Lady and Gent (1932)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Stephen Roberts

Writers:

Grover Jones (writer)
William Slavens McNutt (writer)

Release Date:

15 July 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Plot:

Fresh young boxer Buzz Kinney is just out of college. He's able to knock out Stag Bailey when the veteran becomes over confident...

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

George Bancroft	...	Stag Bailey
Wynne Gibson	...	Puff Rogers
Charles Starrett	...	Ted Streaver
James Gleason	...	Pin Streaver
John Wayne	...	Buzz Kinney
Morgan Wallace	...	Cash Enright
James Crane	...	McSweeley
William Halligan	...	Doc Hayes
Billy Butts	...	Ted (aged 9)
Joyce Compton	...	Betty
Frank McGlynn Sr.	...	Principal
Charley Grapewin	...	Grocer (as Charles Grapewin)
Lew Kelly	...	Coroner
Syd Saylor	...	Joe
Russ Powell	...	2nd Bartender

Also Known As:

The Challenger

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Wind at My Back: A Girl in Trouble (#4.3)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Everyone Knows It But You

Tepid and tedious family values drama c. 1932

This is very tedious early talkie that seems to go on forever. The direction takes its cue from George Bancroft's painfully slow line delivery and is sluggish at best. He plays Stag Bailey, a punk fighter, who loses his last match to up and coming Buzz Kinney (an early performance by John Wayne). When his manager is killed in a holdup attempt to win money lost on the fight, Stag and his girlfriend, Singer/Nightclub owner, Puff Rogers (Wynne Gibson) find that they have inherited a ten year old boy, the son of the manager. They do the decent thing and set up housekeeping, growing old and raising the boy, ultimately turning him away from a desire to make quick cash in the ring. The only thing of interest here is Wynne Gibson, a marvelous comic actress, who does a wonderful job with Puff, balancing the wisecracks with the pathos of aging. The Story earned an Oscar nom but isn't much of anything, in fact owing a bit to 1930's STREET OF CHANCE in its storyline. This is an extremely rare film and even rarer on video. John Wayne has little to do and practically no dialogue but looks promising in this early film (one of eleven he would make that year).