No way is it Victor. He looked old and way to Burley in the informer (the same year) for that to be him
Wouldn't go for McLaglen here, neither build or facially, even if 1935 is an accurate date. As has already been said, the boxer is more a lightheavy. In '35 Victor was 48/49 and described as a hulking figure. Read his incredible life on the IMDB film site. In 1954 he was in "Prince Valiant", along with Lou Nova, Carnera and Pat Comiskey. I looked Jack Roper up on the site and he appeared in a lot of boxing based films. In '32 he played a trainer, while Jim Jeffries was a referee in the appropriately named "They Never Come Back". In the short clip the two rope ring, referee and the trunks with sashes give the film a 1910 - 1920's setting. Compared to the crowd wearing fedoras, homburgs, caps etc, that seems more from the late 20's to 30's. Accuracy often goes astray in boxing films, however.
P.S. Hollywood was awash with former or current cowboys, wranglers, boxers and other athletes trying to get jobs in films. I would guess he would be one of those anonymous hopefuls.
This clip is from the 1938 movie THE SISTERS staring Errol Flynn and Bette Davis. The referee is Bob Perry. As to the identify of either fighter...I have no clue. Neither are identified in the cast credits for the film. This content is protected
Looks a lot like Walter (Popeye) Woods, a very underrated middleweight who came from the same neighborhood in New York City as welterweight Billy Graham. He was an idol among the Irish youngsters in the neighborhood, and Graham was one of those kids. Look at his record. He defeated Tiger Roy Williams, Solly Krieger, Harry Balsamo, Ken Overlin, Ralph DeJohn, Fred Henneberry, Bert Lytell, etc. He was in the top tier of challengers from 1936-39. Ceferino Garcia was given his title shot against Apostoli based on his kayo of Woods. Had Woods defeated Garcia, he very likely would have landed the bout. The only thing is, he didn't have any fights in California in 1937-38. There is a gap in his fights of almost three months between May and July 1938 when he could have taken a trip to the West Coast. He also had three fights in Tacoma, WA in May and June of 1937, so it is possible he dropped down to Hollywood on that trip. I don't know when the movie was actually filmed. Those guesses might seem far-fetched except for the fact that the resemblance to the man in the film and pictures of Woods is striking. See http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/11791 for a picture of Woods.
The production dates for THE SISTERS were 6 June 1938 - August 1938. Filming location at Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA.
That fits in pretty well. I think most top-flight fighters at the time were interested in checking out the scene and the good weather in California at the time. It would have been a pretty exotic place for a native New Yorker like Woods to visit even if he didn't have a fight lined up.
With all due respect, I am not quite seeing the resemblance. The boxrec photo of Walter Woods displays a dark head of hair, legs and torso hairy, and minus the chiseled physique of the fighter we see in the film. Also, based on Woods birthdate, that makes him just 24 years of age at the time of the production. I just can't imagine that that particular fighter in the film is only 24.
its not victor mc laglen. He wasnt in that great shape then. I think it may be jack ropers brother. Captain Bob Roper
The poster of this thread asked for input. I'm just throwing mine into the pot. I've seen quite a few photos of Walter Woods on eBay over the years, and he looks pretty ring-worn to me in all of them. He was always in good shape. As for the chest hair, who knows what the director or the make-up artists would have required him to do prior to the filming? Who do you think it is? Anyway, it's just an academic exercise. Thanks for your input, too!! You are very likely correct.
