''Knockout Reilly'' is a lost 1927 American silent

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Malcolm St. Clair and written by Pierre Collings, John W. Conway, and Kenneth Raisbeck based upon a story by

Albert Payson Terhune Albert Payson Terhune (December 21, 1872 – February 18, 1942) was an American writer, dog breeder, and journalist. He was popular for his novels relating the adventures of his beloved collies and as a breeder of collies at his Sunnybank Kenne ...

. The film stars

Richard Dix Richard Dix (born Ernst Carlton Brimmer; July 18, 1893 – September 20, 1949) was an American motion picture actor who achieved popularity in both silent film, silent and sound film. His standard on-screen image was that of the rugged and sta ...

, Mary Brian, Jack Renault,

Harry Gribbon Harry Peter Gribbon (June 9, 1885 – July 28, 1961) was an American film actor, comedian and director known for ''The Cameraman (1928 film), The Cameraman'' (1928), ''Show People'' (1928) and ''Art Trouble'' (1934). He appeared in more th ...

Osgood Perkins James Ridley Osgood Perkins (May 16, 1892 – September 21, 1937) was an American actor. Life and career Perkins was born in West Newton, Massachusetts, son of Henry Phelps Perkins Jr., and his wife, Helen Virginia (née Anthony). His maternal ...

, and Lucia Backus Seger. The film was released on April 16, 1927, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

Plot

When a successful prizefighter known as "Killer" Agerra causes trouble in a nightclub, a

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

mill worker, Dundee Reilly, knocks him out. This impresses both Pat Malone, an ex-boxer, and Pat's attractive sister Mary, who takes a liking to Reilly. Reilly becomes a boxer under Pat's tutelage, but is framed for a crime and ends up serving nearly a year behind bars at hard labor. While incarcerated, he keeps up his training.When he gets out, Agerra's opponent in an upcoming fight drops out, so Pat Malone arranges for "Knockout" Reilly to be his replacement in the ring. Agerra is much too good for him. Reilly is on the verge of being knocked out when Mary Malone visits his corner and tells him it was Agerra who framed him and caused him to go to jail. A newly motivated Reilly knocks his foe flat.

Cast

as Dundee 'Knockout' Reilly * Mary Brian as Mary Malone *Jack Renault as Killer Agerra *

as Pat Malone *

as Spider Cross *Lucia Backus Seger as Mrs. Reilly *Larry McGrath as Kewpie Dugan *

John Merton John Merton (born Myrtland F. LaVarre; February 18, 1901 – September 19, 1959) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1927 and 1959, mostly as a villain. He was the brother of filmmakers André de la Varre an ...

as Buck Lennard (credited as Myrtland La Varre) *Scotty Devlin as Reilly's Chauffeur *John Dipse as Fighter in Preliminary Bout *Eddie Garvey (unidentified role) *Sailor Gibbs as Fighter at Training Camp *Patsy Haley as Referee *Joe Humphries as Ring Announcer *

Ted "Kid" Lewis Ted "Kid" Lewis (born Gershon Mendeloff; 28 October 1894 – 20 October 1970) was an English-Jewish professional Boxing, boxer who twice won the World Welterweight Championship (147 pound (mass), lb). Lewis is often ranked among the all-tim ...

as Fighter at Training Camp (credited as Kid Lewis) *Tommy McFadden (unidentified role) * Graham McNamee as Radio Reporter *Kid McPartland as Timekeeper *Jack Perry as Fighter at Training Camp *Billy Vidabeck as Fighter at Training camp *George Ward as Fighter in Preliminary Bout *John Burdette as Minor role

Production

Film historian Ruth Anne Dwyer notes that the movie sequences dealing with training were filmed on location at the

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205. The village of Lake Placid ...

, the traditional venue for professional training camps. Actual boxing rings were built on which to film the bouts. Dwyer adds “St. Clair paid great attention to details of costuming and the sets in an effort to impart as much authentic detail as possible.” Due to his keen interest in boxing, as well as the freedom Paramount provided him in casting Knockout Reilly, St. Clair assembled numerous figures from professional boxing to appear in cameo roles. Among these are Graham MacNamee, who covered the 1927 broadcast of Dempsey-Tunney heavyweight match, announcer Joe Humphreys appears as himself covering the staged fight between Dix and Renault, Patsy Haley as referee, trainer Jimmy DeForrest (who trained Jack Dempsey), boxer Kid McPartland, as timekeeper, former featherweight Larry McGrath, bantam-weight champ

, light heavyweights Billy Vidabeck and Jack Perry, and prizefighter Scotty Devlin, who plays Dix’s chauffeur in the film.Dwyer, 1996 p. 127-128: from Paramount press release

Notes

References

*Dwyer, Ruth Anne. 1996. ''Malcolm St. Clair: His Films, 1915-1948''. ''

The Scarecrow Press Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns t ...

'', Lantham, Md., and London.

External links