Keep Punching

Henry Armstrong, in the first of three films he made, stars as a boxer on the way to a championship, but he is as uncharismatic as you can imagine and a wooden actor to boot. I'm sure the 1939 audiences came only to see the fight footage, since Armstrong held three world championships in 1938 (in the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions) and still is the only boxer to have done that all at the same time. But the boxing footage was disappointing too. You could see he and his opponent were holding back, and when he is knocked down, it's by a very light tap. These items were partially offset by some very good performances by Canada Lee as his trainer and Willie Bryant as the heavy trying to get Armstrong to lose the big fight. And Mae Johnson is terrific as the vamp Bryant gets to help him - a first class acting job. I also enjoyed Hamtree Harrington, who provides the little comedy there is in the movie.