Kid Galahad: Boxing, Bogart, and a bit of a mess

Should you bother?

If you like watching Edward G. Robinson yell at people while Humphrey Bogart lurks in the background looking suspicious, you’ll have a grand old time. It’s a solid 1937 flick that hits all the expected beats. If you’re allergic to pre-war melodrama or don’t care for the whole 'tough guy vs. innocent kid' trope, you might want to skip it.

Honestly, the boxing stuff is just a backdrop. The real meat of the movie is the tension between the guys running the show and the girl caught in the middle.

Observations from the sidelines

Edward G. Robinson is playing the same character he always played—the guy who’s constantly holding a cigar and trying to outsmart everyone else. It works here, but it’s predictable. Bogart, meanwhile, looks like he’s bored out of his mind for half the movie, which is kind of funny when you realize he’s supposed to be the heavy.

There’s this one scene where Wayne Morris, the 'Kid' himself, is trying to act all tough and focused. He ends up looking like he’s just trying to remember his lines. It’s charming in a way, but let’s just say he’s no The Fight level performer.

• The training montages are weirdly short. One minute he’s a bellhop, the next he’s taking a punch like a pro.
• Bette Davis is doing a lot of heavy lifting with just her eyes. She’s way too good for this script.
• The suits in this movie? Incredible. Everyone looks like they’re going to a funeral and a prize fight at the same time.

The pacing is a bit weird. The middle act drags on for a solid twenty minutes where people just pace around hotel rooms and argue about percentages. It feels like the director just wanted to get to the next fight scene but couldn't figure out how to get the characters out the door.

Also, the ending is one of those things where you can see the wires pulling. It’s almost too tidy. Everything wraps up with a neat little bow that feels out of place for a movie that spent all its time talking about backstabbing and gambling debts.

It’s not as gritty as The Eagle, obviously, but it’s got enough of that old-school charm to keep you watching. Just don’t expect a masterpiece. It’s a perfectly fine way to kill an hour and a half if you've got nothing better to do. 🥊