The Basketball Fix

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The Basketball Fix
The Basketball Fix FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Felix E. Feist
Screenplay byPeter R. Brooke
Charles K. Peck Jr.
Story byCharles K. Peck Jr.
Produced byEdward Leven (producer)
Henry Spitz (associate producer)
Starring John Ireland
Marshall Thompson
Vanessa Brown
William Bishop
Hazel Brooks
Johnny Sands
Cinematography Stanley Cortez
Edited by Francis D. Lyon
Music by Raoul Kraushaar
Production
company
Distributed by Realart Pictures
Release date
  • September 13, 1951 (1951-09-13)(New York City)
Running time
65 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Basketball Fix is a 1951 noir sports drama film directed by Felix E. Feist and starring John Ireland, Marshall Thompson and Vanessa Brown. The film is also known by the alternative title The Big Decision in the United Kingdom. [1] It is based on the CCNY point shaving scandal.

Contents

Plot

Sports journalist Peter Ferredey tries to prevent promising college basketball player Johnny Long from becoming involved with a betting ring but is unable to stop him from shaving points during games for gambler Mike Taft.

Production

Basketball betting had existed for many years but grew during the 1940s. [2] Since the start of college doubleheaders at Madison Square Garden in 1934 [3] and the invention of spread betting by Charles K. McNeil around 1940, [4] gamblers "embraced the excitement of college basketball and the financial possibilities of betting the spread". [2] [5] The general public considered amateur college basketball to be pure, and it was not until 1951, after multiple trials resulting from the CCNY point shaving scandal, when awareness of college basketball gambling centered in New York became widespread. [2] [6] [7]

The screenplay was written by Peter R. Brooke and Charles Peck Jr. [8] The book Basketball in America states: "This movie exploited the fascination people had with the daily media reports of the actual investigation and the subsequent trials." [2]

Release

The film was shown nationwide in 1951, including at the Palace Theatre in New York City, the Majestic Theatre in Shamokin, Pennsylvania and the Roxy Theatre in Decatur, Alabama. [8] [9] [10]

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Oscar Godbout called the film "a curiously uneven story" and wrote: "While 'The Basketball Fix' is on the timid side, it is worth the effort put into it, and points the way to better and more constructive social comments." [11]

Home video

Alpha Video, Digiview Entertainment, and St. Clair Entertainment Group released the film on DVD. [12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Basketball Fix (1951)". BFI. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Frank Hoffmann; Robert P Batchelor; Martin J Manning (May 23, 2016). Basketball in America: From the Playgrounds to Jordan's Game and Beyond. Routledge. pp. 67–68. ISBN   978-1-135-41986-8.
  3. ↑ Andrei S. Markovits; Steven L. Hellerman (April 22, 2001). Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism. Princeton University Press. pp. 89–. ISBN   0-691-07447-X.
  4. ↑ Arne K. Lang (July 14, 2016). Sports Betting and Bookmaking: An American History. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 162–. ISBN   978-1-4422-6554-7.
  5. ↑ David George Surdam (October 30, 2012). The Rise of the National Basketball Association. University of Illinois Press. p. 96. ISBN   978-0-252-09424-8.
  6. ↑ Murray Sperber (July 29, 2014). Onward to Victory: The Creation of Modern College Sports. Henry Holt and Company. p. 601. ISBN   978-1-4668-7645-3.
  7. ↑ Ezra Mendelsohn (March 31, 2009). Jews and the Sporting Life: Studies in Contemporary Jewry XXIII. Oxford University Press. p. 62. ISBN   978-0-19-972479-6.
  8. 1 2 "Behind College Basketball Scenes". The New York Times . September 14, 1951. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Majestic". Shamokin News-Dispatch. Shamokin, Pennsylvania. March 6, 1952. Retrieved January 9, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "The Basketball Fix Scores High As A Dramatic Expose". The Decatur Daily . Decatur, Alabama. May 11, 1952. Retrieved January 9, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Godbout, Oscar (September 14, 1951). "The Screen in Review: Behind College Basketball Scenes". The New York Times . p. 21.
  12. ↑ "The Basketball Fix (1951)". AllMovie . Retrieved January 9, 2021.
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