Frankie, a young prizefighter, wins a fixed boxing match as part of a crime boss's plan to have him build up a following and then have him throw a championship fight. Later, while training, Frankie meets Mary as she is going to church with her family, and he begins a romance with her. The crime boss orders Frankie to stay away from Mary, while continuing to arrange for Frankie to win more fights. Just before Frankie's fight with the champion, he and the boss have an argument. Their plans to fix the fight are overheard by Mary's young brother, which soon leads to a tense situation. Gangsters try to get a boxer to throw an important fight. The trouble with this old film, is that the basic premise has been done so many times since. The underdog with the final chance of glory or redemption gets to do so in the end. Most noticeably of all in the first 'Rocky' film and all the following (far too) many sequels.<br/><br/>I saw this on a '3 Classic Films on 1 DVD' cheapie and none of them were classics of any description! But they did pass the time amiably and this one was the shortest running of the three. For the time it was made and the minuscule money spent, it works well enough. <br/><br/>Taken from an old (out of copyright) print, the DVD copy here skipped in parts and some dialogue was lost but not enough to make any difference, films were made fast and cheap in the old days! This would have been very much a B-movie filler when it was made, like the straight-to-video/DVD of today and it would be unfair to expect too much of quality there.<br/><br/>There is more interest here in the sexual mores of the day, a police officer coming over to the hero's car while he is with his girlfriend, telling him not to 'carry on.' He was kissing her…<br/><br/>Or the 'bad girl' in the film, name of 'Babe,' who really is a floozy as she is still sleeping in bed in late morning. What a complete slut! lol. Of course, this was movie shorthand for the time, that this was a wicked woman who was no good. How times have changed when they want to show how bad a woman can be nowadays. A self-described "fall guy for a lot of crooked promoters," handsome welterweight boxer John Darrow (as Frankie "Knockout" Morgan) specializes in winning fixed bouts, for crooked manager Matthew Betz (as "Flash" McQuaid). While training, Mr. Darrow meets attractive Merna Kennedy (as Mary Wilson) through her hero-worshiping little brother Mickey Rooney (as Arthur). A romance with sweet, church-going Ms. Kennedy inspires Darrow to change his outlook on throwing the championship fight, which understandably irks Mr. Betz and his gang. Will it all work out by the closing clinch?<br/><br/>"The Big Chance" may lack punch as a picture, but it provided a few of the participants with some good experience. A likable champ, Darrow later became an agent. A fetching woman, Kennedy married big-time musical director Busby Berkeley. Described herein as 4'6" tall, Rooney grew into much bigger star. Helping Darrow train, and dry off after his shower, is veteran "Keystone Kop" comic Hank Mann (as "Tugboat"). J. Carrol Naish appears in the opening credits, but he not in the film; probably, Mr. Naish was replaced by Frank LaRue (uncredited as John Wilson, Mary's father).<br/><br/>**** The Big Chance (8/29/33) Albert Herman ~ John Darrow, Merna Kennedy, Hank Mann, Mickey Rooney
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