From my favorite movies..

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I admired Edward G. Robinson's acting when he was in films other than the standard gangster stories. Although this one does have some ties to gangsters (after all the boxing game wasn't any too clean back in the day), several aspects of this film put it a step above most boxing pictures.First, this film has heart. Not the gritty heart you might expect in a boxing film (although that is here, too), but the heart one feels seeing Robinson with his mother on the farm. From Florida to New York to White Plains, this film has a broader scope than most from the mid-1930s.Second, the fight scenes are relatively realistic. In the big fight toward the end of the film, watch for the rope burns on the hero's back.Third, while a cut above most films of the genre, this is still a morality play -- good versus evil.Fourth, the acting here is quite good. This is one of Edward G. Robinson's best pictures, from my perspective. He treads the fine line between good brother and son, and slightly dirty fight promoter very well. Despite some dirty dealings, you are able to maintain a liking of his character...until the close of the picture. Bette Davis is very good here, as well. She is treading a fine line as well -- in love with two men, and her depiction of the triangle is quite good. Humphrey Bogart is pretty dapper and quite handsome here, but make no mistake, for this story he's the real bad guy. Wayne Morris -- never high on my list of supporting actors -- plays the boxer who just wants to buy a farm just perfectly. And, he really looks as if he could be a boxer. Though it's not a large part, one of my very favorite character actors is here -- Harry Carey, as the cut man and trainer.As the film progresses, it's clear someone is going to die at the climax. Will it be Kid Galahad who dies in the ring? Will it be Edward G. Robinson who has walked the tightrope between honesty and evil? Will it be Humphrey Bogart who is the film's real bad guy.The choice of the closing scene is an interesting one.This is probably one for the DVD shelf.

Warner Bros. mix of gangster grit and boxing sweat has fight manager Edward G. Robinson battling with nemesis Humphrey Bogart over fighters, egos, and money (the only thing they don't argue about is dames!). Matters are complicated by a fresh, innocent rube, a bellhop with a right hook whom Robinson wins the confidence of. Bette Davis is Eddie's right-hand-gal who falls in love with the polite, shy Wayne Morris against her better judgment, while Jane Bryan as Eddie's kid sis wins the boxer's heart after graduating from convent school. Based on a Saturday Evening Post story, this smoky, super-emotional and physical melodrama allows each of its players to shine (except for Bryan, who isn't in the same league as the others). Michael Curtiz directed with skill and speed, though an early boxing sequence is too fast (with the film mechanically speeded up for no apparent reason); other scenes in the ring also look hokey, although these are the only incidents which do. Curtiz is amazingly adept at handling actors, and Davis is girlish and positively charming making sweet and light conversation with Morris, whose aw-shucks smiles at her tell us everything we need to know. Later remade as one of Elvis Presley's better pictures. A big fat hit. ***1/2 from ****

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 presence of a trio of some of the best Warner Brothers players from the studio era makes Kid Galahad worth watching. You cannot possibly go wrong in a film that has Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart.After a fight where Robinson's fighter is knocked out by Bogart's pugilist, Robinson throws a party any way. Robinson's palooka lost because he didn't listen to instructions. Bogey and his fighter William Haade come in anyway. During the festivities, William Haade gets fresh with Robinson's girl, Bette Davis, and young bellhop Wayne Morris flattens him with one punch. Robinson thinks he's found a new heavyweight.I doubt there have been too many people more innocent portrayed on the screen than Wayne Morris in this film. The gawky country kid who comes off like a young Jimmy Stewart with a little more meat on his bones manages to get both Davis and Robinson's kid sister Jane Bryan interested in him. That ticks off Robinson considerably and he starts looking at Morris in a new and bad light.Of course the presence of those three Hollywood legends makes Kid Galahad watchable. Davis with little to work with turns in a good performance as the decent girl friend of Robinson who while she's been around the track a few times, has a good heart. Jane Bryan is appealing herself as the sister. She retired early from the screen when she married Justin Dart the founder of Rexall Drugs. Later on Dart became an early backer of another Warner Brother contract player named Ronald Reagan when he opted for politics. Bryan by then a fashionable society hostess was also a big backer of the Gipper.Robinson is good, his fanatical interest in protecting his sister is not as bad as Paul Muni with Ann Dvorak in Scarface, but pretty close without crossing over into incest. Humphrey Bogart is also fine as the mobbed up manager, a type all to familiar in boxing.Kid Galahad is dated, you couldn't have someone today as innocent as Wayne Morris is portrayed on the screen, the film would be laughed at. But those were more innocent times.