Sport Parade, The

Dartmouth football heroes Johnny Baker (William Gargan) and Sandy Brown (Joel McCrea) -- famed for their Baker-to-Brown passing game -- go their separate ways after graduation: Johnny to the editor's desk of a newspaper sports page and Sandy to the promotional schemes of a wrestling manager nicknamed Shifty. The friends' paths merge again when Johnny helps Sandy out of tough economic times, but their renewed friendship teeters toward permanent collapse when both men woo a lovely newspaper illustrator (Marian Marsh). David O. Selznick is executive producer of this pre-Code programmer, overseeing the array of visual flourishes conjured by Dudley Murphy (director of the following year's The Emperor Jones and a co director of the earlier avant-garde Ballet mecanique). Algonquin Round Table wit Robert Benchley makes his feature debut as an always-befuddled sportscaster.

• classic
• drama