Movie Review: Tough Kid (1938)
Synopsis: Skipper Murphy looks up to his older brother, Red, who is a professional boxer. When Red returns from a fight with a new manager, Bill Grogan, Skipper is suspicious, even after Grogan secures Red a title shot. This leads to an argument between the brothers when Red's girlfriend, Ruth, comes down sick, he is told she needs surgery and Red agrees to throw the fight so he can have money to pay for it.
Who's in it? The movie stars Frankie Darro, Dick Purcell, Judith Allen, Don Rowan and William Ruhl.
Review: I was only introduced to Frankie Darro a short while ago but have become a casual fan of his movies. So, when nothing else caught my eye this morning, I decided to watch another of his films, Tough Kid. It ended up being a good choice for the most part.
To be honest, of the Frankie Darro performances I've seen, this one was my least favorite. He may be the star but his character, Skipper, really doesn't have much of a personality. He looks up to his big brother and that's pretty much the extent of his backstory. In fact, there were times when it felt as though this movie was supposed to have been centered around Red (Purcell), and should have been, but the filmmakers wanted to give Darro enough screen time to justify having him get top billing.
That said, I did think the overall movie was decent. The way Red was set up by the main villain, Monk (Ruhl) was clever and elaborate and, had the movie not reviewed some of the details before hand, might have even fooled me for a short while. The decision he had to make as a result of that, throw the fight to pay for a surgery or let Ruth (Allen) die, or so he believed, was a tough one. And even if Red had figured out he was being played, Monk still had Ruth held in an undisclosed location and could have used that as leverage.
I am also going to say the ending wasn't at all what I was expecting it to be, especially when Darro learned the truth but in too little time to get to the boxing match and let Red know. This, along with Grogan's (Rowan) allegiance still in question made me wonder just how the movie would turn out.
On the flip side of that, I did think the ending left out big chunks of information, including where Ruth was being held the whole time, how she was treated and how they eventually found her. I'm assuming the answer to the last question was Monk told them, but did they need to give up something in return and make him a deal? None of this is a huge deal, but it did make the happy, laughing conversation at the end feel a bit inappropriate if she had experienced something traumatizing.
Final Opinion: As I said, Darro's role in the movie was a bit lacking but the overall film was entertaining and not as predictable as I would have expected so I did enjoy it.
My Grade: B-
_______________________________________________________________Here are some reviews of other movies with boxing:
Movie Review: Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
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