I watched this film because of the involvement of 30s great W.S. Van Dyke and his oftentimes leading lady Myrna Loy, and I was more or less satisfied with his direction and her performance as Belle. Also, Walter Huston does good work as Steve Morgan's manager, "The Professor", and I was particularly impressed with Otto Kruger's unusual performance as Willie Ryan, Belle's bitter ex.
However, there is a black hole at the center of this film, and its name is Max Baer. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time to cast a real boxer as Steve Morgan -- and they could've done much worse, as Primo Carnera and Jack Dempsey evince toward the end of the film -- but I would've much rather seen a real actor in the role.
I wish I knew more about what went with the director's chair on this film. IMDb says that both W.S. Van Dyke and Howard Hawks directed it; however, the film itself features no director credit at all! Because Van Dyke is credited as producer, while Hawks' name appears nowhere in the film's credits, I finally decided to consider this a W.S. Van Dyke film. However, it's possible that I'll change my mind if I ever find out what went on behind the scenes.
Thanks to Turner Classic Movies for showing this film, along with countless other entertaining old movies that are otherwise unavailable.
Score: SIX out of TEN
However, there is a black hole at the center of this film, and its name is Max Baer. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time to cast a real boxer as Steve Morgan -- and they could've done much worse, as Primo Carnera and Jack Dempsey evince toward the end of the film -- but I would've much rather seen a real actor in the role.
I wish I knew more about what went with the director's chair on this film. IMDb says that both W.S. Van Dyke and Howard Hawks directed it; however, the film itself features no director credit at all! Because Van Dyke is credited as producer, while Hawks' name appears nowhere in the film's credits, I finally decided to consider this a W.S. Van Dyke film. However, it's possible that I'll change my mind if I ever find out what went on behind the scenes.
Thanks to Turner Classic Movies for showing this film, along with countless other entertaining old movies that are otherwise unavailable.
Score: SIX out of TEN