KID GALAHAD

Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Wayne Morris, Jane Bryan
Year: 1937
Rating: N/R

Long before Elvis Presley did the remake in 1962, three of the biggest names in Hollywood history - Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart - teamed up for this 1937 release featuring Robinson as fight promoter Nick Donati, who has just lost his best fighter thanks to a crooked deal the guy cut with Donati's biggest competition, Turkey Morgan (Bogart) to throw the big fight.

Now Morgan holds the heavyweight title winner under his thumb - but things soon change when, during a wild party at Donati's Miami hotel, a tall, good-looking farmboy named Ward Guisesnberry (Wayne Morris) - working as a bellhop to save money so he can buy his own farm - punches out the heavyweight champ with one blow, while defending the honor of Nicky's girlfriend, Louise "Fluff" Phillips (Bette Davis).

Nicky's suitably impressed (as much as Turkey Morgan is suitably ticked off), and when he puts the bellhop into a real boxing ring, to see if he really has the goods to fight, Guisenberry - soon dubbed "Kid Galahad" by Fluff - quickly works his way up, bout after bout, until he stands a shot at winning the heavyweight champ title himself. Complications arise, however, when Fluff not only falls in love with Galahad ... but also when the Kid meets Nicky's sweet, unspoiled baby sister Marie (Jane Bryan). See, Nicky's spent his life taking care to make sure Marie attends a convent school, remains simple and pure, and never - EVER - gets involved with fighters, or in any way with the unscrupulous types or business he himself has gotten into. And as Kid and Marie fall in love, trying to keep things from Nicky, Turkey Morgan is also developing a plan to put Kid Galahad out of commission for good.

For such an amazing powerhouse cast (Davis and Bogart are my all-time favorite actors, and I've always had a soft place in my heart for Edward G. Robinson, since seeing Little Caesar so many years ago), somehow I found the film still lacking. Oh, the cast is terrific - even if Jane Bryan can't really keep up with the trio of all-stars she's playing with - and that includes Wayne Morris, who almost seems to BE the naive farmboy, rather than playing him.

But the fight sequences aren't particularly satisfying (one, in fact, is so obviously sped up, the film going at fast-forward through the whole thing, it ends up being distracting), and in general there's a corniness to the story that's more trite than endearing. Davis pretty much steals the film from her co-stars, playing Fluff with real heart and kindness, while Bogart does his so menacing in this early supporting role, you can easily see, here, why he would soon become a film mega-star in his own right.

Maybe it's me - I'm not that into fight films - but while I enjoyed the movie, there was just something lacking. Definitely worth seeing, thanks to the performances of the top-notch cast, but somehow lacking overall. **1/2 - Reel Mediocre-Reel Cool