Mickey Rooney does a good job. He is believable as a fighter. That would be the title character. He is, of course, believable in a soft-shoe routine done with his character's father. The father is James Dunn. Dunn is heartbreaking in "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn." Here is good but it's not a well developed character.
The childhood friend Rooney fights is very good, as is his wife. (The wife seems quite a bit older.) I always think of Ann Blyth as Joan Crawford's monstrous daughter in "Mildred Pierce." For me, she doesn't work in a sympathetic role like the one she plays here. Hers is other underwritten character.
It's filmed well and holds the interest. But more than that I cannot say for it.
The childhood friend Rooney fights is very good, as is his wife. (The wife seems quite a bit older.) I always think of Ann Blyth as Joan Crawford's monstrous daughter in "Mildred Pierce." For me, she doesn't work in a sympathetic role like the one she plays here. Hers is other underwritten character.
It's filmed well and holds the interest. But more than that I cannot say for it.