Do you ever have a recollection of having seen an old movie before, yet you know that it couldn't be the one you're thinking that about? That happened with me, and I thought, "This reminds me of a Helen Twelvetrees movie." Sure enough, I found that movie after researching it, and discovered by researching the writer of "Lady and Gent" the title I suspected it to be, 1939's "Unmarried". We complain that there are too many remakes or sequels today, but the golden age was filled with them as well.
The first half of both films deals with the long lasting night life of two unromantically involved old pals (here George Bancroft and Wynne Gibson; in the remake Robert Armstrong and Twevetrees) whose antics in the world of nightclubs and prizefighting lead to the death of an old pal and their reluctant adoption of his son. From there, it goes from salty to sappy, although the foster parents never learn proper etiquette. As the kid grows older, they find that they aren't proper enough for his promising future.
This is at its best in the first 40 minutes where Bancroft and Gibson lead lives as morally imperfect Broadway babies. She's a Texas Guinan like hostess, and he's boxing the Duke, John Wayne that is in one of his first films. Gibson is the better of the two leads, although Bancroft gets top billing. James Gleason plays the unfortunate father, while Billy Butts grows up to be Charles Starrett. The original film is better because of its no nonsense pre- code approach. But they are both rather standard, even if it is Gibson and later Twelvetrees who get the acting honors in both films.
The first half of both films deals with the long lasting night life of two unromantically involved old pals (here George Bancroft and Wynne Gibson; in the remake Robert Armstrong and Twevetrees) whose antics in the world of nightclubs and prizefighting lead to the death of an old pal and their reluctant adoption of his son. From there, it goes from salty to sappy, although the foster parents never learn proper etiquette. As the kid grows older, they find that they aren't proper enough for his promising future.
This is at its best in the first 40 minutes where Bancroft and Gibson lead lives as morally imperfect Broadway babies. She's a Texas Guinan like hostess, and he's boxing the Duke, John Wayne that is in one of his first films. Gibson is the better of the two leads, although Bancroft gets top billing. James Gleason plays the unfortunate father, while Billy Butts grows up to be Charles Starrett. The original film is better because of its no nonsense pre- code approach. But they are both rather standard, even if it is Gibson and later Twelvetrees who get the acting honors in both films.