Watch Born to Fight For Free

Too much of everything

Redundant and unnecessary.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Light-heavyweight boxer Kane Richmond (as Tom "Bomber" Brown) is about to get a shot at the championship, but refuses to participate in fight fixing, then punches out gangster Jack LaRue (as "Smoothy" Morgan) in a restaurant brawl. Although he's an honest man, Mr. Richmond hits the road, forced underground and hunted by the police. Richmond (assuming the surname "Hayes") meets teenager Frankie Darro (as "Babyface" Madison) and is impressed by the young man's fighting skills. The two become companions, with Richmond turning Mr. Darro into a featherweight champ.Eventually, Richmond's past catches up with him, and threatens Darro's future... The film receives "comic relief" from rotund ring trainer Fred "Snowflake" Toones (as "Snowflake"). Mr. Toones sports a white T-shirt (which probably has little to do with his resembling a snowflake). In a scene more startling than any of the boxing matches, Toones sings the song "What Comes Over Me" (a catchy number). Darro isn't your traditional boxer, but he's fast on his feet. Richmond's love interest is attractive Francis Grant (as Nan Howard). Serial director Charles Hutchison and the crew make the most of the money available from producer Maurice Conn, who done well with Darro.***** Born to Fight (8/13/36) Charles Hutchison ~ Frankie Darro, Kane Richmond, Fred 'Snowflake' Toones, Jack LaRue

The further back in time you go, the greater the incredulity when it comes to boxing themed flicks. The premise of this one is rather convoluted from the word go. Bomber Brown (Kane Richmond) at the start of the story has a run in with mobster Smoothy Morgan (Jack La Rue) over a dive he should have taken but didn't. When Bomber decks Morgan in a nightclub, he takes his manager's advice to take it on the lam. I was scratching my head for a reason why he should do that, and at the end of the story, I'm still scratching. There wasn't any!But take it on the lam he does, winding up in a hobo jungle and rescuing a young tough who's handy with his fists from a rowdy mob. You can see where this is going. Brown, now Tom Hayes, takes the kid (Frankie Darro) under his wing and marches him through a successful run as a flyweight contender. All the while, he maintains a low profile so he won't be recognized as the big name he was as a Madison Square Garden headliner. You know, I try to take myself back to those days over seventy years ago, and figure maybe a sports celebrity could pull it off if he stayed just under the radar. But if you were Babe Ruth, or Joe Louis, or Jack Dempsey, I think you'd be recognized after your picture hit the front pages on a regular basis. Bomber Brown was making those headlines, so I find it hard to believe no one recognized him, even if he was laying low.Another thing about these early boxing flicks, the actual boxing was pretty pathetic. Frankie Darro's scenes in the ring were marked by wild swings and a lot of off balance fighting, punctuated every now and then by that weird jack rabbit jump of his while delivering a punch. I just couldn't figure that.Fred Toones makes an interesting appearance in the story as Babyface Madison's trainer, credited only as Snowflake, which he often was. A quick glance at his IMDb credits shows him appearing in over two hundred flicks! I enjoy seeing him pop up in these period pieces, but when he went into that song number I had to do a double take. Unless I'm wrong, that scene had to be dubbed.The finale of the story winds up pretty much as expected, with Babyface winning the championship and Bomber Brown being exonerated. But again, it's only because Smoothy Morgan got rubbed out over his inability to pay off on a hundred grand loss on the fight; now he can't be a witness to the earlier altercation with the Bomber. Gee, you think the other guy wanted to close the books so soon? That leaves me with the most intriguing part of the story - a buck and a quarter for a fill up sure makes you yearn for those good old days doesn't it?

Peter B. Kyne's name always seemed to be prominent on Western oaters of the 30s and earlier. In this film, he strays to the city and the world of boxing. After a few prestigious films like "The Public Enemy" (1931), "The Mayor of Hell" (1933), "The Wild Boys of the Road" (1933) and "No Greater Glory" (1934), the mid 30s saw Frankie Darro settled into a career playing fighters, jockeys and kids gone wrong. In this film he has one of the leads as "Babyface' Madison, a young up and coming fighter.Tom, aka "Bomber Brown", (Kane Richmond), an honest prize fighter, refuses to take a dive for gambler "Smoothy" Morgan (Jack LaRue). They fight in a nightclub and Tom, fearing he has killed him takes to the road and lives among the hobos, promising his manager he will not fight. He befriends "Babyface" Madison (Frankie Darro), a young chap who is quick with his fists. He takes the kid under his wing, not revealing his true identity. They go to Illinois - Tom is now "Babyface"'s manager and the kid goes from success to success.When he finds out that Tom turned down a crack at the title on his behalf, he splits with Tom and starts believing his own publicity. He becomes involved with a shifty manager and when Tom hears that one of "Babyface"'s opponents has been bribed to take a dive so "Babyface" will win, Tom doubles the bet so he will fight his best and "Babyface" will lose. Of course the kid comes to his senses and Tom again becomes his manager.The police have been looking for Tom - it seems "Smoothy" didn't die in the fight - but Tom is still scared and takes "Babyface" to the country to train him in secret. I don't need to reveal the ending - I actually enjoyed it. For just over an hour in length it is pretty entertaining.Jack LaRue, who had a standout role in "The Story of Temple Drake" plays "Smoothy" Morgan. Sheila Mannors, who went through a couple of name changes played the "blink and you'll miss it" part of Smoothy's girl. Fred "Snowflake" Toones had a big career, unfortunately in those unenlightened days playing mostly porters. There are plenty of references to the "Brown Bomber" Jack Dempsey as well. Snowflake (my favourite person in the film) also provides the films musical moment as he sings a song about an apple pie (in a very good baritone).Recommended.

This is one of those films that defies the laws of logic. A championship boxer slugs a mobster/ gambler. It doesn't really hurt him all that much. But the boxer takes it upon himself to hide out. He goes from job to job, barely making ends meet. He meets a young boxer in a hobo jungle. They escape a mob and go on the lam. As luck would have it, the guy is a pretty good lightweight, even though he prances around like a chicken and never keeps his hands up. We are led to believe that this skinny guy is going to hold off some pretty impressive boxers. Well, a whole bunch of circumstances work against him and he is put in the position of throwing a championship fight. The "Bomber," the former champ, is forced to sit in the back of the arena and puzzle over the whole thing. There are these amusing shots of him squirming in his seat, like his shorts are too tight. There are some pretty good boxing films out there. This is not one of them.