When "Trading Places" with Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy came out, the premise was that if people traded places in life their choices would be different. So the poor and unfortunate Eddie Murphy was made a stock broker while the polished and affluent Dan Aykroyd was made a beggar. A similar concept was explored in "The Mighty."
Blake Greeson (George Bancroft) was a hood. He was loyal to Sterky's gang. He had no plans of doing anything different until he was drafted into the Army and made to go fight overseas. There he fought valiantly--or so it would seem.
He fought, and fought fearlessly, because he was a fearless guy. He didn't have any particular love for fighting or his country for that matter. He was just a born gunman with no fear. His platoon mate Jerry Patterson (Morgan Farley), however, loved his country and wanted to prove it in battle, except he was terrified. He had the requisite beliefs and patriotism, he was just lacking the nerve.
Jerry died in the war and Blake lived. Blake promised Jerry that he'd tell his folks how brave he was and how he died for what he believed in.
When Blake arrived in Jerry's hometown he was welcomed with a parade. He was hailed as a hero and Jerry's sister Louise (Eshter Ralston) was waiting in a car to ride alongside him. It had all the looks like she was being offered to Blake as a form of gratitude, but maybe I'm off the mark and that was what people did back then for returning soldiers--allow them to ride with a pretty girl.
Along with the parade, Blake was offered the job of chief of police. The city was plagued with menacing gangs and the city leaders felt that a strong, fearless war hero was the best person to head the police squad. Ordinarily they'd be right, but Blake still had an allegiance to his old gang. And now we get to the similarity between "The Mighty" and "Trading Places." Would Blake be different now that he was on the other side of the law and a respected individual?
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