The Champ (1931)

An alcoholic ex-boxer struggles to provide a good living for his son.

Director:

King Vidor (uncredited)

Writers:

Frances Marion (story), Leonard Praskins (dialogue continuity)

Stars:

Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich

Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Wallace Beery	...	Andy Purcell - The Champ
Jackie Cooper	...	Dink
Irene Rich	...	Linda Carleton
Roscoe Ates	...	Sponge (as Rosco Ates)
Edward Brophy	...	Tim
Hale Hamilton	...	Tony Carleton
Jesse Scott	...	Jonah
Marcia Mae Jones	...	Mary Lou Carleton

Storyline

Dink Purcell loves his alcoholic father, ex-heavyweight champion Andy "Champ" Purcell, despite his frequent binges, his frequent gambling and their squalid living conditions. And there's nothing Andy wouldn't do for Dink. When Andy wins a race horse gambling, he gives it to Dink and they race it at a Tijuana track. There, Dink meets Linda Carleton, a race horse owner herself, and they have an immediate rapport. But Linda's rich husband sees Andy and realizes Dink is Linda's son, who she gave up when she and Andy divorced. Andy is bribed $200 to allow Dink to visit with Linda, but refuses to allow Dink to spend six months with the Carletons. When Andy loses the horse gambling and winds up in jail after a drunken tirade, he realizes Dink's place is with his mother. Dink tearfully goes but sneaks out and returns at his first opportunity, filling a depressed Andy with a desire to make good. So Andy goes into training after his managers arrange a boxing match with the Mexican champion.

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Plot Keywords:

gambling | boxing | racetrack | alcoholic | tears | 

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Taglines:

The knockout picture of the year!

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

El campeón

Filming Locations:

Agua Caliente Racetrack, Baja California Norte, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min (Turner library print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Wallace Beery was none too thrilled to be working with Jackie Cooper, sharing most adult actors' distrust of child stars. Cooper would later accuse the star of trying to upstage him and treating him like "an unkempt dog," behaviour he ascribed to jealousy.

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Goofs

During the fight, The Champ sustains a cut above his left eye, but when he goes back to his corner it is gone. The cut comes back when the fighting resumes and stays for the duration of the film.

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Quotes

[Dink compares the swanky home to his own]
Dink Purcell: The Champ and I ain't fixed up swell as this, but our joint's more lively.

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Connections

Referenced in Sanford and Son: Pops 'n' Pals (1973)

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Soundtracks

I Surrender Dear
(1931) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Barris
Played offscreen by piano in the bar

User Reviews

Classic Film with a Punch

Champ, The (1931)

*** (out of 4)

Classic tear-jerker won two Academy Awards including Wallace Beery the Best Actor Oscar as well as a Best Screenplay for Frances Marion. The story centers on a former boxing champ (Beery) and his son (Jackie Cooper) who find themselves on the skids but the father plans on making a comeback so that his son can live a better life. THE CHAMP has been imitated so many times over the past eighty-years that it's easy to forget that this was one of the first of its type. The film has lost some of its impact over those years but you'd have to be dead or a complete robot for its ending not to really get to you. I won't ruin what happens but its impact is incredibly strong and touching. The film isn't the greatest ever made and I was a little surprised that the screenplay won as Oscar as I felt it left a few too many questioned unanswered. At the start of the film we see the father-son relationship and this here is tested when the child's mother (Irene Rich) tries to enter back in his life. I thought the screenplay really bumbled some of the scenes between the mother and the son and I found her attempt to get him back a little silly to say the least. I also thought some of the boxing stuff had a few too many clichés. The boxing drama was rich throughout the silent era and this here really doesn't offer up anything new. With all of that said, the main reason to watch this film are for the performances and there's no question that Beery and Cooper were terrific together. Beery would end up splitting the Best Actor award with Fredric March in DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE but he probably should have split it with Cooper. Both give terrific performances but what makes the film so special isn't their individual performances but instead it's the work they do together. There have been thousands of examples of a father-son relationship but I really can't recall too many that seemed as real as the one here. Beery was perfect for this type of slouch as he can pull off being a slob and make us care for him and his rather dimwitted ways. I don't think it's an insult saying this but Cooper has to be one of the greatest crying kids out there. The way he just breaks down in tears would get under anyones skin as he's so believable in these scenes that you can't help but really feel for the guy. Rich is good in her brief scenes as is Roscoe Ates as one of the champ's assistants. A lot of what happens throughout the film really won't come as a shock as the movie is rather predictable but at the same time the thing is just so entertaining that you don't mind it. Again, the ending is somewhat of a legendary thing among classic movies but it still manages to hit you where it counts.