Although Ham Fisher did create the character Humphrey Pennyworth and introduced him to the Joe Palooka comic strip, I did not at all like it when they introduced Humphrey into the later Monogram films. Their Joe Palooka series was mostly enjoyable but the quality slipped dramatically when Humphrey entered the pictures. Here in "Joe Palooka in The Squared Circle", Humphrey is back. Uggh. Fortunately, he's used very sparingly and is not a main character like he was in the prior two films.
The character of Knobby Walsh was generally played by Leon Errol. Oddly, in the middle of the series, William Frawley played the character once. Now in the last two film, Knobby is played by James Gleason. I thought initially it was because Errol died in 1951 and was probably too sick to play Knobby in these final films. However, Errol was able to make eight shorts which came out AFTER the last two Palooka films...so I really have no idea why he wasn't in the final films in the series.
When the story starts, Joe witness a couple hitmen making a hit in the middle of the wilderness. Joe is nearly killed by them and quickly reports this to the authorities...which makes sense. What does NOT make sense is that no one seems to believe him when they cannot find the body! This makes little sense as Joe is a famous American and there is no rational reason for him to lie...and their not believing him is a bad cliche!
What follows is a film where, once again, gangsters are trying to throw the fight as well as the plot about the hitmen. Both are modestly entertaining and end with a very nice fight sequence...one of the better and more realistic ones in the series. Overall, a fun and entertaining installment in the series.
