''Glory Alley'' is a 1952
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
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-g ...
directed by
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 w ...
. It stars
Ralph Meeker
Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber; November 21, 1920 August 5, 1988) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of '' Mister Roberts'' (1948–1951) and ''Picnic'' ...
and
Leslie Caron
Leslie Claire Margaret Caron (; born 1 July 1931) is a French-American actress and dancer. She is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, two BAFTA Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. She is one ...
.
Plot
New Orleans newspaper columnist Gabe Jordan, about to retire, tells the story of a most unforgettable character, boxer Socks Barbarossa.
One night, about to have a bout for the championship, Socks abruptly flees the ring and arena. It mystifies everyone, from his manager Peppi Donato to his sweetheart Angie Evans, not to mention her blind father, the Judge.
Socks' opponent taunts him afterward in the empty arena, so Socks flattens him. Peppi offers him a job at a nightclub he intends to buy where Angie has been working as a dancer. Socks also owns the contract of another fighter, Newsboy Addams, but raffles it off. "Pig" Nichols, a gangster, wins the contract, but both Socks and the boxer are drafted and go off to war.
The Judge continues to think poorly of Socks, even after he returns to town as a decorated hero. A surgeon, Dr. Ardley, believes there's a 50-50 chance of correcting the Judge's blindness, and it comes to light that he and Socks are acquainted from their Milwaukee younger days. Socks has scars, visible and not, from a long-ago experience in the ring, that caused him to panic on the night of the most recent fight.
Angie, too, vouches for Socks' character to the Judge, who didn't even realize she'd been working in a club to make ends meet. He concedes to the operation, Socks returns to the ring and great success, and everyone goes to meet newspaperman Gabe at the club to celebrate.
Cast
*
Ralph Meeker
Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber; November 21, 1920 August 5, 1988) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of '' Mister Roberts'' (1948–1951) and ''Picnic'' ...
as Socks Barbarossa
*
Leslie Caron
Leslie Claire Margaret Caron (; born 1 July 1931) is a French-American actress and dancer. She is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, two BAFTA Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. She is one ...
as Angela Evans
*
Kurt Kasznar
Kurt Kasznar (born Kurt Servischer; August 13, 1913 – August 6, 1979) was an Austrian-American stage, film and television actor who played roles on Broadway, appearing in the original Broadway productions of '' Waiting for Godot'', ''The ...
as Gus 'The Judge' Evans
*
Gilbert Roland
Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso (December 11, 1905 – May 15, 1994), known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice no ...
as Peppi Donnato
*
John McIntire
John Herrick McIntire (June 27, 1907 – January 30, 1991) was an American character actor who appeared in 65 theatrical films and many television series. McIntire is well known for having replaced Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death in Novem ...
as Gabe Jordan / Narrator
*
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
as Shadow Johnson
*
Jack Teagarden
Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an American jazz trombonist and singer. According to critic Scott Yannow of Allmusic, Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 19 ...
as Musician
*
Dan Seymour
Dan Seymour (February 22, 1915 – May 25, 1993) was an American character actor who frequently played villains in Warner Bros. films. He appeared in several Humphrey Bogart films, including ''Casablanca'' (1942), ''To Have and Have Not'' ...
as Sal Nichols (The Pig)
*
Larry Gates
Lawrence Wheaton Gates (September 24, 1915December 12, 1996) was an American actor.
His notable roles include H.B. Lewis on daytime's ''Guiding Light'' and Doc Baugh in the film version of ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' (1958). He played the role o ...
as Dr. Robert Ardley
* Pat Goldin as Jabber
*
John Indrisano
Johnny Indrisano (November 1, 1905 — July 6, 1968) was an American welterweight boxer whose career spanned the period from 1923 to 1934. He later became a film stunt performer and bit-part film and TV actor.
Career
Indrisano was born in B ...
as Spider, the Bartender
* Mickey Little as Domingo
*
Dick Simmons
Richard Simmons (August 19, 1913 – January 11, 2003) was an American actor.
Early life
Simmons was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and his family later moved across the Mississippi River to Minneapolis. There, he attended West Side High Sc ...
as Dan
* Pat Valentino as Terry Waulker
* David McMahon as Frank, the Policeman
Reception
According to MGM records, the film earned $426,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $181,000 overseas, resulting in a loss of $621,000.
Comic book adaptation
*
Eastern Color
The Eastern Color Printing Company was a company that published comic books, beginning in 1933. At first, it was only newspaper comic strip reprints, but later on, original material was published. Eastern Color Printing was incorporated in 19 ...
Movie Love #17 (October 1952)
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Raoul Walsh
1952 films
1950s musical drama films
American black-and-white films
American musical drama films
American boxing films
1950s English-language films
Films directed by Raoul Walsh
Films scored by Georgie Stoll
Films set in New Orleans
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Films adapted into comics
1952 drama films
1950s American films