Life of Jimmy Dolan, The (1933)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Original version of the film which would be remade in 1939 as They Made Me a Criminal with John Garfield and Claude Rains. In this version, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. plays the boxer who takes off after accidentally killing a man. He winds up on a farm for sick children where he soon falls for one of the women (Loretta Young) working there. When the farm is about to be lost due to taxes, the boxer must risk his freedom by fighting again. This is an extremely good movie but I think I marginally prefer the remake since I feel Garfield and Rains were a tad bit stronger plus that film had The Dead End Kids who added their own brand of humor to the film. Even with that said, there's a lot to enjoy here including a strong performance by Fairbanks and I'd say this is the best I've seen him in the few movies I've watched of his. Young is as charming as ever and adds a lot of warmth to the film and Guy Kibbee is good in the role of the detective looking for Fairbanks. Lyle Talbot, Mickey Rooney and John Wayne both have small roles here as well. What really hurts the film is the actual character being played by Fairbanks. He's such a mean spirited jerk to everyone that it's hard to really care about him in the end.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Original version of the film which would be remade in 1939 as They Made Me a Criminal with John Garfield and Claude Rains. In this version, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. plays the boxer who takes off after accidentally killing a man. He winds up on a farm for sick children where he soon falls for one of the women (Loretta Young) working there. When the farm is about to be lost due to taxes, the boxer must risk his freedom by fighting again. This is an extremely good movie but I think I marginally prefer the remake since I feel Garfield and Rains were a tad bit stronger plus that film had The Dead End Kids who added their own brand of humor to the film. Even with that said, there's a lot to enjoy here including a strong performance by Fairbanks and I'd say this is the best I've seen him in the few movies I've watched of his. Young is as charming as ever and adds a lot of warmth to the film and Guy Kibbee is good in the role of the detective looking for Fairbanks. Lyle Talbot, Mickey Rooney and John Wayne both have small roles here as well. What really hurts the film is the actual character being played by Fairbanks. He's such a mean spirited jerk to everyone that it's hard to really care about him in the end.