Champ [VHS]

This almost eighty-year old film will bring both a tear and a smile. It is the story of washed-up and somewhat alcoholic boxer Andy Purcell, just known as "Champ" to everyone, including his adoring little son, "Dink", played by Jackie Cooper. It's as though life has really ceased to have meaning for the Champ ever since he lost his championship status. The only thing that continues to give his life meaning is his son. The Champ isn't exactly providing a wholesome environment for Dink. Dink hangs out in pool halls with his Dad, isn't enrolled in school, and sits up nights alone in their dingy room waiting for the Champ to come home when he is out on a drinking binge. Champ's ex-wife, socialite Linda, sees Andy and Dink at the racetrack one day and tries to convince Andy that Dink would be better off with her. At first the Champ is unpersuaded. However, when he gets a hold of a good sum of money and gambles it away and winds up in the drunk tank overnight he decides that maybe it is for the best if Dink goes with Linda.Wallace Beery had some lean times after motion pictures transitioned to sound, however he got a new lease on his career at MGM, and it turned out that his coarse voice attracted fans rather than repelled them. He won a well-deserved Best Actor award for his role, but if there had been a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1931 it would have gone to nine-year old Jackie Cooper. He is comic as the street-wise kid meeting his half-sister for the first time - "The d ame is goofy" he remarks. He is heart-rending when the Champ tells him he doesn't want him around any more, that he's tired of feeding him, just so he'll go with his mother.A minor point that made this film so refreshing for me is that nobody tries to "lawyer up" or turn Dink's fate into a courtroom battle. Everyone deals with everyone else in this film on decent human terms. In the end the Champ tries to regain the championship so he can provide a good life for his son and so that his son can respect him, not so that he can win a custody fight.There are two extras on the DVD. One is the 1930 two-strip Technicolor short Cr azy House, the other is a radio production of The Champ with Wallace Beery. Cr azy Horse was a pleasant surprise. It stars comic Benny Rubin and Vernon Dent, the heavyset member of the Columbia comic shorts department that starred in so many Three Stooges shorts. While Rubin tours a sanitarium it doesn't take him long to realize that the staff is as insane as the patients. It's a fun little piece and also stars Karl Dane, Cliff Edwards, Polly Moran, and dancer Snake Hip. It's odd to see Karl Dane in a talking short, and this was one of his last at MGM. He had a successful silent career, but his thick Danish accent made him unintelligible in talking pictures.The whole DVD is a very entertaining way to spend some time, and I highly recommend it.

This is a wonderful drama, social, human and familial. As all good classics there's more to the story than just surface plot. You can see it from multiple perspectives, among them the social one is always very present in Vidor's films.But first of all this is a great, great movie. One of those that will make you cry in a couple of scenes at least; if you don't, you'd better check your pulse.Now, here are the subterraneous plots that I see:1) The familial, the relation between a divorced father and his little son, whom he loves immensely and by whom he is likewise corresponded. This, actually, is not a plot but a naturalistic depiction of this relationship thru story details and characterization.2) The social. The incompatibility between high-class minded people and simple minded/humble people.3) The individual relationships between the three main characters or roles: the uneducated and loving father, the apparently educated and classy mother and the innocent child. This triangle gives a lot of food for thought about the mysteries of the human soul. And every viewer will have his own take on this side of the story.I hope we'll be able to see soon on dvd more of Vidor's great classics, like "The Crowd", "The Fountainhead", "Our Daily Bread", or the great "The Big Parade".One more thing: The quality of the dvd is exeptional. It doesn't seem like you are watching an old movie at all.

It would be easy to dismiss "The Champ" as merely a manipulative tear-jerker. Possibly, but if you're going to be manipulated at least have it done by the best. There is nothing slick here. Director King Vidor vividly captures the desolate seediness of Depression-era Tijuana. The film's climactic fight scene is very realistic. Wallace Beery won the Oscar for his role as the Champ but he could very well have shared it with young Jackie Cooper(not even nominated) as his wise beyond his years son,Deke. The chemistry is dynamic between the lovably grizzled Beery and the heart-rending Cooper. The formula here is timeless so the story doesn't date in the least. You could remake it today and I have no doubt it would still work. Which leads me to the 1979 remake with Jon Voight and Ricky Schroder. Despite the generally negative buzz that surrounded it at the time it's not that bad.

This movie is one of the greats and it can be seen here in all its glory. The sound and picture is first rate. Jackie Cooper and Wallace Beery are fantastic. Buy it!

I have seen both the versions of this movie, and I always liked the one with Jon Voite, but this version is way better. What a tragic movie! A comeback boxer and his son are the main charaters. A boxer raising his son by himself after his wife leaves him. He's a loser drunk that provides love, and understanding to his boy. Later the boy's mother finds out that her son is living close to where she lives (she's remarried with a daughter), and persues a relationship with him. Very good movie, but is sometimes over-acted, as most movies are in that era. The overall thought of this movie is, watch it, you won't be sorry. I can't say what it's about, you need to see it for yourself. It's worth the time and money.

Wallace Berry was an unlikely candidate for an Oscar. He had been in film since the teens. He had been mostly a character actor during the silent period. However, he had an ability to project pathos and gain sympathy. Jackie Cooper was pretty good at the pathetic also. With Cooper as his co-star and father-son affection the center of the story, the tears of the audience flow readily. Berry continued his career as an (unlikely) film star until about 1950, but he never had another Oscar performance.

parfait

bien reçu ,merci

in my opinion, wallace beery should have been cast more as a leading man, judging by his quite brilliant performance as the washed up, alcholic boxer who attempts and struggles to re-capture his former glory in the ring as well of out of the ring. as much as beery's character is a rough and gruff sort of character, he has a heart of gold underneath: he loves and cares for his little son as best he can. in spite of his heavy drinking, the character never once takes out his frustrations on his boy. the two of them reside in a cheap boarding house on the mexican border as they both struggle to make ends meet in their every day lives. the boxer's ex wife is able to track down the little boy and hopes to be able to bring him up, along with her new husband and their daughter. the scenes where the boy says goodbye to his drunken dad, are amongst the most touching i have come across and those scenes are very well acted and written. playing the boy is child star and later respected actor jackie cooper. he is perfectly cast as the street-wise kid. every time the wallace beery character gets drunk and lets the boy down, he is still in his dad's corner, loyal to the last, whether it's inside the boxing ring or outside. after a few false starts, wallace beery is able to give up drinking and goes into training for an upcoming bout for the heavyweight championship. sadly, all the sacrifices that he has made along the way, come with a heavy price. a classic of a film from the golden days of hollywood, it is not to be missed.

vfm

Very good