Customer Reviews

Kid Galahad [VHS]

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Promoter Nick Donati (Edward G. Robinson) is hosting a party for prizefight champion Chuck McGraw (William Haade), when the boxer harasses a bellhop, Ward Guisenberry (Wayne Morris), who decks the champ with one punch. That is when Donati's mistress, Fluff Phillips (Bette Davis) suggests that maybe the battling bellhop could be the next champ. She even gives Ward his new nickname, "Kid Galahad" (saw that one coming, right?). So Nick signs the kid and sends him out on the road with his trainer, Silver Jackson (Harry Carey) and Fluff, who falls in love with the Kid, who in turn has no clue as to what is going on. When Fluff rejects Donati's marriage proposal, he assumes the Kid and Fluff have been an item and he intends to get his revenge. Donati arranges a championship fight with McGraw, guaranteeing the champ's crooked manager, Turkey Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) that the Kid will lose and receive a savage beating in the process. Just to make things really complicated, the Kid trains at Donati's farm, where he falls for the promoter's kid sister, Marie (Jane Bryan). During the fight Donati gives the Kid bad instructions, but when Fluff and Marie convince him the Kid never did him any wrong. However, even telling the Kid to go on and win the fight cannot prevent "Kid Galahad" from having a tragic ending.

With a cast like Robinson, Davis and Bogart and director Michael Curtiz, it is easy to see why "Kid Galahad" was considered one of the best fight pictures of its day. The fight sequences are certainly above average and Harry Carey has always been one of my favorite character actors ever since I first saw "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" where he plays the Vice President. Morris has a promising debut in a leading role, but never really gets another film this good in his relatively long career. The screenplay by Seton I. Miller is based on the novel by Francis Wallace. Final Note: "Kid Galahad" was remade as an Elvis Presley musical in 1962 with the King playing the Kid.

If Kid Galahad has one thing going for it, it is the unusual names of some of the characters. Bette Davis is Fluff, the decent and wise girlfriend of a boxing manager/promoter, and she's good in this movie she made before she became the megastar she would become. Humphrey Bogart is Turkey Morgan, another manager/promoter who's the bad guy of the film. This is the kind of role I've seen Bogart do a lot before he became the megastar he would become. It doesn't give him much of a chance to show the talent we know he had. Davis' boyfriend is played by Edward G. Robinson, and he plays the character like ... well... the usual Edward G. Robinson character of the Thirties: flawed and in your face. The boxer that Robinson manages and Davis ends up loving is nicknamed Kid Galahad and is played by Wayne Morris a little too earnestly. This is the kind of quick, predictable, yet fun to watch film that Warner Brothers turned out a lot in the Thirties. It's a chance to see some big stars before they were big stars, and it's not a bad way to pass ninety minutes.

At first glance, Kid Galahad seems typical of the fight films of the 30's. There is the up and coming fighter, Wayne Morris, who has a tough talking manager, Edward G. Robinson. There is the girlfriend who falls for him (both Bette Davis and Jane Bryan), and finally there is the rackets guy, Bogie, who sets up a fixed championship bout.
When I first saw Kid Galahad, I enjoyed it on a surface level, vicariously enjoying Wayne Morris' rise to glory. But as I watched it again, I paid more attention to the subtle interplay between the two female leads, the then superstar Bette Davis, and the newcomer Jane Bryan. It became clear to me that though the ostensible focus was on the rise to the championship of Morris, there was a subplot that gradually loomed as at least as interesting. Early in the film, Bette Davis makes it clear to the audience (but not to the green as grass Morris), that she has fallen in love with him, but because of her role as Edgar G. Robinson's girlfriend, she must keep her feelings to herself. Enter Jane Bryan, who falls in love too, but Morris returns her love. As Bryan gets to know Morris, he keeps telling her how 'swell' Bette Davis is. Naturally, Bryan grows increasingly jealous. Ditto for Bette Davis when she learns that Morris prefers Bryan to her.
For most of the movie, the two women never meet. Near the end they do meet, and for me, the emotional climax is their meeting. Morris and Bryan visit the nightclub where Davis is singing. Davis sees them and approaches their table. As they meet, you can see the two women sizing each other up. Jane Bryan says, "You know,when I first heard about you, I thought that I wouldn't like you, but I do, very much." Davis thanks her, and then responds with an emotional wallop that seems even more powerful when she adds softly, "And you know,don't you?" Naturally, the obtuse Morris is confused. "Know what?" he asks.
The women look at each other and their faces indicate the subtle undertow of the conversation.
Kid Galahad stands out from its competition for all the often quoted reasons,but for me what made the movie click was the understated battle between the ladies that was as least as significant as the punches thrown by the men in the ring.

Edward G. Robinson is cast as a tough manager who discovers, quite by accident, a young bellhop (Wayne Morris) with a punch he feels is strong enough to win a championship for him...

When the fighter falls for his sister (Jane Bryan), Robinson decides to double-cross him and arranges a bout with a tough opponent he feels will beat the kid to pieces...

Bogart, stern and severe, was the malevolent gangster-manager of the tough opponent and, when Robinson has a change of heart through the intercession of his mistress (Bette Davis) and helps the kid win, he and Bogart wind up in a hail of bullets...

The film was remade, in 1941, as "The Wagons Roll at Night" and later, in 1962, as a light-hearted musical in "Kid Gallahad," with Elvis Presley...

On the short list of top-notch fight films, Kid Galahad is played by Wayne Morris, a bellhop who knocks out a prizefight champ with one punch at a party. Promoter Edward G. Robinson signs him to a contract, and Bette Davis, Robinson's girl, falls in love with him. When Robby asks Davis to marry him she declines his offer and tells him her feelings about Morris; Robinson feels cheated and swears secret revenge on Morris. He does this by making a deal with crooked promoter Humphrey Bogart, insuring him the Kid will take a dive, but he wants Bogart's fighter (William Haade) to really pound Morris into the ground first. While in training, the Kid falls for Robinson's sister, played by Jane Bryan. During the fight, Robinson realizes Morris never played him for a sap regarding Davis, and tells him to win the fight. He does, but Bogart, who HAS been double-crossed and lost a ton of money, shoots Robinson in the dressing room. Morris and Bryan end up the lovebirds, while Davis walks off alone into the moonlight. The picture has an excellent script, and some of the fight scenes were photographed brilliantly by Tony Gaudio. There's a real grittiness to the depiction of the fight game that sets the movie off from others. All play their parts to perfection, especially Robinson, Bogart, and Morris. Definitely worth a watch.

"Kid Galahad" is one of a handful of films which Bette Davis made after her court case in 1936 and before superstardom was hers with "Jezebel" in 1938. Each of the films offered a change for Davis: from her ferocity in "Marked Woman" to her suffering heroine in "That Certain Woman" to her sarcastic comedy performance in "It's Love I'm After". She worked very hard and each film propelled her further to the top.

"Kid Galahad" is the second in these "transition" films and it is a very entertaining melodrama. The plot concerns the rise of a bellhop to the top of the prizefighting racket. His manager is Edward G Robinson, always an exciting and versatile performer. Humphrey Bogart plays a rival gangster and Davis is Robinson's girlfriend who falls for the bellhop, Wayne Morris.

Michael Curtiz directs in typical Warner's fashion - fast, economical and exciting. Davis plays one of the most appealing roles of her whole career. She is vulnerable and very likeable. Also, she looks possibly the most attractive she ever did.

Don't miss it.

The depression era spawned alot of the really memorable boxing pictures, such as Golden Boy and this effort "Kid Galahad", and Warner Brothers Pictures with their tough, no nonsense style of film making were ideally qualified to bring such stories to the screen. Here we have the perfect scenerio that Warner Brothers adapted from a Saturday Evening Post story by Francis Wallace about a simple Bell Hop who becomes a heavy weight champion and along with success finds romance in the most unexected places. "Kid Galahad", was Bette Davis' second film following her return to filming after her unsuccessful battle with Warner Brother's over the quality of the scripts she was being given. "Kid Galahad",is really a "man's picture", as they were called at the time and although Davis shines in the role of Louise "Fluff" Phillips, girlfriend of Edward G. Robinson's Nick Donati, her great days as the dramatic queen of Hollywood was still twelve months off with her breakthrough work in "Jezebel".

"Kid Galahad", opens during a rowdy party thrown by Boxing Promoter Nicky Donati (Edward G. Robinson), finding himself short staffed the hotel sends up one of their bellhops Ward Guisenberry (Wayne Morris), to help out. Naive and good looking he becomes the target of one of Donati's boxers Chuck McGraw (William Haade), and in the fight that follows Ward knocks him out cold with little effort. Sized up by Donati's rival Turkey Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) he is sent in for a sham round of boxing where he unknowingly is put against McGraw who is one of the reigning champions. Donati is jealous of anyone who "eyes" his girl "Fluff" Phillips (Bette Davis), and fearing an attraction between Ward and Fluff he hopes that Ward will get a sound beating in the process. However Ward calls their bluff by knocking McGraw out during the fight which sends Turkey even more out for revenge against Donati. Fluff sees the potential in Ward as a prize fighter and gives him a new professional name "Kid Galahad", and a new sensation is born. Taken into Donati's camp Ward becomes the idol of the nation as he only only successively wins all his bouts but also unknowingly wins the heart of Fluff who of course sees the futile situation with her being Donati's girl. On a visit to Donati's mother's farm Ward comes to know Nicky's younger sister Marie where a spirited love blossoms. Nick however has a personal rule that his world of fight promoting never crosses over into his family life and when Ward proposes marriage to Marie, he has Nick's rage to deal with. Back in town Nick decides to just deal with the fight side of Ward's life after Marie also tells him of her love for Ward. In a crucial final fight for the heavy weight championship however Nick becomes a victim finally of a set up by Turkey and in a shoot out in the dressing room both Turkey and Nick are killed. Nick however gives his blessing to Marie to marry the "kid". Fluff in comparison after unselfishly standing aside from her true feelings about the Kid walks away to an uncertain future on her own again.

This type of "rough and tumble", story is most capably handled by legendary director Michael Curtiz who in his heyday turned his hand to such diverse efforts as "Casablanca", and "White Christmas", with equal ease. Here he packs much full blooded action into a 90 minute running time. Bette Davis had fought long and hard for better roles but at first glance her role here would appear to be not much better than many of her pre court case efforts. However despite this Davis still manages with that special talent of hers to inject a lot of life into the loyal girlfriend of Edward G. Robinson's who privately loves Ward "Kid Galahad" Guisenberry only to see him fall in love with another woman. Inspite of the prickly relationship she always had with Edward G. Robinson professionally the two actually combine well on screen here and Robinson shines in a tailor made role of the tough talking Boxing Promoter who is ruthlessly determined to stay at the top of the Boxing heap. The supporting cast here has a well cast collection of up and coming talent plus some seasoned "Warners", veterans who were all still headed for great things after this film. Humphrey Bogart leads the supporting cast as the ruthless "Turkey" Morgan and his portrayal here is one on a long list of similiar roles that he played through the 1930's before finding full stardom with "The Maltese Falcon". His determined and often bloody rivalry with Robinson throughout this story gives this film its required hard edge. Newcomers Wayne Morris as the "kid" and especially Jane Bryan as Marie provide the necessarily youthful element to the story. Bryan found an unlikely mentor in the more experienced Davis and would feature in a number of later Bette Davis starring vehicles such as "The Old Maid".

"Kid Galahad", was remade in the 1960's as a starring vehicle for Elvis Presley and the huge success of that film has somewhat eclipsed the memory of this earlier Warner Brothers effort. Despite that it is a fine film in the boxing genre and while typical of alot of similiar efforts from this period at Warner Brothers, has its own style thanks to Robinson, Davis and Bogart which lifts it out of the run of the mill "programmer", category. It's always a thrill to see Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart square off against each other in these type of films and they repeated their success here in a number of other efforts over the next few years, most notably in "Key Largo". Bette Davis even in this largely "pre stardom" effort always makes her characters interesting to watch and it certainly helped pave the way for her real stardom just on the horizon. For an exciting fight picture with plenty of romance and action thrown in for good measure "Kid Galahad", comes highly recommended.

I bought this movie because because I love Bette Davis not boxing. And she is as great as usual. glad I bought it. It was one my collection didn't have & wanted.

KID GALLAHAD is a film about the rise of a heavyweight fighter who starts out as a bellhop. Wayne Morris plays the part of the fighter. Edward G. Robinson has the role of his manager Nick Donati whose chief rival is a gangster named Turkey Morgan played by Humphrey Bogart. Betty Davis has the role of Nick's girl friend who is known as Fluff Phillips.

It may be a tired old story but the acting is generally superb. The supporting cast includes Jane Bryan and Harry Carey.I notice that Don Defore appears in a bit part as a ringsider.

Director Michael Curtiz also directed CASABLANCA as well as many other good movies. KID GALLAHAD received no Oscar nominations and definitely was not quite in the same league with CHAMPION which was made just twelve years later. The Academy Awards competition in 1937 was dominated by THE GOOD EARTH, THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA, CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS and THE AWFUL TRUTH.

Bellhop Ward Guisenberry (Wayne Morris) is mixing drinks at a party being thrown by boxing manager Nick Donati and his mistress, Louise Phillips, known as Fluff. When Sam McGraw, the fighter owned by gangster Turkey Morgan, insults Fluff, Ward punches him, knocking him out. After a few interesting episodes, Guisenberry later becomes known as Kid Galahad, a renowned boxer. KID GALAHAD was first published in the SATURDAY EVENING POST as a serial from 11 April to 16 May, 1936. The film's working title was the heading and I remember watching it on television in California by that name. In 1962, United Artists tailored the story for none other than Elvis Presley; it was a big hit. Edward G. Robinson once commented about Bette Davis: "I know it's goatish of me to say this, but Davis was somewhat amatuerish and not a terribly talented actress back in 1937" Davis used to refer to Robinson as "Liverlips". Tall, blond and handsome Wayne Morris, had in this probably his best role. I vaguely remember watching him in an outdoor Technicolor movie from 1938 entitled VALLEY OF THE GIANTS - which wasn't a Sci-Fi: the title referred to Sequoia trees!