A one-armed circus animal tamer regains his son and the confidence he lost along with his wife.A one-armed circus animal tamer regains his son and the confidence he lost along with his wife.A one-armed circus animal tamer regains his son and the confidence he lost along with his wife.
George 'Spanky' McFarland
- 'Stubby' as a Child
- (as Spanky McFarland)
Sara Haden
- Martha
- (as Sarah Haden)
Ben Hendricks Jr.
- Franz
- (as Ben Hendricks)
Hooper Atchley
- Secretary
- (scenes deleted)
Lee Shumway
- Detective
- (scenes deleted)
Wally Albright
- Child
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRemarkably, the plot of this film mirrors aspects of Wallace Beery's real life --- Beery ran away from home at age 16 and joined Ringling Brothers Circus as an assistant elephant trainer, but left the company two years later after being clawed by a leopard.
- GoofsWhen Windy tells Joseph his story of the animals that he brought back from Africa, he mentions tigers. Tigers do not live in Africa, but in Asia.
- ConnectionsReferenced in The Twilight Zone: The Incredible World of Horace Ford (1963)
Featured review
Rebuild his relationship
Ever since they were teamed in The Champ MGM saw Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper as money in the bank and they were cast together again in Treasure Island and now this film O'Shaughnessy's Boy. They also were together in The Bowery but that was under another company banner. After this though Cooper was getting a bit too old for these kid roles as he moved into his teens.
Instead of a boxer past his prime Beery plays a circus lion tamer at the top of his game. He's married another circus performer Leona Maricle who is a neurotic away from the high trapeze. She's brought her sister Sara Haden who is miles from her kindly spinster aunt role in the Andy Hardy series. She caters to Maricle's neurosis and eggs on a split between Beery and her.
But Beery gets along great with his son first played by Spanky McFarland. But it all goes bad for Beery when Maricle and Haden leave taking his son with him and Beery loses his right arm in the arena after a cat mauls him.
The rest of the film is Beery trying to get his son back who eventually grows up to be Jackie Cooper.
The Beery/Cooper chemistry was still working albeit a bit creaking now that Cooper's voice was changing. Leona Maricle's character was somewhat underdeveloped, we never really find out why she's such a neurotic only that Haden caters to it. Henry Stephenson also has a fine role as commandant of the military school that Cooper attends.
Jackie Cooper whose career was made with his films with Wallace Beery was like all the rest of his contemporaries who could find nothing good to say about him in real life. Knowing that you may be seeing some of the greatest acting in history in O'Shaughnessy's Boy.
Instead of a boxer past his prime Beery plays a circus lion tamer at the top of his game. He's married another circus performer Leona Maricle who is a neurotic away from the high trapeze. She's brought her sister Sara Haden who is miles from her kindly spinster aunt role in the Andy Hardy series. She caters to Maricle's neurosis and eggs on a split between Beery and her.
But Beery gets along great with his son first played by Spanky McFarland. But it all goes bad for Beery when Maricle and Haden leave taking his son with him and Beery loses his right arm in the arena after a cat mauls him.
The rest of the film is Beery trying to get his son back who eventually grows up to be Jackie Cooper.
The Beery/Cooper chemistry was still working albeit a bit creaking now that Cooper's voice was changing. Leona Maricle's character was somewhat underdeveloped, we never really find out why she's such a neurotic only that Haden caters to it. Henry Stephenson also has a fine role as commandant of the military school that Cooper attends.
Jackie Cooper whose career was made with his films with Wallace Beery was like all the rest of his contemporaries who could find nothing good to say about him in real life. Knowing that you may be seeing some of the greatest acting in history in O'Shaughnessy's Boy.
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- bkoganbing
- Sep 15, 2014
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Arena krvi i ljubavi
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 27 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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