The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933)

Writers:

John Lee Mahin (screenplay) and
John Meehan (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 November 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Romance | Comedy

Plot:

An ex-sailor turned boxer finds romance and gets a shot at the heavyweight title.

Plot Keywords:

Training | Marital Separation | Nightclub | Boxing | Romantic Rivalry

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Myrna Loy	...	Belle
Max Baer	...	Steve
Primo Carnera	...	Carnera
Jack Dempsey	...	Promotor
Walter Huston	...	Professor
Otto Kruger	...	Willie Ryan
Vince Barnett	...	Bugsie
Robert McWade	...	Adopted Son
Muriel Evans	...	Linda
Jean Howard	...	Show Girl

Also Known As:

Every Woman's Man
The Sailor and the Lady (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1303-R: 26 August 1935 for re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Primo Carnera was the world's heavyweight boxing champion when this film was made and released. He refused to make the movie using the first script, which had him knocked out in the end, but agreed to a revised script with an additional $10,000 salary.

Goofs:

Continuity: Steve buttons up his sweater, straightens the bottom and puts his hands in his pockets in one shot with the Professor. In the next shot, when he's facing Belle, he buttons the bottom buttons again (before putting his hands in his pockets again).

Movie Connections:

Featured in Sports on the Silver Screen (1997) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Downstream Drifter

Better than the clumsy title would suggest

In earlier viewer comments I notice that Max Baer is referred to both as a "lunk" and as a dominating presence. He had every opportunity, since he appears in a majority of the scenes. The script called on him to demonstrate incredibly diverse talents, even as he was surrounded by such seasoned performers as Myrna Loy, Walter Huston and Otto Kruger, all of whom give excellent performances. We see him in semi-comic scenes as a braggart strong man; in love scenes with Myrna Loy in which something seems really to be going on between them, and in flirtations or affairs with other women; in a ten-minute "dance" number embodying fighter training techniques with a line of chorus girls; and finally in an only slightly abridged championship fight with the then heavyweight champ Primo Carnera, anticipating their actual battle a year later. It's amazing that a screen neophyte with no drama training actually brings these off credibly; I agree with the dominating presence comment. If you look at his subsequent filmography, it's clear that he never had another significant opportunity; perhaps it was necessary for a film to be built around him as this one was. As I watched this film last night the thought came to me that he was born fifty years too soon; he could have been successful in the kind of roles recently played by Stallone and Schwarzenegger, neither of whom, in my opinion, has the range for which Baer showed the potential.