The Life of Jimmy Dolan

1933's The Life of Jimmy Dolan, a fine movie, is a good example of how the Motion Picture Production code of July 1934 changed movies, since, for comparison, you have the 1939 remake, They Made Me a Criminal. The big difference is that the remake turns a tough story into sentimental claptrap, making sure that crime does not pay. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. doesn't get the credit he deserves as a star in the Warner Bros. repertory company, but he looks too skinny and upper class for a champion boxer. John Garfield is better cast for the part, especially with his nervous energy. But the 1933 picture is way more realistic and cynical. In the 1933 version of a boxer's life, everyone has hard times, including John Wayne, who gets carried out after trying to go the distance in a boxing contest between amateurs and a pro fighter. Production Code Administrator Breen wouldn't allow crime to pay at all, liked a white bread world and would have stopped Warner Bros. from re-releasing The Life of Jimmy Dolan. That was not a problem, because of the remake. The better movie about the boxer on the lam is the one made in 1933. Gritty movies like The Life of Jimmy Dolan vanished until after the demise of the Production Code in the early 1960s. What movies Hollywood would have made if not for rigid censorship for over 25 years is an unanswerable question. Warner Bros. pre-code sound movies indicate that older movies made before censorship have dated a lot better than much of the drivel released during the Breen censorship period.

The Life of Jimmy Dolan is a film about a boxer who gets into some trouble. Jimmy (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) is a cocky, selfish, but famous boxer who has won himself a prestigious title in the sport. During a night of partying, he hauls off and punches a reporter, who falls and strikes his head on the fireplace, which kills him instantly. Dolan's friends are just as self-serving as he is, and they leave him passed out and penniless, set up as an intentional murderer. However, after a drunken high speed police chase, Dolan's manager and girlfriend are dead, causing police to believe that it was Dolan driving and that he was killed. This gives him a chance to run away, but an elderly cop (Guy Kibbee) is skeptical about Dolan's whereabouts.

Jimmy wanders to a farm away from the city, and telling the people there that his name is Jack, takes up residence. He soon has eyes for the beautiful Peggy (Loretta Young) who is under the watchful eye of her aunt (Aline MacMahon). The farm is a getaway for orphaned children (among them Mickey Rooney and Farina Hoskins), who quickly idolize Jack. They encourage him to participate in a local boxing match, which Jack greets skeptically.

Every actor is great in this film, especially character star Kibbee, whose character is appropriately sympathetic and menacing. Fairbanks is an excellent leading man; his good looks and charm make him lovable despite Dolan's selfish character.

This movie was remade with John Garfield and The Dead End Kids in 1939 as They Made Me a Criminal. This early version is better for many reasons, namely the cast, but this version is much more sentimental and less adult thanks to the choice in children. The Dead End Kids add a signature spin on the film, which enhances it greatly, but The Life of Jimmy Dolan is better overall.

THE LIFE OF JIMMY DOLAN is a thoroughly entertaining and absorbing little film about a fighter who accidentally kills a man and is advised to go on the run to avoid prison.

It features DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, JR. in what is possibly one of his best early roles as the fighter who finds refuge in a country home for crippled children. He also finds romance in the form of LORETTA YOUNG, then in her early 20s and very lovely. The romantic moments between Fairbanks and Young are tender and charming, well-played by both who have good chemistry with each other.

In bit roles are MICKEY ROONEY (as one of the kids who worships the fighter), and JOHN WAYNE as an amateur boxer who needs the fight money for his wife. But the best support comes from ALINE MacMAHON as the feisty Scottish woman who bosses Fairbanks around while appreciating his manly charm as much as Loretta.

An interesting tale later remade in the '40s with John Garfield as THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL, told here with warmth and humor. If you're a fan of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. or Loretta Young, you can't afford to miss this little gem.

I love Turner Classic Movies for programming old, less-than-classic movies like this nearly forgotten 1933 Warner Bros. chestnut. While channel surfing, I came across this one and was drawn in by the charming, natural performances of Loretta Young, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and the children. I won't rehash the plot because it's been done in other reviews. It's astonishing to see the familiar faces, sometimes unbilled, playing supporting roles in this one. I instantly recognized Aline MacMahon, Lyle Talbot, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee (excellent) and child stars Mickey Rooney, Anne Shirley and Allen "Farina" Hoskins. And then there's John Wayne in an early non-Western role as a boxer. Rooney and Hoskins were veterans by this time, effortless scene stealers who could wring tears as easily as laughs. I wasn't familiar with child actor David Durand and he's quietly charming as a crippled boy. It's amazing how satisfying a simple, beautifully-crafted movie made for pennies compared to today's CGI-laden millon-dollar blockbusters can be. I'm just grateful that the programmers at TCM refuse to allow little treasures like "The Life of Jimmy Dolan" to gather dust in a can on a vault shelf. And this was just one movie in a day filled with other early Thirties treasures from the Hollywood assembly line. Long live TCM!

Compulsively entertaining spiritual regeneration yarn with a surprising layer of sensitivity and depth to offset the mawkishness. The dapper Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is more than a mite improbable as the title character, a middleweight boxing champ, but delivers a charming and sympathetic portrait of a hard-luck cynic.

Framed for a murder and thought to be dead, an embittered Jimmy D. takes to the lonely road and winds up on a health ranch for invalid children. Run by sad-eyed earth mother Aline MacMahon and the winsome Loretta Young, and populated with the likes of such professional heart-tuggers as Mickey Rooney and Allen "Farina" Hoskins, you can bet that Jimmy's redemption is waiting around the bend. But the film is so sharply written and cunningly played that the shamelessly convenient finale still packs an emotional punch.

With Guy Kibbee as the myopic ex-detective, Lyle Talbot as the crooked manager, and a youthful John Wayne in the antithesis of his macho image as a diffident amateur boxer.