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The Champ
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The Champ (1931/I) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.3/10   842 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Frances Marion (story)
Leonard Praskins (dialogue continuity)
more
Contact:
View company contact information for The Champ on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
21 November 1931 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Family | Sport more
Tagline:
Don't fail to get a ringside seat! more
Plot:
Dink Purcell loves his alcoholic father, ex-heavyweight champion Andy "Champ" Purcell, despite his frequent binges... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Blood, Bats and Future Shock - Chosen Survivors
 (From Fangoria. 24 June 2009, 1:45 PM, PDT)

7 Tacky Horrors That Deserved Oscars
 (From TotalFilm. 25 February 2009, 6:29 AM, PST)

User Comments:
Blueprint Film more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Wallace Beery ... Champ
Jackie Cooper ... Dink
Irene Rich ... Linda
Roscoe Ates ... Sponge (as Rosco Ates)
Edward Brophy ... Tim
Hale Hamilton ... Tony
Jesse Scott ... Jonah
Marcia Mae Jones ... Mary Lou
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
86 min (Turner library print)
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
USA:Approved (PCA #4248-R: 13 April 1938 for re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This film ranked second as best picture in the 1932 Film Daily poll of national critics, being beaten only by Grand Hotel (1932). more
Goofs:
Continuity: During the fight, The Champ sustains a cut above his left eye, but when he goes back to his corner it is gone. The cut comes back when the fighting resumes and stays for the duration of the film. more
Quotes:
[Dink compares the swanky home to his own]
Dink Purcell: The Champ and I ain't fixed up swell as this, but our joint's more lively.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Sanford and Son: Pops 'n' Pals (#2.20)" (1973) more
Soundtrack:
I Surrender Dear more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful:-
Blueprint Film, 2 March 2006
9/10
Author: (Piafredux@yahoo.com) from St. Louis, Missouri

'The Champ' seems to have been a blueprint film for all the others of the tough-tender school that followed it, and - owing entirely to Jackie Cooper's playing perfectly off of Wallace Beery's has-been, alcoholic pug - it's perfectly charming.

Yes, the fight scene is rather hokey: had they tried to use Wallace Beery's telegraphed-the-day-before roundhouse punches, even the toe-to-toe sluggers of 'The Champ's bygone day wouldn't have survived one round in the ring. But the film isn't about the fight scene, it's about the love of father for son and son for father - and to this day 'The Champ's' story artfully delivers its soft knock-out blow with tender sucker punches and love-taps to the heart.

Compared with today's fare 'The Champ's' pacing is slow but the time taken works nicely, especially in the one-on-one scenes captivatingly played by Cooper and Beery.

There's plenty of archetypal King Vidor composition-in-frame that's still imitated today, and in many instances the lighting is exemplary of the gorgeous black & white textural artistry of Hollywood's Golden Age. Lovers of classic B&W work might want to grab more than a few frames from the DVD.

Beery's work is quite good here, but Jackie Cooper's remarkable, potent chops steal the show - and your heart; though 'The Champ' has a good many fine, classical attributes there's none better in it than Cooper's unforgettable performance.

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