That was an excellent one.

just watch it!

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Co-produced and directed by W.S. Van Dyke, with an original story by two time Oscar winner Frances Marion, which was adapted by John Lee Mahin and John Meehan, this average boxing film features real heavyweight champion Max Baer with Myrna Loy in the title roles. Ring champs Primo Carnera and Jack Dempsey also appear, as themselves. Walter Huston plays an ex-manager, now a drunk, who discovers Baer's character as a bouncer in a bar; Vince Barnett plays his trainer. Otto Kruger plays a gangster who's "kept" Loy's character, a singer at his club, in furs and jewels. Robert McWade plays Kruger's trigger man.Upon discovering Baer, whom he thinks will be the next heavyweight champion, Huston's character sobers up and begins promoting his young, handsome fighter. While they're doing road training, Loy's car crashes nearby such that she's rescued by Baer, who instantly falls for her. Unable to "wash him out of her hair", Loy breaks with Kruger and marries the pugilist.Huston "bans" Loy from Baer's practice camp for the good of his training, but Baer strays (with various other women) while his winning streak grows to 19 bouts over the course of a year, earning him a shot at the title with Carnera. Loy learns about the cheating, giving Baer one more chance, which he blows. Kruger is only too happy to help Baer get his chance, setting him up for a beating by Carnera, after Loy returns to his lair.The climactic fight includes Dempsey as its referee. The ending is as unbelievable as it is predictable, at least for today's audience, but it must have been "original" at the time, explaining why Marion received a Best Writing Achievement Oscar nomination for this film.

When muscular Max Baer (as Steve Morgan) shows his fisticuffs and strength in a bar, alcoholic fight promoter Walter Huston (as Edwin "Professor" Bennett) sobers up fast. While training for his first bout, Mr. Baer rescues lovely nightclub singer Myrna Loy (as Belle Mercer) from a road mishap and invites her to the fight. They are mutually attracted, but she is otherwise engaged with gangster Otto Kruger (as Willie Ryan). Jack Dempsey and other boxers appear. Nothing too revolutionary happens here, but the "big fight" ending at Madison Square Garden is more realistic than average; it features Baer, a real boxer becoming a concurrent movie star, fighting his actual rival Primo Carnera.****** The Prizefighter and the Lady (11/10/33) W.S. Van Dyke ~ Max Baer, Myrna Loy, Walter Huston, Otto Kruger

I watched this film because of the involvement of 30s great W.S. Van Dyke and his oftentimes leading lady Myrna Loy, and I was more or less satisfied with his direction and her performance as Belle. Also, Walter Huston does good work as Steve Morgan's manager, "The Professor", and I was particularly impressed with Otto Kruger's unusual performance as Willie Ryan, Belle's bitter ex.However, there is a black hole at the center of this film, and its name is Max Baer. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time to cast a real boxer as Steve Morgan -- and they could've done much worse, as Primo Carnera and Jack Dempsey evince toward the end of the film -- but I would've much rather seen a real actor in the role.I wish I knew more about what went with the director's chair on this film. IMDb says that both W.S. Van Dyke and Howard Hawks directed it; however, the film itself features no director credit at all! Because Van Dyke is credited as producer, while Hawks' name appears nowhere in the film's credits, I finally decided to consider this a W.S. Van Dyke film. However, it's possible that I'll change my mind if I ever find out what went on behind the scenes.Thanks to Turner Classic Movies for showing this film, along with countless other entertaining old movies that are otherwise unavailable.Score: SIX out of TEN

Spunky young boxer woos and weds lovely torch singer, snatching her away from under they vigilant eyes of her mobster boyfriend, as it were, but soon, as his boxing star rises he takes to philandering... I wasn't prepared for the impact of this incredibly dynamic early talkie, taut, effective and clearheaded. The way Hawks and Van Dyke tell their story is to the point, the acting by both Loy and real-life boxer Max Baer is vivid and engaging. And yet, nothing will prepare you for the grand finale, the ultimate Madison Sq Garden match, a haven of broken noses and cauliflower ears. The fight itself is wonderfully, imaginatively shot with alternating angles, intermingled with shots of Loy and Walter Huston in the audience, fights breaking out, ladies swooning, desperate last-minute bets taking place, cutting faster and faster, faster and faster. Quite a feat, recommended.