The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933)
There have been lots of movies about prizefighters, but how many featured actual boxers in the leading roles? You can watch The Greatest, in which Muhammad Ali plays himself, or you watch The Prizefighter and the Lady, where Max Baer plays an adorable troublemaker with a temper. Ol’ boozehound Walter Huston thinks he can train him in the ring, and a story is born. During the classic training where the pair go to a mountain retreat for no distractions, Max literally runs into society dame Myrna Loy and sweeps her off her feet. What he doesn’t know is that she’s the moll of a very powerful gangster, Otto Kruger. Can he have love, the title, and keep his life?
In a nutshell, the message of the movie is pretty bad. Max is a real doll, but how far can a cute face get you? He treats his devoted wife Myrna terribly, but in 1933, she isn’t supposed to do anything except stand by her man and continue to love and forgive him. He’s a philanderer, rude, inconsiderate, selfish, and hurtful. But the message isn’t really about him changing his ways; it focuses more on Myrna having to realize that married life has its downs and downs. It’s supposed to be such an improvement in her life that she marries Max, when she was merely the mistress of Otto. However, Otto treats her far better than Max, even after she’s broken his heart and humiliated him. Why isn’t the message of the movie for Myrna to realize her mistake and run back to Otto? Incidentally, I really liked him in this supporting role. He was mature and understanding, and without his “I’m the German bad guy” accent he also had some tenderness.
Max does a pretty good job in front of the camera for a non-actor. He’s charming and doesn’t have that “I’m scared to look in the camera” a lot of folks have during their debuts. Plus, there’s an extended song and dance number that’s just adorable. Really, girls, Max is too cute. Unfortunately, it’s really a throwaway part for Walter Huston. Except for contractual obligations, I can’t imagine why he would take this one-dimensional part. You’d never guess he was one of the finest actors of the 1930s from this movie.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Juhi Thaker" for posting!
More Myrna Loy movies here!
In a nutshell, the message of the movie is pretty bad. Max is a real doll, but how far can a cute face get you? He treats his devoted wife Myrna terribly, but in 1933, she isn’t supposed to do anything except stand by her man and continue to love and forgive him. He’s a philanderer, rude, inconsiderate, selfish, and hurtful. But the message isn’t really about him changing his ways; it focuses more on Myrna having to realize that married life has its downs and downs. It’s supposed to be such an improvement in her life that she marries Max, when she was merely the mistress of Otto. However, Otto treats her far better than Max, even after she’s broken his heart and humiliated him. Why isn’t the message of the movie for Myrna to realize her mistake and run back to Otto? Incidentally, I really liked him in this supporting role. He was mature and understanding, and without his “I’m the German bad guy” accent he also had some tenderness.
Max does a pretty good job in front of the camera for a non-actor. He’s charming and doesn’t have that “I’m scared to look in the camera” a lot of folks have during their debuts. Plus, there’s an extended song and dance number that’s just adorable. Really, girls, Max is too cute. Unfortunately, it’s really a throwaway part for Walter Huston. Except for contractual obligations, I can’t imagine why he would take this one-dimensional part. You’d never guess he was one of the finest actors of the 1930s from this movie.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Juhi Thaker" for posting!
More Myrna Loy movies here!