This film begins with a fight manager named "Nick Donati" (Edward G. Robinson) losing a large sum of money to a notorious rival manager by the name of "Turkey Morgan" (Humphrey Bogart) because his boxer was bribed to take a dive. Even so, that doesn't stop Nick from throwing a lavish party that night with all of his friends and acquaintances at the hotel where he stays. To that effect, when Turkey Morgan walks in with his winning prize fighter "Chuck McGraw" (William Haade) the entire room goes silent. Things get even more tense when Chuck begins to hassle Nick's girlfriend, "Fluff" (Bette Davis) and gets floored by a punch thrown by a new hotel bellboy named "Ward 'Kid Galahad' Guisenberry" (Wayne Morris). Needless to say, this surprising development does not go unnoticed by either Nick or Turkey who both want to sign him to a contract. The problem is that Ward seems to be irresistible to the women and Nick becomes intensely jealous whenever Fluff pays any attention to him. And Nick's concern only intensifies when it appears that his kid sister "Marie" (Jane Bryan) falls head over heels for him as well. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be a pretty good movie based in large part on the high-quality lineup of Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis. I especially liked the performance of Humphrey Bogart who definitely fit the part of a menacing, cold-blooded mobster. Be that as it may, regardless of the fact that this movie is rather dated, it still packs a punch and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.
Review of Kid Galahad
