Invitation to Happiness

Some of the child's early advocacy for his mother seems a bit too sophisticated for his age. Otherwise, the conflicts here are strikingly real, and all the main characters are sympathetic and have just enough nuance in spite of the often melodramatic dialogue. The film doesn't exactly subvert any conventional ideas about life or love, but it's affectingly genuine about its convictions. One boxing match is shown (in long shots, like an old-timey TV broadcast).

A soppy boxing romance between Fred MacMurray & Irene Dunne. The two clearly love each other but gets alienated by the time they spend apart because MacMurray always has a fight to prepare away on training camps. Their kid becomes a total mama's boy and struggles to be in the presence of his father. In a way that creates a interesting dynamic, as there is so much love floating in the air, yet they don't know how to be together. This is a very soapy film, but there is a warmth here too.