Palooka (1934)

On January 26, 1934, United Artists released Palooka (1934) (affiliate link), a feature film based on the popular comic strip.  Stuart Erwin plays Joe Palooka but Jimmy Durante steals the show as his manager Knobby Walsh.  Joe Palooka is the son of former world boxing champion Pete Palooka.

When Joe was a baby, his mother Mayme, played by Marjorie Rambeau, takes him to live in the country.  Disenchanted with Pete’s womanizing, Mayme leaves him and raises Joe to be a clean living young man.

A chance meeting with Knobby Walsh, who is being beaten up by one of his fighters, puts Joe on the path of becoming a professional boxer himself.  The path also puts him on the dissolute path of his father.

Jimmy Durante, known to film fans as “The Old Schnozzola” for his prominent nose, was born James Francis Durante in New York on February 10, 1893.  Durante primarily acted on stage and played in bands but made 46 films during his career.  Durante passed away in Santa Monica, California on January 29, 1980 at the age of 86-years-old.

It runs about 85 minutes and has a superior cast.  William Cagney, James Cagney’s brother, plays Palooka’s antagonist middleweight champion Al McSwat.

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