an older woman with near-white hair). Dallas sees the beauty radiating from within Selina and wants to paint her. It's a beautiful but also sad ending ... sad because of the contrast between Selina, Roelf and Dallas who are able to see and appreciate beauty all around them, versus Dirk who cannot see it even when he's surrounded by it. It made me sad for Selina that her son could not see the things she and Roelf and Dallas could.

My sisters, mother and I were discussing this movie and thought we had seen this movie with Jane Wyman as the leading star. I am trying to find this movie to purchase, but the websites say this movie is with Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck. I would appreciate if someone would set me straight. I remember this being a heartfelt movie and one that took a lot of tissues. It's been many years since I've seen it, and would love to see it again. This being my first time to comment about any movie... in the future hope to be better informed about this and other movies ... I am a very big movie watcher and collector and browser, mostly CLASSICS. Always searching.

"So Big!" has been filmed three times, once before this version (a lost film from the original flapper Colleen Moore) and once after. But this is the treatment that rings true; this is the "So Big!" that really is so big.Barbara Stanwyck successfully ages from schoolgirl to aged mother in this film. The story is beautiful (based on Edna Farber's novel) and the acting is superb. You can't help but cry at the end! Don't miss an early screen appearance from Bette Davis!"So Big!" is shown on Turner Classic Movies at times, but make sure it's the Stanwyck version and not the Jane Wyman re-remake. It's worth the effort.