CHAMPION (1949) B/W 90m dir: Mark Robson

w/Kirk Douglas, Marilyn Maxwell, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Syewart, Ruth Roman, Lola Albright

Douglas punched his way to stardom as the boxing heel in this rather free adaptation of Ring Lardner's mordant short story of the same name.

From Variety 's review of the film: "... Champion is a stark, realistic story of the boxing rackets and the degeneracy of a prizefighter.

"Fight scenes, under Franz Planer's camera, have realism and impact. Unrelenting pace is set by the opening sequence.

"Cast, under Mark Robson's tight direction, is fine. Kirk Douglas is the boxer and he makes the character live. Second honors go jointly to Arthur Kennedy, the fighter's crippled brother, and Paul Stewart as the knowing manager.

"Where the Lardner story made the boxer a no-good from the start, [Carl] Foreman's screenplay casts him as an appealing Joe in the earlier reels. Already stuck with a persecution complex because of his boyhood poverty, it doesn't take long for him to become a reel heel."