Glove Slingers (1939) Poster

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Enjoyable example of Jules White at his tasteful best
lrrap15 January 2013
No joke intended--Director Jules White could and did occasionally make very entertaining and restrained films; you could almost call this one "breezy", due in no small part to White's usual quick pace.

The characters are all surprisingly appealing for a Columbia short, and the scene between Dorothy Grainger and Victor Travers as Father Donovan is downright whimsical. The young Noah Beery, Jr is at his charming best, supported by a host of Columbia's excellent supporting players. Our pal Shemp Howard--believe it or not--is not the real funnyman in the cast; that honor goes to Paul Hurst, filmed the same year he, as the Union deserter, was shot dead by Vivien Leigh on the staircase at Tara.

I'll hang onto my copy of this one.

LR
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9/10
Well made and entertaining start for an obscure comedy series
2reelers12 February 2005
As a fan of Columbia's short-subjects, I find this to be one of the very best the studio offered. Jules White's direction is superb, allowing room for character development and entertaining story-telling. The short plays out like a mini-feature, and White handles the fairly straight plot without relying on the large doses of the slapstick humor Columbia is most notable for. Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of gags to satisfy fans, but the change of pace is a welcomed one.

This two-reel comedy gave birth to a series of shorts that would become known as "The Glove Slingers". In future entries, the storyline would move to a college setting, which provided more fun, laughs, and boxing matches for another couple of years.
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9/10
A nice debut entry for a promising series
goofonaroof6 August 2018
In 1939, Columbia had started a new series of two-reel comedies called The Glove Slingers that followed the adventures of aspiring boxer Terry Kelly, his uncle Pat Patrick, and trainer Chuck. The role of Terry was played by four different actors through the series' run and the shorts were mostly story-driven with the usual slapstick gags thrown in.

The first entry has Terry (played by a young Noah Beery Jr.) who has a fondness for boxing, something that his religious mother (Dorothy Vaughan) is strongly against. When Pat and Chuck arrive for a surprise visit, Terry is thrown into an upcoming match with his girlfriend's brother Charlie Benson (Cy Schindell). Though Mrs. Kelly does not approve fighting of any kind, she discovers that the local priest has two tickets to the match and she cannot pass that up.

This short is entertaining and features a lot of other Columbia contract players in small roles: Dick Curtis, Richard Fiske, Victor Travers, etc.
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9/10
That's a Hot One for You!
gattonero97514 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
What a refreshing change of pace for the Columbia short team. this one had a very surprising little amount of slapstick and concentrated more on the story line and our lovable clown Shemp Howard really wasn't the funny one here! that award goes to Paul Hurst who's always dealing with some bubblegum trouble. They even a gag from a Three Stooges short (Punch Drunks)where Paul throws one of the gumballs to ring the bell before Noah is counted out! It was so refreshing to see a young Noah Beery Jr. He was really something to see very easy-going, very handsome young man, I had never seen him as a youngster before so this was like an extra special surprise for me. As usual there ways a long list of uncredited Columbia's contract players in bit parts most of them had starred in many of The Three Stooges shorts. This included Dick Curtis, Richard Fisk, Victor Travis, Bert Young and Cy Schindell. Cy really shined as a adversary of Noah in the ring named "The Kid" Benson.
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