Boxer Jimmy Dolan appears to be a clean living man, publicly shunning women and alcohol, but after a match, visiting friends find him drunk with beautiful, blonde Goldie West. When Jimmy finds out that reporter Charles Magee intends to publish the truth, Jimmy punches him, accidentally killing him. Panicked, Jimmy’s manager, Doc Woods, decides to run away with Goldie and leaves Jimmy alone to face charges, but not before he empties Jimmy’s pockets of his money and favorite watch. During the getaway, the car has a blowout and crashes, burning Goldie and Doc beyond recognition. Because Doc was wearing Jimmy’s watch, the police now believe that Jimmy is dead. Only Phlaxer, a former police detective who was once responsible for an innocent man’s conviction for murder, notices that the dead man was wearing his watch on his left arm, unlike Jimmy, a well-known southpaw. Relieved to discover that the police are no longer looking for him, Jimmy changes his name to Jack Dougherty and hops a train. He ends up broke and dirty at a farm run by Peggy and her aunt, Mrs. Moore, as a home for crippled children. Jack collapses from hunger and Peggy and her aunt nurse him back to health. Jimmy stays to work off his debt to them and slowly starts to care for the children and for Peggy, whom he asks to marry him. When Phlaxer sees a prize-winning photo of Jack taken by one of the children, he visits the town to prove that Jimmy Dolan is still alive. Jack has agreed to box King Cobra for money to pay the farm mortgage. Even though he fights with his right hand, Phlaxer recognizes him and asks him to come back to stand trial. A chance encounter with Peggy and the children at the arena, however, convinces Phlaxer that the boxer has changed, and he lets him go to continue his life with Peggy. More on Wikipedia or Mubi
Watch The Life of Jimmy Dolan (UK as The Kid’s Last Fight) (1933)
