IRON MAN (Universal, 1931), produced and directed by Tod Browning, stars Lew Ayres, a recent success at the time for his breakthrough performance as a German youth in the battleground of war in ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (Universal, 1930). While IRON Man pales in comparison from the Academy Award winning anti-war drama, it's interesting on its own merits due to its supporting players headed by the platinum blonde bombshell, Jean Harlow (in her only film for Universal), who's HELL'S ANGELS (United Artists, 1930), stirred quite attention to her bad girl personality, and Robert Armstrong, for many known for his role of Carl Denham in the iconic classic, KING KONG (RKO 1933). While Armstrong recently played a prizefighter in BE YOURSELF (United Artists, 1930) opposite Fanny Brice, this time he does better taking secondary role as prizefighter manager.
Following the unscored boxing glove punching bag image super-imposed through the title credits, the story introduces "Kid" Mason (Lew Ayres), a young boxer who just lost his championship prizefight. George Regan (Robert Armstrong), his best friend from his childhood days as well as his boxing manager, quits on him because he refused to fight the way he tells him. Mason's biggest problem is his wife, Rose (Jean Harlow), whom he deeply loves, but her affections are hardly the same especially after his most recent downfall. Rose soon walks out on him and sets for Hollywood to accomplish herself as an actress in the movies. With her out the way, Mason reunites himself with Regan, and becomes a new "Wonder Boy" of the boxing ring, fighting better than he's ever done before. All goes well until Rose, pretending to be seriously ill with the flu, connives her way back into Mason's life again. Living in a luxurious apartment surrounded by liquor bottles and Rose's rowdy friends, Mason's career as a boxer declines once more. Rose becomes responsible for breaking up her husband's friendship with Regan, and acquires a new boxing manager in Paul H. Lewis (John Miljan) for Mason, a man Rose met in Hollywood, with intentions on getting her into the movies. In the meantime as Mason gets a championship boxing match with Rattler O'Keefe (Morrie Cohen) at Madison Square Garden, Rose and Lewis go on their cheating ways, in more ways than one. Others in the cast include: Ned Sparks (Gus Riley, a gambler); Claire Whitney (Louise Lewis); Mary Doran (A show girl after Mason); Eddie Dillon (Jeff); Mildred Van Dorn (Gladys DeVere); Mike Conlon (McNeil); and Tom Kennedy (The Bartender).
Surprisingly directed by Tod Browning, best known for unique melodramas as Lon Chaney in THE UNKNOWN (1927) and Bela Lugosi as DRACULA (1931), IRON MAN is quite ordinary, with little of his ideal structures carried onto this production. Aside from notable camera tracking over a gathering of people seated at a long dinner table, the duration of the story relies more by the acting by its performers. The boxing sequences, which usually are highlights, are mostly brief with camera capture usually in long shots. Although credited at 73 minutes, the available print runs at 68, indicating some tightening through its jump cuts. Aside from Harlow's unfaithful wife portrayal as she did in HELL'S ANGELS, Armstrong gets his running gag line several times whenever he sees Ayres' Mason half-naked by telling him, "Put your clothes on ... you want to get pneumonia?"
While IRON MAN s typical boxing-ring story taken from novel by W.R. Burnett, IRON MAN was remade again, first as SOME BLONDES ARE DANGEROUS (1937) with William Gargan, and again as IRON MAN (1951) starring Jeff Chandler. The IRON MAN title would later be used for an entirely different story in a 2008 motion picture starring Robert Downey Jr. playing a Marvel comic action figure rather than a boxer.
Unseen on commercial television for decades, especially when last broadcast on New York City's WOR, Channel 9 in 1965, IRON MAN was never distributed to home video nor (to date) presented on cable TV. This, along with GOLDIE (Fox, 1931), are thus far to be the most rarely shown/revived Jean Harlow feature productions from her pre-MGM days (1932-1937). This original IRON MAN gets by on its own merits more for its casting than for its golden glove punches. (**1/2 boxing gloves)
