Producer: King Vidor. Associate producers: Harry Rapf and William M. Weiss. Copyrighted on the 19th November 1931 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. New York opening at the Astor, 9 November 1931. 10 reels. 87 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Former prizefighter has one admirer anyway — his nine- year-old son.
NOTES: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a tie for Best Actor in the annual awards for 1931: Wallace Beery for "The Champ" coupled with Fredric March for "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde". Frances Marion won the award for Original Story (defeating Lady and Gent, Star Witness and What Price Hollywood). "The Champ" was also nominated for Best Picture (awarded to Grand Hotel), and Directing (Frank Borzage for Bad Girl).
2nd Best Picture of 1932 (Grand Hotel was first) — Film Daily poll of U.S. film critics. The film was shot on a 32-day production schedule — including real location lensing at Tijuana (Mexico) and Caliente race track — at a negative cost of $356,000. Gross domestic rentals on initial release: $917,000.
Re-made as The Clown (1953) and as The Champ (1979).
COMMENT: Wallace Beery certainly deserved his Best Actor award. In fact, Cooper deserved one too. Both performers play perfectly together. Vidor has drawn equally convincing portrayals from the rest of his cast, and has brilliantly counter-balanced the innate sentimentality of the story by handling it in a gritty, realistic fashion.
Avil's photography and other technical credits are as accomplished as we might expect from MGM. All told, outstanding entertainment. America's film critics voted the picture second only to Grand Hotel (also MGM). That's where I'd place it too. The Champ is a triumph.
AVAILABLE on DVD through Warner Home Video. Quality rating: 10 out of ten.
SYNOPSIS: Former prizefighter has one admirer anyway — his nine- year-old son.
NOTES: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a tie for Best Actor in the annual awards for 1931: Wallace Beery for "The Champ" coupled with Fredric March for "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde". Frances Marion won the award for Original Story (defeating Lady and Gent, Star Witness and What Price Hollywood). "The Champ" was also nominated for Best Picture (awarded to Grand Hotel), and Directing (Frank Borzage for Bad Girl).
2nd Best Picture of 1932 (Grand Hotel was first) — Film Daily poll of U.S. film critics. The film was shot on a 32-day production schedule — including real location lensing at Tijuana (Mexico) and Caliente race track — at a negative cost of $356,000. Gross domestic rentals on initial release: $917,000.
Re-made as The Clown (1953) and as The Champ (1979).
COMMENT: Wallace Beery certainly deserved his Best Actor award. In fact, Cooper deserved one too. Both performers play perfectly together. Vidor has drawn equally convincing portrayals from the rest of his cast, and has brilliantly counter-balanced the innate sentimentality of the story by handling it in a gritty, realistic fashion.
Avil's photography and other technical credits are as accomplished as we might expect from MGM. All told, outstanding entertainment. America's film critics voted the picture second only to Grand Hotel (also MGM). That's where I'd place it too. The Champ is a triumph.
AVAILABLE on DVD through Warner Home Video. Quality rating: 10 out of ten.