The Crowd Roars

After a bunch of early films where Robert Taylor was playing both modern and costumed romantic leads, taking full advantage of his extraordinary good looks, Robert Taylor asked for some more rugged type roles. Louis B. Mayer's answer to his most cooperative of stars was to cast him first in A Yank At Oxford and then in The Crowd Roars.

In the first film, Taylor rowed crew for dear old Oxford where he was a matriculating student. But in The Crowd Roars he's even more rugged as a boxer. The role was chosen for him so he could have lots of opportunities to go bare-chested and show that in fact he's got hair on his chest. Taylor himself made that comment and back in those more innocent days it was to show he was not a powderpuff as if having follicles on your anterior was proof of that.

Overlooked in this hairy situation was the fact that Robert Taylor got a very fine role for himself as a boxer determined to make a quick buck and get out as fast as possible before becoming a punch drunk rummy. He's had poor and he's had rich and rich was better. Back when he was poor he was living hand to mouth with a near do well father, Frank Morgan, and a gentle mother who took in washing because her husband couldn't hold down a job. Taylor's mother in The Crowd Roars was played by Emma Dunn in a brief, but very telling role.

Anyway when young Gene Reynolds grows up to be Robert Taylor he's now supporting dear old dad who's still drinking and gambling. Those two habits are nearly the undoing of his son when he falls into the hands of rival gamblers Edward Arnold and Nat Pendleton. The usual bumbling oaf that Frank Morgan portrays on screen is played far more serious here. It's one of Frank Morgan's best screen roles.

Arnold has his secrets also, his daughter Maureen O'Sullivan and her ditzy friend Jane Wyman think Arnold is a stockbroker, as if that wasn't also gambling. Taylor in courting Sullivan does not disillusion her.

Look for another good performance by William Gargan as a former Light Heavyweight champion who takes an interest in young Gene Reynolds and Lionel Stander as Gargan's trainer and later Taylor's trainer.

The Crowd Roars is a fine film from MGM that went a long way in expanding Robert Taylor's range as thespian.

And we proved he had hair on his chest.

There is enough plot here for five pictures (all of which were made before this one), probably to compensate for paper-thin characters and a total lack of plausibility. The script tries earnestly to justify the unmarked features of a boxer who looks exactly like the young, very handsome Robert Taylor. Dewy-eyed Maureen O'Sullivan is sent to a finishing school by her unsavory (until the end) father, gambler Edward Arnold, but manages to become involved with the fight game (and Robert Taylor) when his training camp is set up at her country home! Low-key believable performances by Lionel Stander and William Gargan are helpful, but Jane Wyman is something of an embarrassment as a flirty, Southern-drawling cutie pie, and Frank Morgan dithers and chortles his way through yet another characteristic role.

With such a wonderful story or plot, this movie overcomes the bias that one might have for the believability of Robert Taylor as a boxer. You can't help but pull for Tommy McCoy to win. If you like a myriad of emotions within a movie then I would definitely recommend this one. I laughed, choked back a tear and I was on the edge of my seat during the ending. This movie has everything that makes a great movie. It has a wonderful plot, a great lead actor with a great supporting cast, a beautiful actress (Maureen O'Sullivan), good versus evil, suspense and a surprise ending. The Crowd Roars is a gem that I plan on adding to my collection. You don't have to be a sports fan to love this one, but it does help. I can't understand how this movie has gotten lost in roar of the crowd.

"The Crowd Roars" is 1938 black and white boxing film starring Robert Taylor as "Killer" McCoy. It was remade (less successfully) in 1947 with Mickey Rooney.

Good looking Robert Taylor (1911-69) plays a boxer in an attempt by MGM to move him away from his "pretty boy" image in films like "Magnificent Obsession" (1935) and "Camille" (1936). He followed this one with two of his most memorable - "Ivanhoe" (1952), and "Knights of the Round Table" (1953). If you're a Taylor fan, you'll enjoy his role as a tough guy.

Maureen O'Sullivan (1911-1998) plays Taylor's love interest. She teamed with Taylor the same year in "A Yank in Oxford" (1938). She's most famous for playing Jane 6 times in the Tarzan films (1932-1942) but unlike Weissmuller, she played many other roles during that time, including "Tugboat Annie" (1933), "The Thin Man" (1934), "A Day at the Races" (1937), and "Pride and Prejudice" (1940). She slowed down in the 40s to devote time to her husband and 7 children, one of whom is the actress Mia Farrow.

Edward Arnold (1890 – 1956) plays the crime boss. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1916 to 1956. He's best known for playing Daniel Webster in "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1941) and Diamond Jim Brady in "Diamond Jim". He's one of the few hefty men who were ever able to achieve leading man status, but staying "hefty" (and not going to fat) was such a problem for him that he ultimately decided to let his girth expand while his stardom faded. This earned him many meaty character roles.

Frank Morgan (1890-1949) plays Taylors' father. Morgan will forever be remembered as the "Wizard of Oz" (1939) but this was only 1 of nearly 100 film performances between 1916 and 1950, including Oscar nominations for "The Affairs of Cellini" (1934) and "Tortilla Flat" (1942).

Beautiful Jane Wyman (1917-2007) plays O'Sullivan's friend. She is best known for her Oscar winning performance in "Johnny Belinda" and her recurring role as Angela Channing on "Falcon Crest" (1981-90). Other notable roles include "Lost Weekend" (1945), "The Yearling" (1946), "The Glass Menagerie" (1950), and "Magnificent Obsession" (1954). She racked up 4 Oscar nominations, 2 Emmy nominations, and won the Golden Globe 3 times. She was Ronald Reagan's first wife (1940-48).

Well known boxers Maxie Rosenblum, Jim McLarin, and Jack Roper also appear.

Variety called it exciting melodrama with plenty of ring action, some plausible romance and several corking good characterizations."

Richard Thorpe (1896-1991) was a busy director with MGM, with more than 185 films between 1924 and 1967, receiving critical praise for his work on "The Great Caruso" (1951), "Ivanhoe" (1952), and "Knights of the Round Table" (1953).

There are dozens of boxing films. My favorites are "The Champ" (1931), "Champion" (1949), "Cinderella Man" (2005), "The Fighter" (2010), "Raging Bull" (1980), "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1956), and "Rocky" (1976). Not included in this list are several films about fighters but the fight action is secondary (e.g., "On the Waterfront", "The Quiet Man", "The Great White Hope", "Snatch").

One of the very best boxing films of the 1930's and early 1940's and very definitely much better than the 1947 remake with Mickey Roony as "Killer" McCoy. Robert Ryan looks like a light heavyweight and it looks like he can actually throw a punch. As a boxing fan I look for a sense of reality in the fights, and this film has it.

However, the best part of the film are the performances, especially Frank Morgan (the wizard in the 1939, Judy Garland version of "The Wizard of Oz"). Other notable performances are turned in by a young Lionel Stander as the killer's trainer (TV fans will remember him from Hart to Hart). Young and handsome Eddy Arnold is excellent as the gambler/manager. Maureen O'Sullivan carries off the role of the young, college girl love interest with the same innocence she displayed when she broke into films 9 years and 39 films earlier. It's quite a contrast to the more adult roles she was playing at the time.

Director Richard Thorpe captures the atmosphere of the boxing ring and the gambling world quite convincingly. His attention to detail and experience (this is his 120th film) are quite evident, though necessarily the most imaginative. While the film IS superior to the 1947 remake, the director of that film, Roy Rowland, does a much better job of showing the crowd's blood lust in the 8th round of the final fight.