Popular reviews

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  Review by sirrah993 ★★

  John Ford’s 1932 film Flesh is a far superior film than Arrowsmith, but that’s like saying getting stabbed in the face is better than getting stabbed in the eye; either way, you’re going to suffer. Real bad.

  The story goes like this: Wallace Beery plays Polakai, a simple-minded German wrestler who spends most of his time wrestling, drinking beer, being strong manly man, and saying DATS GOOD. One day, Polakai comes across a helpless Laura Nash – an American woman who was recently released from prison in Germany – and decides to help her out. Laura Nash is played nastily by Karen Morley, who gives the character NO redeemable quality. She steals from Polakai, uses her sexuality to fool Polakai…

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  Review by PUNQ ★★★

  John Ford's take on pro-wrestling. And he dares to suggest that some matches are fixed! While there is a lot of wrestling talk, the only real wrestler to appear in this is Wladek Zbyszko, the lesser known brother of the popular World Heavyweight champion of the 1920s, Stanislaus Zbyszko.

  
  Wallace Beery is the nicest brute in the Germany where he wrestles and works as a waiter. He falls for a confused lady who's just been released from prison. Karen Morley has no other choice then to accept his offers of kindness and ends up staying with him and his friends. However, her partner in crime and lover Ricardo Cortez shows up and together they continue playing the nice man for…

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  Review by Gentry 🏔️ ★★★

  “Didn’t know they made ‘em like that anymore.”

  Snapmare takeovers to the roar of the crowd! Guzzling huge steins of beer during an after-match soak in a giant barrel! I’ve never seen a man with a body that screams “German pro wrestler” more than Wallace Beery. 

  Beery’s a more lovable, smiling oaf than the character he played in Grand Hotel. Still somewhat oblivious to women, but not downright cruel. Capitalizing on his success as a boxer in The Champ, John Ford casts him as Teutonic strongman Polakai for Flesh. Karen Morely is the pregnant ex-con just let out of jail that falls into his orbit. Ricardo Cortez is her secret boyfriend and baby’s daddy released a few weeks later. As…

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  Review by Blair Russell ★★★

  A John Ford movie featuring professional wrestling? Sign me up!

  It was only recently that I had even heard of this motion picture; thus, when I noticed it would be playing on Turner Classic Movies early this past morning, it was DVR'ed as I was genuinely curious between the plot, the cast and the director. It was more curious than expected: Wallace Beery played a pro wrestler named POLAKAI (his first name wasn't given, so he must be in the industry) in Germany who is a good guy that loves drinking beer from a beer stein; yet he is a blockhead and amazingly naive. Henceforth, it was easy for him to be manipulated by blonde lady Laura who was just…

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  Review by Filipe Furtado ★★½ 2

  Karen Morley plays Marlene Dietrich to Wallace Berry in this John Ford pre code film. If Sternberg could occupy himself of something as low as wrestling he might’ve knock it off the park. Material is a bit alien for Ford but in the best sequences he and Berry find real meat on his character's moral dissolution.

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  Review by AntoniusBlock7 ★★½

  The lead role of a German wrestler (Wallace Beery) in this film is far too dopey for my taste, both in the character and the performance. This leads to some really lame humor especially in the first half of the film, e.g. slopping beer around, banging through a door instead of unlocking it, and accidentally breaking an egg. Karen Morley plays the woman with a past that he naively takes in, and things get a little more interesting when her lover (Ricardo Cortez) shows up. Morley almost always impresses me, and the scenes with just the two of them crackle with the tough banter of 1932, making me wish that they had somehow been more of the focus. As it…

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  Review by Adam ★★★½

  John Ford’s “Flesh” seems to be exactly the sort of film that Barton Fink was trying to write in the Coen film. It’s a comedy! It’s a romance! It’s a gangster film! It’s a hooker with a heart of gold! It’s a WRASSLIN’ picture!

  And it also is anchored by a pair of shockingly good performances from the leads. Wallace Beery in particular gives perhaps the best performance of his career as the gentle giant Polokai, and Karen Morley is superb as Laura as well giving a surprisingly varied and textured take on her character’s relationship with Polokai.

  Surprisingly tender and funny and sincere and warm for the first half of the picture, the film quickly goes off kilter when…

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  Review by Jen Johans ★★★½

  Filled with pathos, heartbreak, tenderness, guile, & strength, Beery's turn as a gentle giant German wrestler who gets taken for a ride by a conflicted woman & her scheming lover is one for the ages.

  However, the film's climax goes by much too quickly & doesn't do enough to build a worthwhile character arc for Beery (who, again, is absolutely the reason to watch).

  Still, John Ford does wonders with the wrestling sequences & this Pre-Code drama feels like one of many that foreshadowed noir in its themes & shadows even if FLESH is played more like a romantic melodrama.

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  Review by Lowbacca ★★

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  There's something about Wallace Beery's performance here that makes for a very prolonged awkwardness, like he's a bit too naive to sustain a whole movie, and there's nor really chemistry between him and Karen Morley. It's certainly clear that he's taken interest in her, but it doesn't feel too reciprocated, even faked in a way to string him along, let alone enough to have her change how she views about him that much. Guilt, sure, that feels believable.... but not falling for him.

  Other than that, the whole thing does just seem to take an overly slow pace to it, although I do appreciate that this is pre-Code and so at least it's able to allow a much franker discussion…

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  Review by Leavingfilmstrk ★★★

  Ricardo Cortez is good as a despicable con man, be brings the right combination of charm and ugliness to the character. Karen Morley is good, too, as his moll who is strong but so into Cortez she can't let go even when she knows she should. She is believable as a tough woman struggling with doing the right thing. Wallace Beery is good as a kind-hearted oaf even if his oafishness wears thin after awhile. Abrupt ending, but brings the story to a satisfying close.

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  Review by Danny ★★★★

  Your enjoyment of it will probably come from how much you enjoy seeing Beery mug.

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  Review by Mr. DuLac ★★★

  You got the dough, and we took the rap, so it's your turn to play cards.
  -Laura

  Early John Ford movie that has some confusing information regarding it online. IMDB lists him as "unaccredited" but lists no one else as the credited director. Then in the trivia section it claims that this is the movie Barton Fink is trying to write in the 1991 Coen Brothers movie while Wikipedia claims the Coens had never heard of this movie while writing Barton Fink.

  Now this film is a bit unintentionally funny as Wallace Beery plays a professional wrestler that at one point has a moral dilemma when he's asked to fix a professional wrestling match. How dare they ask him to…