Kid Galahad (1937)

Innocent country boy (Wayne Morris) working as a bellhop stumbles into a chance to be chivalrous, and comes through with flying colors. Well, with a right cross, anyway -- the big oaf decks the winner of tht night's bout, which fight promoter Donati (Edward G. Robinson) lost a bundle (and his pugilistic protege) on.

Never one to miss an opportunity -- or ignore the wise advice of his sweetheart, Fluff (Bette Davis, who perhaps never looked more gorgeous than she does here) -- Donati takes this diamond in the rough and trains him to be the boxer he had always hoped he'd find. Meanwhile, "Kid Galahad," the sweet-natured bumpkin, has only one dream: to save enough money to buy a farm and raise a family. But a crooked gangster (Humphrey Bogart) isn't about to let that happen, and his fighter wants revenge for what happened at the hotel.

One of the first really good boxing movies, Michael Curtiz's Kid Galahad is stock full of fight-movie cliches, cheesy dialogue, and one-note supporting performances. But it's also a thoroughly entertaining melodrama, thanks in no small part to outstanding leads in Robinson and Davis, and a great turn as a heavy from pre-icon Humphrey Bogart, who lends real menace and tension to counter Robinson's gruff-but-loveable promoter and Davis' wry, clever Fluff.

At no point will the modern viewer be the least bit surprised at what transpires on screen, and yet there's something utterly delightful about the predictability of Kid Galahad. In part, Warren Morris' sincere (if not exactly dynamic) turn as the simple, but very decent Kid (who actually looks like a boxer, in contrast with Elvis and the 1962 remake) delivers the goods in contrast to the dark cynicism of Bogart's character and his gang. The movie makes no pretense about boxing's crooked nature, but shows us a way for an innocent to overcome the corruption within the sport to find his way. And Robinson and Davis are both so good that just watching their verbal parries with one another is worth the time investment alone.

No one will ever confuse Kid Galahad for The Set-Up, The Harder They Fall, or Rocky, even. It's not on par with those classics, to be sure. But it's a fun romp through familiar territory with a great cast, a nice movie for a rainy Sunday afternoon.