Expert: Barbara L. Baker - 2/26/2006

Question
Barbara,
Thanks so much for your reply. I was fairly young when I saw it, maybe 8-12, so unfortunately the more colorful characters made the impression on me. I saw it in the middle to late 1960s, and it had a distinct 1950s "feel" to it. I'm 99% sure that it was a theatrical release. I remember it as a comedy, although it could have been a drama with a few blatant comedic elements! Unfortunately, I don't recall any actors' or actresses' names. I can clearly "see" the actor who played Clancy in my mind's eye. He was a curly-haired gent whom I'm sure I'd recognized from other films -- sort of a friendlier-looking Mike Mazurki type -- but while I'm very good with obscure character actors, he's not one of them. Over the years, I've conducted several internet searches using pretty much the same keywords as you did in your search, and I spent an hour or so on IMDb looking for "Clancy" characters. Nothing worked. The only other things I remember was that 1) the main charcter had somehow run afoul of some gangsters (which certainly doesn't help!), 2) in the climactic fight scene I mentioned, the main character told Clancy whom to punch by designating every villain as "Clancy! Cross-eyed!" (but I believe Clancy mistakenly slugged one cop or detective) and 3)that at the end, the film showed the cast in "Where are they now?" fashion, and Clancy was in a gym, hitting a punching bag, whereupon he told us, "I'm makin' a comeback... Y'know?" I doubt any of this'll help, but thanks so much for your efforts!
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Followup To
Question -
Hi. Sometime in the late 1960s, I saw a film on TV. I was too young at the time to recognize or remember if there were any "name" actors in the film, but I do remember two of the secondary characters vividly. One was a punch-drunk ex-pug named Clancy, hired as bodyguard for the movie's main character. Clancy slept with his eyes open (At one point, they thought he was dead.), was ready and willing to fight anyone who looked at his boss "cross-eyed," and kept saying, "I'm makin' a comeback... Y'know?" The other character I recall was a dark-haired male professional dancer, a friend & co-worker of the male lead's girlfriend. His "manhood" was constantly questioned by the female dancer's boyfriend, until the male dancer "proved himself" by being a master of savate during a climactic fight scene. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Answer -
David, first let me thank you for providing more specific detail than many do when they ask me to track down films. Unfortunately, I don't recall seeing this film, and because your good description focuses on secondary characters, and possibly plot events, I've been unable to track down a definitive answer for you.

During this time period there were a lot of light comedies and musical comedies, including several with characters named Clancy (either as a first or last name).  However, many were in black and white and/or did not have plots that included dancers (e.g. the Doris Day film, "Caprice," from 1967). A color film of that time period, made in the U.S., that included boxers, bodyguards, and some type of dance was "Designing Women" (1957), but from the limited plot information I could locate, it contained no fights, no characters named Clancy, etc.

There also were films with characters named Clancy that clearly were dramatic films (or mysteries, or horror films), as well as characters with that name in a couple of TV series of the time period. But no film yet fits all the keywords I tried (boxing/boxer, bodyguard, cross-eyed, dancers, fight).

So, unless one of the ones I listed above is the film you are looking for, I am asking if you have any other information at all--I assume it is a film made for theatrical release, in the U.S. but could it have possibly been an episode of a TV show? If it is a film, even if one made for TV, do you recall any other plot event, or character name?  Otherwise I'm not sure I can come up with a definite title.  I'm sorry.

Answer
David, it seems like you did some of the same steps I did, in looking for this film.  As you no doubt discovered, it is very difficult to locate a title if you have limited plot and character information on a film.

I did take the additional information you provided, and I also expanded my search some, including some print resources I have.  Unfortunately, I still came up with nothing definite.  I think that in general the Clancy role and actions weren't a large enough aspect of the plot to leap out in the search. The 1942 film "Footlight Serenade" had some elements, but not enough to convince me.

The Internet Movie Data Base is pretty comprehensive, but it still doesn't have every movie (or TV show) listed. Particularly when it comes to episodes of TV series it is lacking, which makes me wonder if perhaps this was a TV show (or even TV movie) instead of an actual film?  If not, then I would suggest doing more of what you already have done (if you haven't done this already), which is to look at the IMBD information on every film with a "Clancy" character from 1940-1970 (that's what I did). Maybe one of the descriptions will ring a bell for you, enough to try to locate the film to see if it is the one you are looking for.  Otherwise I don't know what else to suggest, as I'm currently stumped.