Champion

Midge Kelly and his brother Connie are broke and jobless on their way to California when a chance to fight comes up in a hall. Midge likes hitting people. The higher he climbs in the ring the longer the list of people behind him gets: the woman he was made to marry, the manager who trained him, his disabled brother, and finally his backer's wife. By the time he is champion nobody is left. The film tells a boxing success as a rise and then empties it morally: Midge makes the right move at every stage, and every right move spends a person. The story makes no attempt to rescue him. Mark Robson directed, produced by Stanley Kramer. Carl Foreman adapted the screenplay from Ring Lardner's story. Kirk Douglas plays Midge, with Arthur Kennedy, Marilyn Maxwell and Ruth Roman in the cast. Douglas had to choose between a big studio picture and this low-budget one and took this; the budget was under six hundred thousand dollars. It took six Academy Award nominations and won for editing, the prize going to Harry Gerstad. Douglas was nominated for best actor. Who it is for: anyone who likes sports drama at the edge of noir and early Kirk Douglas. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a sympathetic lead. Midge is repellent throughout, the women are functional, and some of the fights look staged by today's measure.