Book Description

The love affair between boxing and Hollywood began with the dawn of film. As early as the days of Chaplin, the "boxing film" had assumed its place as a subgenre, and over the decades it has taken the forms of biographies, dramas, romances, comedies, and even musicals and westerns. Such well known pictures as The Champ, Body and Soul, Don King: Only in America, Girl Fight, The Irish in Us, The Kid from Brooklyn, Somebody Up There Likes Me, Raging Bull, each of the Rocky movies and When We Were Kings are just a few examples of the feature films included in this filmography. Thoroughly researched, this work examines 98 boxing films from the 1920s through 2003. Each entry provides basic filmographic data (the film's studio, its genre, its length, cast and credits); a detailed synopsis of the film; illuminating commentary on the boxing sequences; and excerpts from contemporary reviews. Most entries also summarize the making of the film, with particular attention to the training of the actors for the boxing scenes. The filmography also includes information on studio publicity releases and advertisements, press books and exhibitor campaign materials for each film.