***SPOILERS*** Working in the Coaltown Pennsylvania coal mines for a living Coke Mason, Jeff Chandler, looks forward to opening up his own business repairing and selling radios. It's later that Coke is forced into a boxing match with the far bigger Alax Mallick, James Arness, because Coke won a bet with him in who can mine more coal in a one hour period. Coke after taking it on the chine for the entire first round suddenly put the big guy away with a vicious left right combination.
It seemed that the meek and pacifistic Coke had a mean streak under his harmless facade. That streak surfaced when Coke got pushed around which Mallick, in him being knocked unconscious, was unfortunate enough to find out. This wild and uncontrollable animal inside Coke had his older brother and coal mine foreman George, Steven McNally, as well as his fiancée Rose Warren, Evelyn Keys, come to see him as their meal ticket to get out of Coaltown and then start a new and much better life. The only problem with all this is that Coke is not exactly normal when he's fighting someone. With his cave man and animal like style of fighting he may very well end up killing someone in the boxing ring! Or even worse, for Coke, with his ability to take enormous amounts of punishment end up getting killed himself!
The movie "Iron Man" has an at first reluctant Coke being matched up with a number of pushovers that he easily makes mincemeat out of until he's matched against Joe Savella, Steve Martin, for the Heavyweight Championship of the World. Taking an unbelievable beating from the much more skillful Savella Coke ends up losing when his brother and manager, not being able to see Coke take any more punishment, throws in the towel thus ending the fight.
Coke feeling both hurt and humiliated over his loss to Savella now becomes obsessed in having a rematch and evening the score with him. What Coke is totally unaware of is that things are being set up by not only his brother George and boxing promoter Max Watkins, Jim Backus, but Rose as well for Savella to throw his match with him thus making Coke the new Heavyweight Champion of the World. With Coke being the most hated and despised fighter in professional boxing due to his dirty like tactics, like rabbit punching and hitting his opponents when their still down, is a gold mine for promoters in getting the boxing arenas packed solid.
Resentful in him being suspected in having his Heavyweight Championship Crown won undeserved, by Savella throwing the fight with him, Coke then instead of retiring from boxing, which he promised Rose he'll do, goes on a "Bum of the Month" campaign taking on all comers and, to the great disappointment of the boxing crowd and sports writers, knocking them out cold.
It's when Coke is matched against his good friend and former sparing partner Tommy "Speed" O'Keefe, Rock Hudson, that a sudden change comes over him. Knowing that in his wild and unethical, as well as dirty, tactics in the ring he may well end up killing or permanently injuring Tommy. Trying for the first time in his professional boxing career to fight a good hard as well as clean fight Coke not only ends up getting a cheering ovation from the crowd, who at first hated his guts, but the love and respect of Tommy who used to looked up to Coke as a big brother as well as Rose who had earlier dumped him!
Fine boxing action sequences done in newsreel, not Hollywood, style photography makes "Iron Man" one cut, or punch, above what your used to seeing in boxing films on the silver screen. Even though Jeff Chandler, who's in real life a strapping six foot four inch 200 pounds, was a bit awkward in his boxing scenes, he sometimes looked like he was standing and walking on stilts, he was still very believable in them.
***SPOILERS*** The by far the best thing in the movie wasn't Jeff Chandler's, or Coke Mason's, fight scenes but his genuine humanity which was buried under the rage and fury that overtook him whenever he stepped into a boxing ring. It was those very noble and human feelings towards his opponent Tommy "Speed" O'Keefe that in the end brought the very best out of him. And despite him losing they Made Coke a true champion in the eyes of both his very few friends and many enemies that he, at that time, had in the world.
It seemed that the meek and pacifistic Coke had a mean streak under his harmless facade. That streak surfaced when Coke got pushed around which Mallick, in him being knocked unconscious, was unfortunate enough to find out. This wild and uncontrollable animal inside Coke had his older brother and coal mine foreman George, Steven McNally, as well as his fiancée Rose Warren, Evelyn Keys, come to see him as their meal ticket to get out of Coaltown and then start a new and much better life. The only problem with all this is that Coke is not exactly normal when he's fighting someone. With his cave man and animal like style of fighting he may very well end up killing someone in the boxing ring! Or even worse, for Coke, with his ability to take enormous amounts of punishment end up getting killed himself!
The movie "Iron Man" has an at first reluctant Coke being matched up with a number of pushovers that he easily makes mincemeat out of until he's matched against Joe Savella, Steve Martin, for the Heavyweight Championship of the World. Taking an unbelievable beating from the much more skillful Savella Coke ends up losing when his brother and manager, not being able to see Coke take any more punishment, throws in the towel thus ending the fight.
Coke feeling both hurt and humiliated over his loss to Savella now becomes obsessed in having a rematch and evening the score with him. What Coke is totally unaware of is that things are being set up by not only his brother George and boxing promoter Max Watkins, Jim Backus, but Rose as well for Savella to throw his match with him thus making Coke the new Heavyweight Champion of the World. With Coke being the most hated and despised fighter in professional boxing due to his dirty like tactics, like rabbit punching and hitting his opponents when their still down, is a gold mine for promoters in getting the boxing arenas packed solid.
Resentful in him being suspected in having his Heavyweight Championship Crown won undeserved, by Savella throwing the fight with him, Coke then instead of retiring from boxing, which he promised Rose he'll do, goes on a "Bum of the Month" campaign taking on all comers and, to the great disappointment of the boxing crowd and sports writers, knocking them out cold.
It's when Coke is matched against his good friend and former sparing partner Tommy "Speed" O'Keefe, Rock Hudson, that a sudden change comes over him. Knowing that in his wild and unethical, as well as dirty, tactics in the ring he may well end up killing or permanently injuring Tommy. Trying for the first time in his professional boxing career to fight a good hard as well as clean fight Coke not only ends up getting a cheering ovation from the crowd, who at first hated his guts, but the love and respect of Tommy who used to looked up to Coke as a big brother as well as Rose who had earlier dumped him!
Fine boxing action sequences done in newsreel, not Hollywood, style photography makes "Iron Man" one cut, or punch, above what your used to seeing in boxing films on the silver screen. Even though Jeff Chandler, who's in real life a strapping six foot four inch 200 pounds, was a bit awkward in his boxing scenes, he sometimes looked like he was standing and walking on stilts, he was still very believable in them.
***SPOILERS*** The by far the best thing in the movie wasn't Jeff Chandler's, or Coke Mason's, fight scenes but his genuine humanity which was buried under the rage and fury that overtook him whenever he stepped into a boxing ring. It was those very noble and human feelings towards his opponent Tommy "Speed" O'Keefe that in the end brought the very best out of him. And despite him losing they Made Coke a true champion in the eyes of both his very few friends and many enemies that he, at that time, had in the world.