Via Ken Hissner: This writer has a small collection of boxing movies but already knows that over 50 boxing movies have been made!
At 77, I’m back in my all-time favorite “Body & Soul” movie, starring my all-time favorite John Garfield actor, made in 1947. tells about the talented career of a young boxer when an unscrupulous promoter takes an interest in him. Sound familiar? Garfield himself is also an amateur boxer in New York.
My collection includes “Raging Bull”,” 1988 starring Robert DiNero, former middleweight champion Jake LaMotta. Yes “Cinderella Man” in 2005 starring Russell Crowe as former heavyweight champion James J. Braddock.
“The Hurricane” stars Denzel Washington in 1999 as Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a former middleweight contender. “Million Dollar Baby”Starring Clint Eastwood, who also received the award for Best Director in the film. Hillary Swank, who plays the boxer, won the award for Best Actress.
“Gentleman Jim” stars Errol Flynn in 1942 as heavyweight champion James J Corbett. “Ali,” starring Will Smith in 2001, is a biography of sports legend Muhammad Al, focusing on his exploits and controversies from 1964 to 1974. Ali said, “Jughead is in the running. play with me?”
“Children’s Galahad” remake of the 1937 film with this film starring Elvis Presley in 2012. Presley is a martial artist in real life and became a close friend of Muhammad Ali. It’s more realistic than some of the fake movies he’s done and doesn’t enjoy doing.
One of my favorite movies is “The Champion” starring Kirk Douglas, one of my favorite actors back in 1949. He is a great actor with some great fight scenes. great. He played boxer Midge Kelly, who was famous… mostly for stepping on other people.
A lesser-known pair of films that I have is “Hand of Stone” starring Robert DiNero about former champion Roberto “Hand of Stone” Duran. The other is “Southpaw” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Forest Whitaker, who play a retired martial artist and trainer. Gyllenhaal has been nominated for an Academy Award.
“Great White Hope” starring Samuel L. Jackson in 1996 as Jack Jefferson about heavyweight champion Jack Johnson. “The Set-Up” stars Robert Ryan in 1949, the real-life person boxed at Dartmouth College. Due to an unusual loss prediction, a boxing manager accepts a bribe from a betting gangster without telling his boxer.
“The Champ,” starring Wallace Beery as an alcoholic ex-boxer struggling to make a good living for his son, was in 1931 and is one of my favorite movies and actors. The sequel stars Jon Voight. Another favorite was “The Harder They Fall” starring Humphrey Bogart in 1956.
Boxer similar to heavyweight champion Primo Carnera had a bunch of setups before Bogart told him. Not believing it, the boxer was beaten by his coach to prove a point. A former sports journalist hired by a shady advertiser to advertise his latest results, an unknown but easily exploited rising star hails from Argentina.
Probably the biggest at the box office is “Rocky” starring Sylvester Stallone with a gross of $117.24 million in 1976. Heavyweight Chuck Wepner was sued in court for his involvement. I believe I am one of the few boxers who didn’t like it because it was so unbelievable and have never seen any of the following fights.
A little known movie called “Chuck” in 2016, a drama inspired by Wepner, who had once in his life with Muhammad Ali “He told his wife before the game” last night. Now I’ll sleep with the champion! After losing, the wife asked, “Which room is Ali in?”
2010’s “The Fighter” starring Mark Wahlberg is about boxer Mickey Ward, a fledgling boxer trying to escape the shadow of his more famous but troubled boxing brother. and try to hit a great shot. Wahlberg did a great job of this. “Fat City” stars Stacy Keach and Jeff Bridges in 1972. Two men, professional boxers get into a fight when their careers begin to take on opposing dynamics.
Requiem for a Heavyweight is a 1962 film starring Anthony Quinn, Mickey Rooney, and Jackie Gleason. It’s about corruption in boxing featuring Muhammad Ali. “When We Were Kings” 1996 documentary filmed the 1976 heavyweight bout in Zaire, “The Rumble in the Jungle” between champion George Foreman and challenger Ali. Another Ali-related film was “The Greatest” in 1977 with Ali portraying himself in recreating the events that brought him to fame. The film also has Ernest Borgnine.
“Someone up there likes me” starring Paul Newman in 1956 based on the autobiography of middleweight champion Rocky Graziano’s childhood up to his world championship win in 1947.
I know I’ve left out a few that readers may remind me of. So “What’s your favorite boxing movie?”
