The Crowd Roars (1938)

A young boxer gets caught between a no-good father and a crime boss when he starts dating the boss's daughter, although she doesn't know what daddy does for a living.

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers:

George Bruce (story), Thomas Lennon (screenplay),

Stars:

Robert Taylor, Edward Arnold, Frank Morgan

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Taylor	...	Thomas 'Tommy' / 'Killer' McCoy
Edward Arnold	...	Jim Cain, aka James W. Carson
Frank Morgan	...	Brian McCoy
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Sheila 'Shelia' Carson
William Gargan	...	Johnny Martin
Lionel Stander	...	'Happy' Lane
Jane Wyman	...	Vivian
Nat Pendleton	...	'Pug' Walsh
Charles D. Brown	...	Bill Thorne
Gene Reynolds	...	Tommy McCoy, as a boy
Don 'Red' Barry	...	Pete Mariola
Donald Douglas	...	Murray
Isabel Jewell	...	Mrs. Martin
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Father Patrick Ryan

Storyline

A young boxer gets caught between a no-good father and a crime boss when he starts dating the boss's daughter, although she doesn't know what daddy does for a living.

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Plot Keywords:

training | male in bathtub | gunfight | new york city | madison square garden manhattan new york city | 

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Taglines:

DRAMA! YOUR THRILL OF A LIFETIME! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 August 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

La foule en délire

Filming Locations:

Lake Arrowhead, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Robert Taylor's biographers, his mother walked out in the middle of this movie, upset by all the punishment her son was apparently receiving during the boxing scenes. She asked her son why stand-ins couldn't have been used.

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Goofs

Maureen O'Sullivan is credited onscreen as "Sheila Carson", but her car license is made out to "Shelia Carson", which is also the way she signs her name.

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Quotes

Brian McCoy: Why, Tommy's right has the kick of a Missouri mule, the speed of a striking cobra, and the aim of William Tell.

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Connections

Featured in Sports on the Silver Screen (1997)

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Soundtracks

"When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"
(1912)
Music by Ernest Ball
Lyrics by Chauncey Olcott and George Graff
Sung by Gene Reynolds in a show

User Reviews

After All He's Got Hair On His Chest

After a bunch of early films where Robert Taylor was playing both modern and costumed romantic leads, taking full advantage of his extraordinary good looks, Robert Taylor asked for some more rugged type roles. Louis B. Mayer's answer to his most cooperative of stars was to cast him first in A Yank At Oxford and then in The Crowd Roars.

In the first film, Taylor rowed crew for dear old Oxford where he was a matriculating student. But in The Crowd Roars he's even more rugged as a boxer. The role was chosen for him so he could have lots of opportunities to go bare-chested and show that in fact he's got hair on his chest. Taylor himself made that comment and back in those more innocent days it was to show he was not a powderpuff as if having follicles on your anterior was proof of that.

Overlooked in this hairy situation was the fact that Robert Taylor got a very fine role for himself as a boxer determined to make a quick buck and get out as fast as possible before becoming a punch drunk rummy. He's had poor and he's had rich and rich was better. Back when he was poor he was living hand to mouth with a near do well father, Frank Morgan, and a gentle mother who took in washing because her husband couldn't hold down a job. Taylor's mother in The Crowd Roars was played by Emma Dunn in a brief, but very telling role.

Anyway when young Gene Reynolds grows up to be Robert Taylor he's now supporting dear old dad who's still drinking and gambling. Those two habits are nearly the undoing of his son when he falls into the hands of rival gamblers Edward Arnold and Nat Pendleton. The usual bumbling oaf that Frank Morgan portrays on screen is played far more serious here. It's one of Frank Morgan's best screen roles.

Arnold has his secrets also, his daughter Maureen O'Sullivan and her ditzy friend Jane Wyman think Arnold is a stockbroker, as if that wasn't also gambling. Taylor in courting Sullivan does not disillusion her.

Look for another good performance by William Gargan as a former Light Heavyweight champion who takes an interest in young Gene Reynolds and Lionel Stander as Gargan's trainer and later Taylor's trainer.

The Crowd Roars is a fine film from MGM that went a long way in expanding Robert Taylor's range as thespian.

And we proved he had hair on his chest.