''The Mighty McGurk'' is a 1947 American sports, drama, action, adventure, melodrama film starring

Wallace Beery Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in '' Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in '' Grand Hotel'' ( ...

as a boozing ex-boxer brawling as a bouncer in a

Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. ...

saloon.

Plot

Roy "Slag" McGurk (

), the former heavyweight boxing champion, ekes out a living as a bouncer in Mike Glenson's ( Edward Arnold) saloon in the rough

district of New York City. Mike has to meet two brewers for an important deal, so he sends Slag to pick up his daughter Caroline (

Dorothy Patrick Dorothy Patrick (born Dorothea Davis; June 3, 1921 – May 31, 1987) was a Canadian-American film actress and a John Robert Powers model. Early life Patrick was born on June 3, 1921, in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada, the daughter of Mr. and ...

), returning by ship from Europe. Despite his estrangement from Johnny Burden ( Cameron Mitchell), his boxing protege who joined the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

after putting one opponent in a wheelchair, Slag tells the young man that Mike sent Caroline away to try to break up her relationship with Johnny. At

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...

, an acquaintance offers to pay Slag to round up 50 new immigrants to work for him. The fiftieth man has a young English boy in tow, Nipper ( Dean Stockwell), an orphan who has been sent to America to live with his uncle Milbane ( Aubrey Mather). Slag reluctantly agrees to deliver the boy, who would rather stay with him than go to his uncle. When rival work recruiters start a fight, Nipper either loses or throws away the tag bearing Milbane's address. After searching for the uncle, Slag has no choice but to keep the boy and a stray dog Nipper saved from the dogcatchers. In order to complete his deal with the brewers and build the biggest saloon in the Bowery, Mike needs the building occupied by the Salvation Army. He orders Slag to get the group to leave, one way or another. When Slag refuses, Mike blackmails him into it, stating he has evidence that Slag won his championship by fraud; his opponent took a dive. To placate his employee, Mike offers to make Slag a partner in his new saloon for $2000, a sum Slag hopes to get as a reward from Nipper's uncle. Meanwhile, the Children's Protective Society learns about Nipper. The only way Slag can keep the boy is to join the Salvation Army, under Johnny's command. When he finally does locate Milbane, he discovers that Nipper's relation is a crook who wants him to give him money for some shares. Nipper learns, from their loud argument, that Slag was only interested in the reward. The brokenhearted boy goes to stay with the Salvation Army. When word gets around, Slag loses the friendship of former girlfriend and pawnshop owner Mamie Steeple (

Aline MacMahon Aline Laveen MacMahon (May 3, 1899 – October 12, 1991) was an American actress. Her Broadway stage career began under producer Edgar Selwyn in ''The Mirage'' during 1920. She made her screen debut in 1931 and worked extensively in film, thea ...

), who had been loaning him money for years. When Mike pressures Slag to arrange a riot at the Salvation Army, Slag finally rebels. He tells the saloon patrons that his championship bout was rigged, then fights all the thugs he himself had recruited for Mike. Johnny joins in the brawl, and together they beat the mob arrayed against them. Caroline finds out what her father had tried to do, and goes to pack her things. Mike gives up, and tells Johnny to go after her. With the way clear to adopting Nipper, Slag asks Mamie for a loan of $200 ... to pay for a wedding.

Cast

as Roy "Slag" McGurk * Dean Stockwell as Nipper * Edward Arnold as Mike Glenson *

as Mamie Steeple * Cameron Mitchell as Johnny Burden *

as Caroline Glenson * Aubrey Mather as Milbane *

Morris Ankrum Morris Ankrum (born Morris Nussbaum; August 28, 1897 – September 2, 1964) was an American radio, television, and film character actor. Early life Born in Danville in Vermilion County in eastern Illinois, Ankrum originally began a career in ...

as Fowles, one of Milbane's crooked associates * Clinton Sundberg as Flexter, Milbane's other associate * Charles Judels as First Brewer *

Torben Meyer Torben Emil Meyer (1 December 1884 – 22 May 1975) was a Danish-American character actor who appeared in more than 190 films in a 55-year career. He began his acting career in Europe before moving to the United States. Early life Meyer was ...

as Second Brewer * Joe Yule as Irish Immigrant (uncredited)

Production

The picture bears some similarities to Beery's 1933 film '' The Bowery'', the

Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. He wa ...

-directed blockbuster also starring

George Raft George Raft (born George Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is ...

Jackie Cooper John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor, television director, producer, and executive, known universally as Jackie Cooper. He was a child actor who made the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first ...

and Fay Wray.

Reception

The critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' found ''The Mighty McGurk'' to be too much like Beery's previous efforts, writing, "while this story of an ex-prizefight champ who befriends an English orphan boy fits our pug as comfortably as an old shoe, it doesn't look much better than an ancient brogan. Mr. Beery, in short, has fought this good fight before and chances are the going will be as familiar and slow for the customers as it seems to be for our hero." According to MGM records, the film earned $1,397,000 in the US and Canada and $402,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $314,000.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mighty McGurk 1947 drama films 1947 films American drama films American black-and-white films Films about orphans Films directed by John Waters (director born 1893) Films set in New York City Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films