The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933)

I recently saw this movie for the first time. It blew me away.Max Baer as the protagonist, never overacting and an immense screen presence . Walter Huston as the failed alcoholic manager and |Otto Kruger as the sinister Gangster Willie Ryan.All surrounded by Myrna Loy cute as a pixie.The Broadway Show number starring Baer is an exhausting brilliant tour de forceThe fight scenes intense and realistic(save for over multitude of knockdowns) I counted about 15!This movie from 1933 has it all Romance Sex, Revenge and plenty of amazing cameos by the likes of Jack Dempsey, Jess Willars and Gentleman James Jeffries. \\Highly recommended

I watched this movie tonight on Turner Classic Movies just to see the man who bore the handsome Max Baer, Jr., star of TV's "The Beverly Hillbillies." I don't know anything about "Cinderella Man" or the violent sport of boxing that so many people seem to be drawn to. So this was a film I wasn't sure was even going to be worth my time. But I love pre-code films of the early 1930s and I do like Myrna Loy, so I figured there might be a chance I'd enjoy the movie somewhat. Well, it was one of the best films I've ever seen and for those who are wincing or gagging at that, let me say it's all a matter of opinion, folks.I've been reading the reviews here (I did not know Max Baer "killed" anyone in his boxing career) and I just have to laugh at some of the comments from those who couldn't get anything out of this.For example. Someone said that a real actor should have been used for the role of the prizefighter. Okay. How about Clark Gable who was just coming in to his own at the time? Needless to say, Gable would have been perfect, as he was and always will be "The King." Actors today should bow to the man, and simply step aside. But, they went with a real athlete and, to my surprise, he pulled it off and then some! If you want to get technical and start nit-picking on Baer's acting then you'll find exactly what you're looking for. But as far as I was concerned I was thoroughly entertained by a man who had never acted in his life before and then to sing, and tap dance in a musical number midway through the film? My gosh, why haven't we heard about this film before? Someone also said that Walter Huston's performance wasn't believable. Gee. I've never seen any film work of Huston before, but I not only found him believable but I walked away a fan, looking forward to seeing more films of his. He definitely deserved a nomination for Best Supporting Actor had the category existed in those days.I also walked away appreciating Myrna Loy more than I ever have. What a beautiful woman, and what star presence! This might have been a good role for Claudette Colbert, once a grand star of her time and much forgotten today, but I think Miss Loy probably has the edge here.At the end I had tears in my eyes. All was forgiven, everybody reunited and walked away happy, ain't love grand?

Max Baer is the prizefighter and Myrna Loy is the lady in "The Prizefighter and the Lady," a 1933 film also starring Walter Huston and Otto Kruger. Loy plays a singer who's seeing Otto Kruger and singing in his club - she has a rich mezzo voice (courtesy of Bernice Alstock). She meets handsome Baer, who pursues her until she marries him. It's not all roses once she learns that he plays around.This is a fascinating as well as entertaining film. Loy is extremely beautiful and lovely in her role, and Huston is his usual excellent self, as is Otto Kruger. The fascinating part is Baer, the champion fighter whose character was unfairly decimated in "Cinderella Man" - I hope his family objected. Baer was an extremely colorful character out of the ring but never got over killing Frank Campbell during a fight - he put Campbell's children through college. Here he plays something closer to himself, an amiable playboy with a mean punch. His appearance in a vaudeville act is almost as impressive as his fighting. In "The Prizefighter and the Lady," as in real life, he fights Primo Carnera, as he would a year later. Carnera refused to appear in the film as originally written, where he would be knocked out. I thought Baer was big until I saw Carnera - WHOA. The screen fight is very effective.There are several real sports figures in the film besides Carnero - Jack Dempsey, who helped Baer make a comeback later on when he started telegraphing his punches, and also James Jeffries and Frank Moran. If you're a prize fighter historian, this is the movie for you.Baer went on to make other movies, in fact, he was known as a frustrated performer. His most notable appearance was in Bogart's last film, "The Harder They Fall." By then, of course, his screen persona was a little different. I don't actually agree with one of the comments about the film - I think "The Prizefighter and the Lady," despite the star performances, would have been fairly routine without him. As an added plus for baby boomers - he's Jethro's dad, after all.

Spunky young boxer woos and weds lovely torch singer, snatching her away from under they vigilant eyes of her mobster boyfriend, as it were, but soon, as his boxing star rises he takes to philandering... I wasn't prepared for the impact of this incredibly dynamic early talkie, taut, effective and clearheaded. The way Hawks and Van Dyke tell their story is to the point, the acting by both Loy and real-life boxer Max Baer is vivid and engaging. And yet, nothing will prepare you for the grand finale, the ultimate Madison Sq Garden match, a haven of broken noses and cauliflower ears. The fight itself is wonderfully, imaginatively shot with alternating angles, intermingled with shots of Loy and Walter Huston in the audience, fights breaking out, ladies swooning, desperate last-minute bets taking place, cutting faster and faster, faster and faster. Quite a feat, recommended.