Big City 1948

An abandoned infant is discovered in New York City by a cantor, David Feldman, Danny Thomas, and a minister, Rev. Phillip Y. Andrews, Robert Preston, who consult police officer Pat O’Donnell, George Murphy, about what to do. Taking in the baby girl and naming her Midge, Margaret O’Brien, the three unmarried men seek legal custody in the courtroom of Judge Martin O. Abercrombie, Edward Arnold, who agrees on one condition—the first man to marry will become sole legal guardian of the girl.

At school, as Midge grows older, she is teased for her unusual family. Even her teacher Florence Barrett, Karin Booth, hesitates to approve a child raised without a mother. To ease her worries, the men invite Florence to their home for an evening, and the warmth of their arrangement begins to soften her stance, while Midge herself starts to feel more secure in this unusual trio.

David Feldman, Danny Thomas, falls in love with Florence and hopes to propose, while Pat O’Donnell, George Murphy, begins seeing the extroverted singer Shoo Shoo Grady, Betty Garrett, and they elope. The three guardians wrestle with whether Shoo Shoo would be a suitable mother for Midge, weighing the rhythms of faith, responsibility, and affection against social expectations.

After thoughtful deliberation, Judge Abercrombie withdraws his initial condition, allowing all three men to share equally in parenting Midge. The film explores how a child can thrive within a nontraditional family when love, stability, and mutual respect form the core of daily life, showing how community, cooperation, and care can redefine family boundaries. In the end, the story celebrates cooperation, compassion, and the adaptive power of a small family that transcends conventional expectations.