You really cannot go wrong in watching a sport/crime genre film in which you have not one, but two boxing promoters who are both a bit slimy towards their boxing club pugilists, especially when these two promoters are the great actors Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson. They have a genuine hate on for each other in and out of the ring. Where the stakes are high by fixing fights so that their significant bets come through with their boxers win or loss.Nick Donati (Edward G. Robinson) has just discovered a young and strong hotel bell hop named Ward Guisenberry / Kid Galahad (Wayne Morris) who he manages to a heavyweight championship title fight that Nick actually has mixed feelings about winning and losing since his novice boxer Kid Galahad has fallen in love with Nick's virgin sister Marie (Jane Bryan). The farm boy turned fighter Ward Guisenberry / Kid Galahad has two women that have fallen in love with his boyish charms and ring innocence. Both Nick's little sister Marie and Nick's arm candy night club singer Louise 'Fluff' Phillips (Bette Davis) both have deep feelings for Kid Galahad. Footnote: I for one just was never able to picture actress Bette Davis as "eye candy" with her strange facial appearance that appeared to have been placed in a vise grip and with her rather thin and balding hair?So the two boxing promoters go after the big purse but which promoter is betting on which fighter to win or lose? The film has some aggressive ring fight scenes, a visible hate-on by the two promoters played by Bogart and Robinson, love lost and gained, and crimes that must not go unpunished. What's not to like?I give the film a decent 6 out of 10 rating.Footnote: the 1941 film remake was titled "The Wagons Roll at Night" starring Humphrey Bogart and Eddie Albert. Instead of the naive young man being a boxer as in this film, Eddie Albert joins Humphrey Bogart's circus as their lion tamer when Eddie falls head over heels for Humphrey's little sister played by then 16 year old Joan Leslie. I believe the remake was slightly better than the original Kid Galahad.

Man, what stylized dialog! Like an old painting it has only grown more precious with time. When somebody asks fight promoter Edward G. Robinson if he really means that threat, he replies, "Say, I mean it PLENTY." Robinson discovers an amateur boxer with a tremendous punch, Wayne Morris, and he and Harry Carey teach Morris more sophisticated techniques like using his left and saving his right until there's an opening.Their opposite number is manager Humphrey Bogart, deceptive and frequently particeps criminis. Morris is sort of an innocent pawn and does what Robinson tells him. Morris seems on his way up the title and everything is going well and -- cherchez la femme! Robinson's moll, Bette Davis, falls for the big dumb lug of a fighter, but he's too dumb to realize it. Morris meets Robinson's sister, recently released from the convent for good behavior, and they fall for one another. Robinson is insanely jealous of both. He envies and hates Morris and agrees with Bogart to send Morris into the ring with the wrong instructions, thus losing the title fight.It was 1937 and this was Michael Curtiz at the helm. During Morris's rise to fame, we are subject to the banner headlines of half a dozen whirling newspapers with names that never were -- The Cincinnati Beobachter, the Minneapolis Dagbladet, the El Paso Concha, The Lancaster Volkskrant, The Chicago Gazeta Polska, and so on. The headlines leave no doubt about the message. GALAHAD FLOORS MANTICORE IN 2ND!!!! The performances are mostly up to par. Robinson has a chance to display the three personae he showed us in "Little Caesar": the cocky wise guy on the way up, the domineering boss, and the self-doubting hesitant who is unable to shoot his erstwhile partner.Bette Davis has never been better or more appealing. Whatever "magnetism" is, Jane Bryan doesn't have it.This was Wayne Morris's big break. He's tall, handsome, well-built, naive, and can't act. He had a fine war record. (Kids: that's a reference to World War II. The Allies (us) fought the Axis (them). PS: We won.) After that he appeared occasionally in villainous or wimpish roles, as in "Paths of Glory." Those roles fit the requirements of the Peter Principle. His boxing technique -- and I say this as an expert, having spent at least two, and possibly three, minutes in an amateur ring -- his boxing technique is rudimentary. He's supposed to have a long reach and lead with his left hand, right? So instead of facing his adversary at an angle, like a fencer presenting a smaller target, he stands facing his opponent foursquare, the reach of both hands now equal, throwing away any advantage he might have had.There's a surprisingly subtle moment embedded in all the action. Morris and Bryan are in love and spend a night in the city. Morris takes her to hear Bette Davis sing at a nightclub, and Davis, who silently loves Morris, joins them for a moment. Bryan and Davis have never met before. As Davis is about to leave them, Morris asks her to stay longer, but she demurs. Turning to Bryan she says with a polite smile, "You know, don't you?" "Yes." Morris puts down his drink and asks, "Know what?" He's so damned stupid it's all over his head.This film was put out by the Warners movie machine and delivers what you'd expect. It rockets along and leads to a satisfactory shoot out which the unambivalently good guys survive so they can live happily ever after. Except for Bette Davis, who wanders off alone into the night, perhaps on strike.

Don't be fooled by the starry cast! This average Warner Bros. boxing movie just recycles the usual clichés and mostly generates yawns instead of excitement.Of course, it's altogether not too bad and the big names get by on pure nostalgia, but the main plot line remains bland and forgettable despite some small touches of interest. The inconsistency of tone is another minus, while the Robinson-Davis liaison certainly has its share of snappy moments.But naturally, the pic's still miles ahead of the Elvis remake. Yuck! 5 out of 10 'fluffy' Bette Davises

The reason I was disappointed is that I'd seen it maybe ten years ago. And loved it. I thought it was superb, gripping, heartbreaking. Maybe that's how it does come across the first time one sees it.This time it was pretty routine. Bette Davis, improbably nicknamed Fluff in the movie, is fine. Edward G. Robinson, an excellent actor, does a good job. Wayne Morris is immensely likable.Morris plays the title character -- a bellboy discovered by fight-promoter Robinson at a party in a hotel. He has a fresh, innocent quality. He's also believable as a fighter. What happens is sad, though the Jane Bryan part is a little sugary. Not to say I don't like her. She could be an excellent actress.Morris went on to play in some very uninspired movies at Warner Brothers soon after this. He sounds like a most admirable human being but he didn't have a lot of charisma on screen. But here, early in his career, he is playing an honorable innocent. And he does a superb job.