‘For the first time in my life, people cheering for me…’
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad boxing movie (with the possible exception of Rocky V). Boxing is a sport that lends itself to the big screen. It is inherently cinematic. Champion, from director Mark Robson, combines boxing with film noir to great effect…
In true sports movie style, Midge Kelly (Kirk Douglas) is plucked from obscurity by Tommy Haley (Paul Stewart), his first manager, and is eventually given a shot at the title. Organised crime bosses and various women circle Midge, and while he tries to duck and weave from his responsibilities, his selfish ways catch up with him in the end.
Nominated for five Oscars (winning one for editing), Champion made a star of Douglas, who signed a seven-year, million-dollar contract with Warner Bros. in the wake of the film’s success. It’s easy to see why. He is a force of nature here, delivering a performance that would inform every other onscreen portrayal of a professional boxer going forward. Marilyn Maxwell makes for a convincing femme fatale and Carl Foreman’s screenplay does a great job in capturing the feeling of the walls closing in around Douglas. For his part, the acclaimed actor manages to make us care for Kelly even though he treats everyone like shit throughout the film, and it is a testament to his star quality that we are still rooting for him right to the end. He’s also got some chin on him, hasn’t he? He was chiselled out of rock, that guy.
Champion may seem tame when compared to some of the more bombastic boxing films that followed it, but this film set the blueprint for the subgenre and the iconic performance from Douglas ensures that it still very much holds up. Worth watching for the final fight sequence alone.
