The Prizefighter and the Lady

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Steve D Nothing new but solid. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/03/24 Full Review LJ L An entertaining pre code era film. which provides an interesting mix of a comedy, drama, musical, gangster and sports movie all rolled into one. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member There is a lot to like about this movie, starting with the beautiful Myrna Loy, who is caught in a love triangle between a gangster and an up and coming boxer. The boxer is played by real life heavyweight Max Baer, who is certainly as good an actor as most for the time period, and very interesting to watch. The gangster is played well by Otto Kruger, so it's a strong cast. The film's pace over the first half or so is great, and I found myself a little surprised with one of the directions it took, but I won't spoil it. I liked seeing Loy singing (though it may have been lip sync'd), and it was fun (and a little silly) to see Baer in a pretty long musical number later. That's probably the beginning of where the film finds itself being a little too long, but it's really the big fight at the end with real-life champion Primo Canera which drags on. They introduce a number of other real-life boxers, which may have been a thrill to boxing fans in 1933, but with the exception of Jack Dempsey, is less interesting today (at least to me). During these introductions, there is a pretty mean joke about Kate Smith, who is said to be in the audience "sitting in seats one, two, and three". The boxing action itself is spotty - director W.S Van Dyke includes some nice shots, such as Carnera coming out of his corner, as well as an overhead angle, but there is quite a bit of footage that you can tell has been sped up, and quite a bit that looks unrealistic. I also hated the ending. Oddly enough, in a movie with so many big name boxers, it was the boxing that caused me to drop the rating a bit. Still worth watching though. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Routine boxing picture is made better than average by starring Myrna Loy in one of her earlier role, where she often played a vamp, before she hit it big as Nora Charles in "The Thin Man" and also that the film features real life boxer Max Baer fighting the world heavyweight champ at the time, Primo Carnera, which gives the film some historical significance. You also get Jack Dempsey making an appearance as himself. The story isn't anything special. Baer falls for a gangster's mol, Loy, and the film ends with a climactic boxing match, but the presence of Loy and the exciting boxing scenes featuring real-life boxers make up for the films cliched story. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Prizefighter and the Lady

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