Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Alistair Olson After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

evanston_dad "Champion" has a satisfyingly gritty, noir-like look, but its style is unfortunately wasted on a story that's pure melodrama.Kirk Douglas plays a boxing phenom, whose meteoric rise is due to his charisma and animal magnetism, and whose fall is due to his hubris. The problem is that you have to find Douglas irresistible in the first place, or at least understand why he might be so irresistible to others, to make his rise make sense, and to make you feel any compassion for his fall. Since I don't particularly like Douglas and never have, the movie left me cold.The sleazy boxing underworld that serves as the film's setting provided ample opportunities to craft a juicy little drama, but instead the movie focuses on the various love interests of Douglas and becomes a parade of scenes featuring women, all interchangeable, suffering over the wrongs done to them. Who cares?This film received an Academy Award for Best Film Editing, which, when taken with the editing awards given to "Body and Soul" and "Rocky" over the years, shows that the Academy really likes to give this particular award to boxing movies. It was also nominated for Best Actor (Douglas), Best Supporting Actor (Arthur Kennedy, as Douglas's brother and the film's conscience), Best Screenplay (Carl Foreman), Best Black and White Cinematography (Frank Planer), and Best Dramatic or Comedy Score (Dimitri Tiomkin).Grade: B-

Claudio Carvalho While traveling to California in a cargo wagon, the clandestine Michael "Midge" Kelly (Kirk Douglas) and his crippled brother Connie Kelly (Arthur Kennedy) are robbed and thrown off the train. They hitchhike and get a lift from the famous boxer Johnny Dunne (John Daheim), who is traveling with his mistress Grace Diamond (Marilyn Maxwell) to Kansas City for a fight. They explain that they have bought a share in a restaurant. In Kansas City, Midge gets in trouble while seeking a job and is invited to fight box for 35 dollars. He takes a beat and the promoter pays only 10 dollars to him, but the trainer Tommy Haley (Paul Stewart) invites Midge to go to his gym in Los Angeles to be trained in box. When the brothers arrive at the restaurant, they learn that they have been cheated in the business and the owner Lew Bryce (Harry Shannon) hires them to work in the restaurant waiting table and washing dishes. Soon Midge seduces Lew's daughter Emma Bryce (Ruth Roman) and when her father finds their affair, Emma with Midge are forced to get married to each other. However Midge decides to flee to seek out Tommy and leaves Emma alone after the wedding. He learns how to fight with Tommy and defeats several fighters. When he is scheduled to fight Johnny Dunne, the organized crime orders him to lose the fight. However Midge defeats Dunne and is black-listed and can not fight any more. But Grace convinces him to leave Tommy and be managed by Jerome Harris (Luis Van Rooten), who is connected to the crime world. Now Midge begins a successful career betraying his friends and stepping on women, including Harris' wife Palmer Harris (Lola Albright). How far will he go to make money and be champion? "Champion" is an awarded film-noir based on the story of an ambitious boxer that is capable to betray friend to climb in his career reaching fame and money. The direction and performances are excellent with good choreography in the fights, and the film was awarded in Film Editing category (Oscar) and Best Cinematography (Golden Globe). In addition, it achieved several nominations. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Invencível" ("The Invincible")

classicsoncall Wow, excellent story and excellent performances make this film from 1949 a veritable knockout by almost any measure. Kirk Douglas displays all the talent necessary to make him an overnight success in this hard edged tale of a man who'll do just about anything to make it to the top. Perhaps if Douglas hadn't had the physical skills to pull off the boxing role things might have been different. However his fight scenes looked quite realistic, and when he suffered cuts and bruises in the ring, they looked like the real thing. I'll contrast Douglas's ring style here with Robert Ryan in "The Set-Up", another boxing picture which came out the same year. Ryan's character Stoker Thompson didn't look comfortable in the ring at all, operating from a crouched position that looked defensive most of the time. Midge Kelly (Douglas), once he got some ring time under his belt, looked completely relaxed and natural.What was impressive about the picture for me aside from the boxing was the story telling. Generally you'd like to root for the principal in a picture like this but Midge Kelly turned out to be a heel in virtually all of his personal relationships. His immediate abandonment of wife Emma (Ruth Roman) was a stunner and pegged him as an opportunist who wouldn't hesitate stepping on people if they got in his way. As the viewer, you're kind of hoping against hope he wouldn't discard his own crippled brother (Arthur Kennedy) in the same manner, but it was only a matter of time. That was one of the sadder scenes when Midge decked Connie in the dressing room.On the flip side, one of the better and more significant moments occurred when Kelly's second manager Jerry Harris (Luis Van Rooten) put it all on the line with Midge to prove to wife Palmer (Lola Albright) that Kelly's only concern was the fame and money becoming Champ would bring. It was a wake up moment for the jilted woman, right after her husband told her "Don't be an idiot". Sometimes words hit harder than a sock to the jaw.There's one thing that kept me distracted in the picture though; each time Arthur Kennedy appeared on screen as Connie I kept wondering who he reminded me of. I finally figured it out, the resemblance to Kiefer Sutherland was somewhat uncanny. Closing out the story with Emma on his arm seemed a fitting ending for the story, seeing as how he arrived at a reconciliation with older brother, even if it was after Midge's death from a brain hemorrhage. Connie thought he 'went out like a champion', but the truth was, as a human being, Kelly was hardly a contender.

Riley Porter This movie is essentially a boxing noir where the emphasis is more on the characters than the boxing. If you have seen Ace in the Hole then the performance that Kirk Douglas gives in this movie will be very reminiscent of that. Midge Kelly, as played by Douglas, basically functions as a rags to riches villain who appears to onlookers as a people's champion, and appears to the people close to him as the actual person that he is. Much in the way that we treat our idols today, Midge Kelly is to the people whatever they want him to be, and like many idols his life outside of the ring is nothing to be sought after.This movie is a commentary on champions in sports and likely elsewhere, as well as a fine display of acting by Kirk Douglas and the supporting cast. This is basically the Kirk Douglas show as he occupies the majority of the screen and brings the bulk of the talent. The supporting cast does their part but are frankly overshadowed by Douglas, with his absences being fairly noticeable when they occur. The boxing will probably appear lack luster to fans of Rocky or actual boxing matches. Despite that, the important matches are engaging and the montage material gets the point across. This film is a hidden gem and is worth some recognition if nothing else but for a great performance and some intelligent insight on champions.