The Battling Fool

Surviving by chance this silent movie production line entertainment, is another version of the idyllic small town America of leafy streets and wooden houses seen in more ambitious productions, here contrasted with the only-glimpsed big city.

Oddly, the small town is people by gullible, judgmental authority figures and giving up college for a career in the ring is a smart move.

The leads are personable enough and the handling more than competent. Van Dyke puts in some effort on the boxing material, even tracking in the ring twenty years before BODY & SOUL. The far fetched suspense elements of the finale make it impossible to take the film seriously but it holds attention well enough.