THE SPORT PARADE (1932)

This little-known film is built on the warhorse narrative frame of a romantic triangle between two close buddies and the girl who threatens to tear apart their friendship. However, the acting and the directorial style (not to mention the youthful pulchritude of leading man Joel McCrea) make this one stand out. McCrea and William Gargan play college friends and teammates on Dartmouth's winning football team. After graduation, Gargan goes the traditional career route and becomes a sports writer. McCrea, however, is seduced by promises of quick money (made by the comically shady Walter Catlett) to be garnered through endorsements and public appearances. Within two years, McCrea is out of work and reduced to hocking his gold football pin for a plane ticket to make a nostalgic visit to the latest Dartmouth game. The two old friends meet by accident and Gargan gets McCrea a job writing a joint column with him for the sports page. Soon, Marian Marsh, Gargan's unenthusiastic squeeze, gets the hots for McCrea and vice versa, which leads to a nasty split between the two pals. McCrea goes back to Catlett and forges a name in pro wrestling, but faces a dilemma when he is asked to take a dive with Gargan and Marsh in the audience. Will he do the right thing?

Given wrestling's reputation, it's hard to care much about the ethical fine points of the sport, but the climactic match is well shot and even works up a little suspense. In fact, the director, Dudley Murphy, best known for co-directing the avant-garde short "Ballet Mecanique" in 1924, makes the entire movie (nicely paced at just over an hour) fun to watch, with fluid camerawork and tricky shots abounding. McCrea, shirtless and provocatively posed in the boxing ring and in an early locker-room scene, is very good, as is Gargan, who isn't bad looking himself. Sturdy support is offered by Catlett, Skeets Gallagher as a sight-challenged photographer who accidentally gets the shot of a lifetime at a car race, and the always amusing Robert Benchley as an inept (and sometimes inebriated) sports announcer. The passive, wooden Marsh is the only disappointment in the cast. Film buffs will enjoy seeing Clarence Wilson and George Chandler in small roles. This early David Selznick production isn't much loved by the critics, but if it ever shows up again on Turner Classic, it's worth a look. [TCM]