Poings de fer, coeur d'or

For the first half of its 66-minute running time, this is a forced, labored, uninspired, supremely talky, but totally unfunny "comedy". But then director Allan Dwan suddenly lifts his game by staging a rather exciting slugging match. After this bout, the script improves as well by introducing the same plot theme that was later better served by "The Baby and the Battleship". This plot gimmick is also used to our advantage by enabling the introduction in quick succession of a whole fleet of familiar, but welcome faces. Alas, the fun doesn't last! Aside from the sequences just mentioned, the movie as a whole has very little to recommend it. The photography is pretty ordinary; Dana Andrews is wasted in a minor role; and the heroine, as written by Frank Wead and played by Nancy Kelly, must rank as one of the least attractive ever presented in a Fox movie. Admittedly, production values are quite lavish by "B" standards, but they can do little to rescue the forced script and the unappealing leads.