''The Sport Parade'' is a 1932 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, 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 censorshi ...
film directed by
Dudley Murphy
Dudley Bowles Murphy (July 10, 1897 – February 22, 1968) was an American film director.
Early life
Murphy was born on July 10, 1897 in Winchester, Massachusetts, to the artists Caroline Hutchinson (Bowles) Murphy (1868-1923) and Hermann D ...
and starring
Joel McCrea
Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he beca ...
,
Marian Marsh
Marian Marsh (born Violet Ethelred Krauth; October 17, 1913 – November 9, 2006) was a Trinidad-born American film actress and later an environmentalist.
Early life
Violet Ethelred Krauth was born on October 17, 1913, in Trinidad, British ...
,
William Gargan
William Dennis Gargan (July 17, 1905February 17, 1979) was an American film, television and radio actor. He was the 5th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1967, and in 1941, was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...
,
Robert Benchley
Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thro ...
, and
Richard "Skeets" Gallagher
Richard "Skeets" Gallagher (July 28, 1891 – May 22, 1955) was an American actor. He had blue eyes and his naturally blond hair was tinged with grey from the age of sixteen.
Biography
He was born on July 28, 1891 in Terre Haute, Indiana ...
. It was released by
RKO Radio Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
. Benchley also co-wrote the screenplay. The film includes location shots of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1932.
Plot
The characters played by McCrea and Gargan are friends from
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
, who play together on the college football team, and whose lives take different paths. Later, they move to New York, argue over a woman Irene (Marsh), and get involved with
pro wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
, which turns out to be run by local
racketeer
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit.
Originally and of ...
s.
Cast
*
Joel McCrea
Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he beca ...
as Sandy Brown
*
William Gargan
William Dennis Gargan (July 17, 1905February 17, 1979) was an American film, television and radio actor. He was the 5th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1967, and in 1941, was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...
as Johnny Baker
*
Marian Marsh
Marian Marsh (born Violet Ethelred Krauth; October 17, 1913 – November 9, 2006) was a Trinidad-born American film actress and later an environmentalist.
Early life
Violet Ethelred Krauth was born on October 17, 1913, in Trinidad, British ...
as Irene Stewart
*
Robert Benchley
Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thro ...
as the Radio Announcer
*
Walter Catlett
Walter Leland Catlett (February 4, 1889 – November 14, 1960) was an American actor and comedian. He made a career of playing excitable, meddlesome, temperamental, and officious blowhards.
Career
Catlett was born on February 4, 1889, in S ...
as "Shifty" Morrison
*
Richard "Skeets" Gallagher
Richard "Skeets" Gallagher (July 28, 1891 – May 22, 1955) was an American actor. He had blue eyes and his naturally blond hair was tinged with grey from the age of sixteen.
Biography
He was born on July 28, 1891 in Terre Haute, Indiana ...
as Dizzy
*
Clarence Wilson as the Toastmaster
*
Ivan Linow
Ivan Linow (born Jānis Linaus; November 21, 1888 – November 11, 1940), also known as Jack Linow, was a Latvian-born American wrestler, who became a character actor in American films during the silent and early sound film eras.
Biography
Born ...
as Muller
*
George Chandler
George Chandler (June 30, 1898 – June 10, 1985) was an American actor who starred in over 140 feature films, usually in smaller supporting roles, and he is perhaps best known for playing the character of Uncle Petrie Martin on the televi ...
as Pullman Ticket Agent
*
June Brewster
June Brewster (August 8, 1913 – November 2, 1995) was an American film actress of the 1930s.
Selected filmography
* ''The Sport Parade'' (1932)
* ''Goldie Gets Along'' (1933)
* ''Meet the Baron'' (1933)
* ''Headline Shooter'' (1933)
* '' ...
as Girl at Nightclub
Pre-Code scenes
The film has become famous for certain
Pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, 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 censorshi ...
scenes, including Gargan snapping a wet towel at McCrea in a scene where football players can be seen taking a shower in the background.
See also
*
List of American football films
The following is a list of American football films.
See also
* List of sports films
* List of highest grossing sports films
Notes
References
{{American football in the United States
American football
Films
A film also ...
External links
*
*
*
1932 films
1932 drama films
1930s sports drama films
American black-and-white films
American football films
American sports drama films
1930s English-language films
Films directed by Dudley Murphy
Films produced by David O. Selznick
Films set in New York City
Films shot in New York City
Professional wrestling films
RKO Pictures films
1930s American films
{{1930s-drama-film-stub