Re: Boxer Harry Lewis, and a Happy Boxing Day from the Louise Brooks Society

Happy Boxing Day from the Louise Brooks Society. For those who may not be familiar with the term, "Boxing Day" is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (today - December 26). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It originated in Great Britain and is celebrated in a number of countries that previously formed part of the British Empire.

Playing on the word "boxing" - namely the combative sport in which two people throw punches at one another, I discovered that a once famous boxer appeared alongside Louise Brooks in her first film, The Street of Forgotten Men (1925). Like Louise Brooks, Harry Lewis (1886-1956) also played an uncredited bit part in the film; he as a saloon patron and witness to the fight between the characters Easy Money Charlie and Bridgeport White-Eye. Brooks unnamed character was a moll to Bridgeport White-Eye. 

Harry Lewis was once a pretty famous boxer, having been the Welterweight Champion of the World from 1908 to 1911. Lewis, who also boxed in the lightweight and featherweight divisions, fought around the world, including a losing match to French boxing great Georges Carpentier in Paris in 1911. Today, Lewis is rated the sixth-greatest welterweight of all time; he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, and into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2008.

Like other sports celebrities of the time, including Carpentier, Lewis took a stab at acting. A bit in Exhibitors Herald reads, “Harry Lewis, former middleweight boxer, who acted as a comedy taxicab driver in Richard Dix’s Manhandled and in Herbert Brenon’s Street of Forgotten Men, is again behind the meter in W.C. Field’s latest starring picture, The Potters, just being completed at the Paramount Long Island studio under the direction of Fred Newmeyer.” (Exhibitors Herald, 12-25-1926)

(Left above) Boxer Harry Lewis, pictured early in his career. Courtesy of Wikipedia (Right above) Actor Harry Lewis, pictured far right wearing a cap, and two other background players during the fight scene near the end of The Street of Forgotten Men. Courtesy of San Francisco Silent Film Festival

(Left below) Harry Lewis, as a denizen of the Bowery (aka the street of forgotten men), observes an injured Bridgeport White-Eye (played by John Harrington), who is seen staggering along the bar of the Dead House as other forgotten men look on. Courtesy of San Francisco Silent Film Festival

The fight scene and its fallout (spoiler alert, Bridgeport White-Eye goes blind!) is also observed by various down and out Bowery locals, including saloon keep Diamond Mike, played by Riley Hatch, and Bridgeport White-Eye's sporty-looking moll, played by Louise Brooks – who is seen wearing a cloche hat with a question mark pin. (Below) Louise Brooks, Riley Hatch, and others observe the fight. Courtesy of San Francisco Silent Film Festival

 

All this information, newly revealed, comes from my forthcoming new book, The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond. I have launched a GoFundMe page for this project which is located HERE. Please consider donating making a donation, no matter how small. 

Notably, Harry Lewis is not the only boxer to have appeared in a Louise Brooks film. Another noted box turned actor, Edward "Gunboat" Smith, appeared in a minor role in the second film in which Louise brooks appeared as a gangster's moll, The City Gone Wild (1927). Edward "Gunboat" Smith (1887 – 1974) was an Irish American boxer, film actor and later a boxing referee. During his career, Smith faced twelve different Boxing Hall of Famers a combined total of 23 times. Among the all-time greats he faced were Jack Dempsey, Harry Greb, Sam Langford, and Georges Carpentier. 

Another boxer turned actor who appeared in a film featuring Louise Brooks was Victor McLaglen, the star of A Girl in Every Port (1928). Victor McLaglen (1886 – 1959) was a British boxer-turned-Hollywood actor. He was known as a character actor, particularly in Westerns, and made seven films with John Ford and John Wayne. McLaglen won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1935 for his role in The Informer. Before he got into acting, McLaglen earned a living as a wrestler and heavyweight boxer in Canada and elsewhere. According to Wikipedia, one of his most famous fights was against heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in a six-round exhibition bout at the Vancouver Athletic Club on 10 March 1909. This was Johnson's first bout since winning the heavyweight title from Tommy Burns. Between bouts, McLaglen toured with a circus, which offered $25 to anyone who could go three rounds with him. After World War I, he continued boxing, including a defeat at the hands of British champion Frank Goddard. His final fight was a loss by knockout to Arthur Townley in October 1920. McLaglen finished his professional career with a record of 16 wins, eight losses, and a draw. 

There are other boxers associated with the films of Louise Brooks, like Jim Tully, the author of Beggars of Life (1928), who once worked as a semi-pro boxer and later wrote a novel on the subject, called The Bruiser. But that may be a story for another day.

The Louise Brooks Society blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society. (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2022. Further unauthorized use prohibited.