Unmarried (1939)

When his manager, Pins Streaver, is killed attempting to rob a safe after losing all his money betting on a fight, third-rate fighter Slag Bailey leaves New York to investigate Streaver's property in upstate New York. Accompanied by his sweetheart, Pat Rogers, a hard-boiled nightclub hostess, Slag arrives to find a deserted house. Soon after, Streaver's twelve-year-old son Ted arrives home from boarding school, unaware of his father's death. Ted believes that Slag and Pat are married friends of his father, and so to comfort the boy, they decide to stay a day or two until he recovers from his grief. The day or two stretches into years, and under the positive influence of Ted and their neighbors, Pat and Slag effect a regeneration and become devoted foster parents. They work hard to give Ted a good education and send the boy to college, where he becomes a football star. Ted's popularity prompts shady fight promoter Cash Enright to suggest that he give up school for the fight game. But Slag knows Cash and how heartless the fight racket can be, and objects to the plan. This provokes a heated argument between father and son, which ends as Ted knocks Slag out. His act of violence forces Ted to realize that Slag and Pat, although not his natural parents, have sacrificed all for his education, and so he decides to heed their advice. Finally, Slag and Pat decide to formalize their relationship and marry.