''Madison Square Garden'' is a 1932 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Harry Joe Brown Harry Joe Brown (September 22, 1890 – April 28, 1972) was an American film producer, and earlier a theatre and film director. Biography Harry Joe Brown was born in 1890 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a producer, he had a partnership wit ...

and written by

Thomson Burtis Henry Thomson Burtis (1896–1971) was an American writer. Burtis was born in New York. After serving as a lieutenant in US Army Air Service and as a member of the aerial border patrol, Burtis worked as a newspaper reporter before becoming a writ ...

, Allen Rivkin and P.J. Wolfson. The film stars

Jack Oakie Jack Oakie (born Lewis Delaney Offield; November 12, 1903 – January 23, 1978) was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on stage, radio and television. He portrayed Napaloni in Chaplin's ''The Great Dictator'' (194 ...

Thomas Meighan Thomas Meighan (April 9, 1879 – July 8, 1936) was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading-man roles opposite popular actresses of the day, including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he comm ...

Marian Nixon Marian Nixon (born Marja Nissinen; October 20, 1904 – February 13, 1983) was an American film actress. Sometimes credited as Marion Nixon, she appeared in more than 70 films. Career Born in Superior, Wisconsin, to parents of Finnish descent, N ...

, William Collier, Sr.,

ZaSu Pitts Zasu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas, including Erich von Stroheim's epic 1924 silent film ''Greed'', and comedies, transitioning successfully to mostly comedy films with the ...

Lew Cody Lew Cody (born Louis Joseph Côté; February 22, 1884 – May 31, 1934) was an American stage and film actor whose career spanned the silent film and early sound film age. He gained notoriety in the late 1910s for playing "male vamps" in films ...

and William "Stage" Boyd. The film was released on November 4, 1932, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

.''Madison Square Garden'' (film)
tcm.com; accessed August 8, 2015. Actual boxers like Jack Johnson,

Billy Papke Billy Papke (born William Papke, and known as "The Illinois Thunderbolt") (September 17, 1886 – November 26, 1936) was an American boxer who held the World Middleweight Championship from September 7 to November 26, 1908. In 1910-12, he also t ...

and

Tom Sharkey Thomas "Sailor Tom" Sharkey (November 26, 1873 – April 17, 1953) was a boxer who fought two fights with heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries. Sharkey's recorded ring career spanned from 1893 to 1904. He is credited with having won 40 fi ...

and actual sports journalists like

Paul Gallico Paul William Gallico (July 26, 1897 – July 15, 1976) was an American novelist and short story and sports writer.Ivins, Molly,, ''The New York Times'', July 17, 1976. Retrieved Oct. 25, 2020. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictu ...

Grantland Rice Henry Grantland "Granny" Rice (November 1, 1880July 13, 1954) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio. Early years Rice wa ...

and

Damon Runyon Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American newspaperman and short-story writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To ...

appear in the story as themselves.

Plot

Middleweight contender Eddie Burke needs to change managers after his, Doc Williams, sets up a big fight at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

for him. Eddie becomes distracted by too much partying and girlfriend Bee, who is understandably worried about him. Eddie falls into the hands of a crooked trainer, "Honest John" Miller, who works for a racketeer, Sloane. He is made to lose the fight, Miller wrapping his opponent's hands in plaster, and takes a terrible beating. But when the truth comes to light, some of Eddie's fellow boxers go after the crooks with their fists.

Cast

as Eddie Burke *

as Bill Carley *

as Bee * William Collier, Sr. as Doc Williams *

as Florrie *

as Rourke * William "Stage" Boyd as Sloane *

Warren Hymer Edgar Warren Hymer (February 25, 1906 – March 25, 1948) was an American theatre and film actor. Early life He was born in New York City. His father, John Bard Hymer (1875/1876 – 1953) was a playwright (with nine Broadway plays to ...

as Brassie Randall * Robert Elliott as Honest John Miller *

Joyce Compton Olivia Joyce Compton (January 27, 1907 – October 13, 1997) was an American actress. Biography Compton was born in Lexington, Kentucky, the daughter of Henry and Golden Compton. (Despite frequent reports to the contrary, her name was not ...

as Joyce * Bert Gordon as Izzy *

Noel Francis Noel Francis (born Noel Frances Sweeney, August 31, 1906 – October 30, 1959) was an American actress of the stage and screen during the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Texas, she began her acting career on the Broadway stage in the mid-1920s, befo ...

as himself *

Sailor Sharkey A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

as himself *

Tommy Ryan Tommy Ryan (born Joseph Youngs; March 31, 1870 – August 3, 1948) was an American World Welterweight and World Middleweight boxing champion who fought from 1887 to 1907. His simultaneously holding records in both weight classes was a rar ...

as himself * Wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko as himself *

as himself *

Mike Donlin Michael Joseph Donlin (May 30, 1878 – September 24, 1933) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and actor. As a professional baseball player, his MLB career spanned from 1899 to 1914 in which he played mainly in the National L ...

(referee) as himself * Tod Sloan as himself *

as himself *

Jack Lait Jack Lait (March 13, 1883 – April 1, 1954) was an American journalist, author and playwright. During a 50-year career he wrote prolifically and became renowned as one of the leading newspapermen of the first half of the 20th century. He is ...

as himself *

Westbrook Pegler Francis James Westbrook Pegler (August 2, 1894 – June 24, 1969) was an American journalist and writer. He was a popular columnist in the 1930s and 1940s famed for his opposition to the New Deal and labor unions. Pegler aimed his pen at president ...

as himself *

Jack Johnson (boxer) Jack Arthur Johnson (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the "Galveston Giant", was an American boxer who, at the height of the Jim Crow era, became the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915). He is w ...

as himself *Ed W. Smith as himself *Teddy Hayes as himself *Lou Magnolia as himself * W. C. Robinson as himself

References

External links

* 1932 films American drama films 1932 drama films Paramount Pictures films Films directed by Harry Joe Brown American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{1930s-drama-film-stub