The apocryphal line in the "Summary Line" is usually shot out (with appropriately gritted teeth and pressured, angst filled tones) by mimics pretending they are doing Kirk Douglas. But it does convey the character of Midge Kelly pretty well. From the first we realize that no matter how skillful a boxer he is, Midge is an ambitious egotist, who uses people right and left without a second thought. It is not Douglas's greatest performance (Sparticus, Colonel Dax, and Vincent Van Gogh have to be considered as well). But it was the starring role that put him on the movie-land map.
Midge is poison from the start. He and his brother Connie (Arthur Kennedy) get jobs in a diner run by Harry Shannon. Midge spoils it by having an affair with Shannon's daughter Emma (Ruth Roman) which Shannon solves by a shotgun wedding. Naturally Midge has little interest in Emma, who ends up going to live with Midge's mother back east (Shannon disowns her). Later it turns out that Connie had more of a real affection for Emma, and he too resents how Midge "beat" him to the girl of his dream.
Midge (to earn some money) goes into the ring for a match. He was beaten (and subsequently cheated by the fight promoter). But he attracts the attention of Tommy Hayley (Paul Stewart), an honest fight trainer. He teaches Midge how to train properly. Soon Midge is winning matches, and he gradually rises in the boxing world to the point where he is potentially a rival for the championship title held by the friendly, decent Johnny Dunne (John Daheim). But the man who controls the fight game is Jerry Harris (Luis Van Rooten - in a nice understated performance that ultimately wins him your sympathy). He is preventing the fights necessary for Midge to confront Dunne.
Midge has picked up a girlfriend (formerly Johnny Dunne's) named Grace Diamond (Marilyn Maxwell). She has done well with him, as she did with Dunne, by his expensive gifts to her. But he is about to make a major change in his career. Contacting Harris, he agrees to dump Hayley as manager for Harris to get those boxing matches. This of course shocks the honorable Hayley, but Harris soon comes to regret it as well. For Midge has met Harris's wife Palmer (Lola Albright), a talented sculptor who is a decade or so younger than her husband. Grace soon finds she is being tossed aside (something she is not used to), and threatens to tell the public about the real Midge. But he effectively puts Grace into her place, by pointing out that he will beat her so badly her face will be a physical mess for the rest of her life - ending her value to any man.
Midge wins the title, but his spiritual rot continues. He has bought his mother and Emma a luxury apartment, and Connie visits them frequently - but not Midge. Midge doesn't come until his mother dies. Connie and Emma eventually discover they should have been the couple but Midge, for his own purposes, won't divorce Emma. As for Jerry and Palmer, Jerry realizes that it would be better to give Midge his contract and freedom than compete (but he's smart enough to show the opportunistic Midge willingly doing this to Palmer, who realizes that Jerry really does love her more than the boxer).
The conclusion deals with the rise of Dunne again as a major competitor. Forced to return to Hayley (only this time demanding a huge salary for his work), Midge gets back into shape. And we return to the match which was about to begin at the start of the film, wondering if Midge will make it again or lose. It is a brutal, and realistic fight (one of the best ever filmed) and has one memorable moment - when Midge is on the canvas, possibly defeated, but hears someone dismissing him as finished. The expression on Midge's furious face is something you never forget.
CHAMPION is one of the great boxing films, and an excellent film to study the acting art of Kirk Douglas with.
Midge is poison from the start. He and his brother Connie (Arthur Kennedy) get jobs in a diner run by Harry Shannon. Midge spoils it by having an affair with Shannon's daughter Emma (Ruth Roman) which Shannon solves by a shotgun wedding. Naturally Midge has little interest in Emma, who ends up going to live with Midge's mother back east (Shannon disowns her). Later it turns out that Connie had more of a real affection for Emma, and he too resents how Midge "beat" him to the girl of his dream.
Midge (to earn some money) goes into the ring for a match. He was beaten (and subsequently cheated by the fight promoter). But he attracts the attention of Tommy Hayley (Paul Stewart), an honest fight trainer. He teaches Midge how to train properly. Soon Midge is winning matches, and he gradually rises in the boxing world to the point where he is potentially a rival for the championship title held by the friendly, decent Johnny Dunne (John Daheim). But the man who controls the fight game is Jerry Harris (Luis Van Rooten - in a nice understated performance that ultimately wins him your sympathy). He is preventing the fights necessary for Midge to confront Dunne.
Midge has picked up a girlfriend (formerly Johnny Dunne's) named Grace Diamond (Marilyn Maxwell). She has done well with him, as she did with Dunne, by his expensive gifts to her. But he is about to make a major change in his career. Contacting Harris, he agrees to dump Hayley as manager for Harris to get those boxing matches. This of course shocks the honorable Hayley, but Harris soon comes to regret it as well. For Midge has met Harris's wife Palmer (Lola Albright), a talented sculptor who is a decade or so younger than her husband. Grace soon finds she is being tossed aside (something she is not used to), and threatens to tell the public about the real Midge. But he effectively puts Grace into her place, by pointing out that he will beat her so badly her face will be a physical mess for the rest of her life - ending her value to any man.
Midge wins the title, but his spiritual rot continues. He has bought his mother and Emma a luxury apartment, and Connie visits them frequently - but not Midge. Midge doesn't come until his mother dies. Connie and Emma eventually discover they should have been the couple but Midge, for his own purposes, won't divorce Emma. As for Jerry and Palmer, Jerry realizes that it would be better to give Midge his contract and freedom than compete (but he's smart enough to show the opportunistic Midge willingly doing this to Palmer, who realizes that Jerry really does love her more than the boxer).
The conclusion deals with the rise of Dunne again as a major competitor. Forced to return to Hayley (only this time demanding a huge salary for his work), Midge gets back into shape. And we return to the match which was about to begin at the start of the film, wondering if Midge will make it again or lose. It is a brutal, and realistic fight (one of the best ever filmed) and has one memorable moment - when Midge is on the canvas, possibly defeated, but hears someone dismissing him as finished. The expression on Midge's furious face is something you never forget.
CHAMPION is one of the great boxing films, and an excellent film to study the acting art of Kirk Douglas with.