The Champ
by King Vidor
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Edward Brophy, Irene Rich, Jackie Cooper, Roscoe Ates, Wallace BeeryDirector: King Vidor
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-01-31
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of The Champ
Movie Review: Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Champ" is a film icon - one of the best films to come out in the early 30s and clearly a blockbuster. It starred Wallace Beery who was at the top of his game, and little Jackie Cooper who set a standard for all future child actors with a performance that is the equal of any by Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, etc.
Berry won the Oscar for Best Actor and Francis Marion won for Best Story. King Vidor was nominated for Best Director (he lost to Frank Borzage) and the film was nominated as Best Picture (it lost to "Grand Hotel" in which Beery also starred).
Marion was the first woman to win an Oscar for writing, which she did the year before for "The Big House" that starred Beery. She was the favorite writer for such well known actors as Mary Pickford, Marion Davies, and Marie Dressler.
Beery had been in desperate need of a chance, his career in jeopardy after being released from his contract with Paramount and spending more than a year without a film offer prior to working on the "Big House". His role as Butch in that film, coupled with "Min and Bill" the same year (also written by Marion) and "Billy the Kid" (he played Pat Garrett), followed with the best actor award in 1931 for "The Champ" elevated Beery to the A list where he remained and made such memorable films as "Treasure Island" (1934), "Viva Villa" (1934), and "China Seas" (1935). He continued to work through 1949, but his heyday was the 30s.
Jackie Cooper started acting at age 3 and by the time he was 9 and appeared in "The Champ" he had been in 19 films, mostly shorts. His appearance in "Skippy" (1931) earned him a nomination as Best Actor (he lost to Lionel Barrymore), his first and only nomination, and following the success of "The Champ" he had a solid career as a child star, appearing in several films with Beery ("The Bowery", "Treasure Island").
Throughout the film, Beery and Cooper alternate in small solo performances that are outstanding. Of particular note is Cooper's fidgeting outside his mother's hotel room that ends up with a trip to the roof, and Beery's morning hygiene routine in his hotel room. These sequence are mostly silent, as we were only a few years outside the silent era in which everyone on this film worked.
Roscoe Ates co-stars. He was best known for his stutter, which was real, and he used it to comic advantage in over 100 films, mostly westerns. From 1946 to 1948 he appeared as "Soapy Jones" in 15 films. In the 50s he made the transition to TV, and was a regular in "The Lawman" (1959-60).
King Vidor directs. Vidor was nominated for an Oscar in 1928 ("The Crowd"), 1929 ("Hallelujah"), 1931 ("The Champ"), 1938 ("Citadel") and 1956 ("War and Peace"). He never won. He is listed in the Guinness Book as having the longest career as a film director (67 years).
The film is melodramatic and some have criticized it for not being very subtle - aka a tearjerker. That criticism notwithstanding, it is a beautiful film and the chemistry between Beery and Cooper has rarely been matched in cinema history. Cooper is particularly adept at appearing to be the true son of Beery in adopting his speech, his mannerisms, and his walk. Beery shows what a good actor he was by seeming to care about Cooper, while Cooper later is life says that off screen Beery treated him "like a dog".
The film has been re-made several times (e.g., "The Clown" in 1952, "The Champ" in 1979 by Zeffirelli) but none of these can match the original.
Apart from the excellent performances, the good direction and the excellent photography given the time period, the film has lots of interesting bits about the way that people in the early 30s lived. Scenes in the hotels and restaurants are particularly revealing of the depression.
You'll want to see this film and be sure to have a hankerchef at your ready.
Summary of The Champ
CHAMP - DVD Movie