tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155853741712764167.post4567898890097319227..comments2024-02-01T23:41:43.069-05:00Comments on Out of the Past: Guest Blogger Steve-O ~ On Classic Boxing FilmsRaquel Stecherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02687110907002450794noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155853741712764167.post-82155986405777660312009-10-16T16:19:29.260-04:002009-10-16T16:19:29.260-04:00Champion is an exciting film and one of my favorit...Champion is an exciting film and one of my favorites. What I wouldn't give for the Dimitri Tiomkin sountrack on cd. When you consider Champion, Lust For Life,Paths of Glory, Lonely Are the Brave, Spartacus and Ace In The Hole (I'm sure I'm leaving out something) you can see what a talented and great actor Kirk Douglas is.Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773353395474179522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155853741712764167.post-77648977407174018812009-06-25T13:32:25.216-04:002009-06-25T13:32:25.216-04:00Interesting comments:
I was going to list some of...Interesting comments:<br /><br />I was going to list some of the other great boxing films then I realized there are a bunch! and the article started to become a big list - so I cut them out. The 70s had quite a boxing revival in movies. We had Fat City as <i>Noir of the Week</i> a while back... a great, great film.<br /><br />I finally saw Somebody Up There Likes Me recently. I've avoided it because I thought Newman was too pretty for the role. I underestimated him. He was down-to-earth and gritty.<br /><br />Body and Soul is totally worth a rental on Netflix despite edits and it not looking as good as R2 releases.<br /><br />Finally: I did notice that Kennedy played the same guy in both Champion and City For Conquest despite being years apart. He was one of the great second bananas.teshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18269621816095156033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155853741712764167.post-31232315811060465812009-06-24T17:02:08.031-04:002009-06-24T17:02:08.031-04:00Somebody Up There Likes Me is a pretty good flick,...Somebody Up There Likes Me is a pretty good flick, but Paul Newman's performance seems forced and over-ripe to me. In Body and Soul apparently cinematographer James Wong Howe wore roller skates to film parts of Charlies last fight! i think John Garfield gives a stunning performance in that film. i'd call him possibly the best actor ever at playing a morally anguished man!Artman2112https://www.blogger.com/profile/03062864368596074661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155853741712764167.post-3035313720168661362009-06-23T23:56:04.725-04:002009-06-23T23:56:04.725-04:00Body and Soul looks the most convincing of the box...Body and Soul looks the most convincing of the boxing noirs because of the documentary style photography, and the story lives up to the visuals. I second Tommy Salami's praise for Hard Times, and from the Seventies I also like Fat City for its glamourless depiction of the fighter's world.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155853741712764167.post-43658561377933740692009-06-23T21:15:27.551-04:002009-06-23T21:15:27.551-04:00Boxing movies are really their own genre, aren'...Boxing movies are really their own genre, aren't they? I saw The Set-Up ages ago; I need to see it again. What do you think of Somebody Up There Likes Me? More of a biopic, really. I've boxed amateur and it's rare to find an accurate film, but a good story is enough. I'll have to watch Champion next time it's on TCM.<br /><br />I like bareknuckle flicks like Diggstown and Hard Times too. And of course the Clint movies with the orangutan :)Thomas Pluckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17008022962076648740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155853741712764167.post-50546754322305968562009-06-23T14:56:00.479-04:002009-06-23T14:56:00.479-04:00Great post, Steve-O! Also a bit of a coincidence f...Great post, Steve-O! Also a bit of a coincidence for me as well. A few weeks ago my best friend and I were talking about why we don't like the Rocky films--namely, they don't measure up to the classic boxing films of yore! Champion remains my all time favourite boxing film.<br /><br />Thanks for giving Steve-O the opportunity to guest blog, Raquelle!Terence Towles Canotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18397088843628331615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155853741712764167.post-89145033359423564552009-06-23T13:59:29.239-04:002009-06-23T13:59:29.239-04:00I too love the boxing film genre even though i can...I too love the boxing film genre even though i cant stand the sport for real! What a setting for tales of moral corruption/redemption and the potential ugliness of human nature! I have to diagree about City for Conquest as being a guilty pleasure though! I think it's fine film, wondefully acted and sensitively directed and what a great score! They just didnt pay as much attention to the realism in a fight scene (or gunfights for that matter) back then. I think it's important to mention that the Set Up plays out in real time which may account for it's stagey feel. I'm with you all the way on Kirk Douglas though! he's just a hair under Cagney in my list of faves and Champion is one of the best things he ever did. his death scene is unforgettable! I think it's funny how Arthur Kennedy played the 'sensitive' brother in 2 of the films you mentioned! thanks for a great post!!!Artman2112https://www.blogger.com/profile/03062864368596074661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6155853741712764167.post-9294048149890198282009-06-23T11:51:27.654-04:002009-06-23T11:51:27.654-04:00Great write-up as always Steve-O. Body and Soul st...Great write-up as always Steve-O. Body and Soul still remains one of my favorite boxing films.Classic Maidenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06452165665779363139noreply@blogger.com