Two Movies seen on TCM: Champion (1949) and Hard Times (1975)

I've been hooked on TCM for years now. I just always remember being a fan of Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, James (Jimmy) Steward, John Wayne, and many many more. The following two movies: Champion and Hard Times follow the lives of boxers. 

Champion (1949). The movie revolves around Midge (Kirk Douglas) who is a late blooming boxer who makes it to the top. The movie starts off with Midge and his brother Connie (Arthur Kennedy) making their way from Chicago to California where they've bought a share in a restaurant. Too poor to simply drive to California, the movie opens with them making their way across the country via a freight train. Unfortunately, they're jumped by individuals doing the same and get their money stolen. From there, they serendipitously get picked up by a top boxer named Johnny Dunne (John Daheim). 

Dunne is traveling to Kansas City for a fight. In an undercard fight, a fighter is ruled ineligible by the doctor and there is a need for a replacement. Knowing that Midge and Connie have no money, an offer is made for Midge to be the replacement even though he has no boxing experience. An agreement is made that the other boxer will take it somewhat easy on him. Midge loses the fight, but he gets the attention of trainer Tommy Haley (Paul Stewart). Haley mentions that he has a gym in California and is willing to train him. Midge turns him down.

When they get to Los Angeles, they learned that they've been double crossed. The individual who sold them a share in the restaurant was just one of the workers at the restaurant who quite before the two brothers arrived. The real owner of the restaurant does need help so offers the two jobs. The owner also has a daughter named Emma (Ruth Roman). Were they really father / daughter? I suspect that is up to debate. 

Midge and Emma start up a relationship and when the father finds the two of them together one night, he demands that the two get married. Convinced that it was a set-up, Midge convinces Connie that they need to disappear. They decide to head over to Haley's gym where they learn that Haley has actually retired from managing boxers. However, he is convinced to give it another try.

Midge makes his way up the rankings and is eventually given a fight with fellow contender Dunne. Whoever wins the fight will have a shot at the current champion. Gamblers decide that they want Dunne to win the fight. Midge and his team are told to make sure they don't win the fight. Dunne is also told Midge will throw the fight. Midge's competitive spirit gets the better of him and easily defeats Dunne (who was obviously caught blindsided). The double cross of the gamblers results in blowback with all three (Midge, Connie, Haley) taking a beating. 

Yet, this puts Midge up for the championship fight. This is where Midge starts to be the one who double crosses others. He dumps Haley as his manager and goes with a more well connected individual. This upsets Connie who decides to head back to California to find Emma (he also was attracted to her). He finds her, having long left her supposed dad. Connie convinces her to come with him to Chicago, where his mother is living. Meanwhile, Midge starts an affair with his new manager's wife. He ends the affair when the manager offers him a significant sum of money.

Similar to Rocky III (perhaps the Rocky III storyline was somewhat inspired by Champion), once Midge wins his fight against the champion, there simply aren't any fighters out there to give him a challenge. He defeats them all rather easily. Dunne is getting himself back into contention and a rematch is set. Unlike Rocky, Midge is smart enough to understand that Dunne represents a significant challenge and is able to convince Haley to once again become his manager. A final double cross occurs on the eve of the fight. Midge has agreed to give Emma a divorce so that she can marry Connie. Yet, Midge confronts Emma and a scene is shot that implies that Midge rapes Emma. 

The fight between Midge and Dunne lives up to expectations. Midge wins the early rounds, but Dunne wins the middle rounds. Midge is encouraged to throw in the towel, but he has too much of a competitive spirit. He rallies back in the last couple rounds and in the last one, he knocks out Dunne. Not all is good; however, as the fight has caused bleeding in Midge's brain and he dies soon after the fight. 

This movie is intense and I believe that Kirk Douglas does a fine job in the boxing scenes. To me, it is about how wealth and fame can negatively impact someone -- not only someone who comes from a lowly beginning, but also those who already have that wealth and fame. It is also a movie that argues that if you find someone who is of high moral character (such as Haley and Connie), you should stick with them.

Hard Times (1975). It is the Great Depression and jobs are hard to come by. Chaney (Charles Bronson) is at a coffee stand and notices a group of individuals making their way into a building. He wanders into the building and discovers a street fight which is basically an MMA type fight. After the fight, Chaney talks to one of the managers, Speed (James Coburn). Speed picks him up as a fighter and Chaney easily wins the first fight that is set up. 

The two then take off to New Orleans to take on other fights. It is also one of Speed's home bases. This is an underground fight scene so the characters aren't all of high moral character. This includes Speed who has to do some wheeling and dealing with shady gangsters in order to get the funds together so that he can put up their side of the stake in the various fights that are organized. 

A side story in all of this is Chaney falling for Lucy Simpson (Jill Ireland). She is barely making it in New Orleans. I got the impression that to make ends meet, she occasionally worked as a prostitute. Of interest, is that at the time of the movie, Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland were married. They remained married until 1990 when Ireland died from breast cancer. Per Wikipedia, when she passed away, "She was cremated and her ashes were placed in a walking cane which Charles Bronson had buried with him at Brownsville Cemetery in Vermont when he died in 2003."

A fun part of the movie is when Chaney and Speed head out to the middle of no where to fight a local champion. They're doing this to win some money for their big fight. The local champion is over-matched and the manager tells Chaney and Speed that he's not paying up, because it was an unfair fight. In a way, he has a point. The two of them are run out of the area. Chaney has other ideas; however. They wait until nightfall. They find a bar where they the manager is hanging out. They bust in and get their money. 

The duo finally are able to put together enough money to set up the big fight that they've been wanting. Chaney wins the fight, but Speed ends up gambling it all away later. There's still some loans that need to get paid back. Another fight is set up with a fighter from outside of New Orleans. It is a tough fight, but Chaney is able to win the fight and all is made good. The movie ends with Chaney leaving New Orleans behind. 

Unlike Champion, Hard Times ends with the champion going out on top and living. Of course, does he go out on top or does he eventually start fighting once again? At least, he is smart enough to get out of the swamp that is the New Orleans' street fighting scene.