I'm a Tony Curtis fan but had never heard of this movie until it recently showed up on TCM. Because of Tony's good looks and obviously invented screen name he's considered the quintessential movie star, but I believe he doesn't get his due as an actor. (Similar to his idol and role model, Cary Grant.) Here a young Tony shows he already had serious acting chops. It's a difficult role, as he has to be believable as a deaf mute and then as a man who's able to hear and speak for the first time. It's a contrived situation, but Tony is convincing throughout. There's a wonderfully acted and directed scene in which he goes to a party at a swanky mansion, and listening to the drunken, pretentious, obnoxious blathering of the guests he realizes that being able to hear might actually be a mixed blessing.
Acting honors go to Jan Sterling as well, playing a sort of companion role to her tough, greedy dame in Ace in the Hole. In that movie she had to wear western work clothes but here she's in slinky low cut dresses and looks very sexy. (in a bad girl femme fatale way.) Veteran character actor Wallace Ford is good as always as the kind hearted fight manager. Pretty Mona Freeman does what she can with the one-dimensional role of the almost saintly nice girl counterpoint to Jan. (It seems to be the role she usually played, like in Angel Face where she was the counterpoint to Jean Simmons).
I'm no expert on the subject, but would someone who's been deaf their whole life be able to immediately understand verbal speech? And then learn to speak and articulate clearly in just a few lessons, as the movie shows? You have to kind of suspend disbelief. Yes, it's a gimmicky story, but thanks to Tony's performance I actually found it quite moving, and director Pevney (who later did more episodic TV than almost any director) handles the boxing scenes well. In conclusion, not one of the all-time great boxing movies, but a solid human interest story and worth watching.
Acting honors go to Jan Sterling as well, playing a sort of companion role to her tough, greedy dame in Ace in the Hole. In that movie she had to wear western work clothes but here she's in slinky low cut dresses and looks very sexy. (in a bad girl femme fatale way.) Veteran character actor Wallace Ford is good as always as the kind hearted fight manager. Pretty Mona Freeman does what she can with the one-dimensional role of the almost saintly nice girl counterpoint to Jan. (It seems to be the role she usually played, like in Angel Face where she was the counterpoint to Jean Simmons).
I'm no expert on the subject, but would someone who's been deaf their whole life be able to immediately understand verbal speech? And then learn to speak and articulate clearly in just a few lessons, as the movie shows? You have to kind of suspend disbelief. Yes, it's a gimmicky story, but thanks to Tony's performance I actually found it quite moving, and director Pevney (who later did more episodic TV than almost any director) handles the boxing scenes well. In conclusion, not one of the all-time great boxing movies, but a solid human interest story and worth watching.