The Contender (1944)

Director:

Sam Newfield

Writers:

George Wallace Sayre (story) and
Jay Doten (story) ...

Release Date:

10 May 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Action | Crime | Drama | Romance | Sport

Plot:

Widower Gary Farrell can't afford, on his $45-weekly salary as a truck driver, to send his young son...

Plot Keywords:

Truck | Military School | Truck Driver | Widower | Drinking

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Buster Crabbe	...	Gary Farrel
Arline Judge	...	Linda Martin
Julie Gibson	...	Rita Langdon
Donald Mayo	...	Mickey Farrel
Glenn Strange	...	Biff Benham
Milton Kibbee	...	'Pop' Turner
Roland Drew	...	Kip Morgan
Sam Flint	...	Major Palmer
George Turner	...	Sparky Callahan
Duke York	...	'Bomber' Brown
Jimmy Aubrey	...	Dance Club Drunk

Also Known As:

Challenger (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

63 min | USA:27 min (edited version) (TV)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #10026) | Finland:K-16

Company:

Sigmund Neufeld Productions

Trivia:

Re-titled, and edited down to less than thirty minutes, it was sold to television in the early 1950's as part of a syndicated half hour mystery show.

Quotes:

Kip Morgan: Rita, this is Miss Martin.
Rita Langdon: Charmed, I'm sure.
Linda Martin: Are you really?
Kip Morgan: Linda's one of our best newspaperwomen.
Rita Langdon: How thrilling.
Linda Martin: It has its moments. Like bricklaying and golddigging.

Buster parks his space suit and his six-guns

And acquires a son in the process. Widower Gary Farrell (Buster Crabbe) can't afford, on his $45-weekly salary as a truck driver, to send his young son, Mickey (Donald Mayo), to a high-priced military school and decides to enter heavyweight-boxing tournament in an effort to win the $500 prize money.

He wins and turns to boxing as a career and, in a short while (or 20 minutes running time)and under the guidance of "Pop" Turner (Milton Kibbee), becomes a Contender for the Heavyweight title.

Newspaper reporter Linda Martin is attracted to Farrell but he is paying more attention to the flashy Rita Langdon (Julie Gibson), who introduces him to night clubs, late hours, drinking, roistering and whatever other attractions the PCA code of the time allowed flashy blondes to introduce into the life of up-and-coming contenders.

Despite the warnings posted by Linda, Pop, Mickey and Biff Benham (Glenn Strange), his old cab-partner in the truck-driving business, Farrell continues to abuse all the training rules but still wins bout after bout.

Arline Judge, past her prime vamping days (on-screen, at least), plays the mousey role here, Linda the Social Worker, instead of the Rita-type role she usually played.