The Crowd Roars (1938 film)

Last updated
The Crowd Roars
The Crowd Roars lobby card.jpg
Lobby card
Directed by Richard Thorpe
Written byGeorge Bruce (story and screenplay)
Thomas Lennon
George Oppenheimer
Produced by Sam Zimbalist
Starring Robert Taylor
Edward Arnold
Frank Morgan
Maureen O'Sullivan
Cinematography John F. Seitz
Oliver T. Marsh (uncredited)
Edited by Conrad A. Nervig
Music by Edward Ward
Production
company
Distributed by Loew's Inc.
Release date
  • August 5, 1938 (1938-08-05)
Running time
87-92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$511,000 [1]
Box office$2,032,000 [1]

The Crowd Roars is a 1938 American sports drama film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Robert Taylor as a boxer who gets entangled in the seamier side of the sport. It was remade in 1947 as Killer McCoy , featuring Mickey Rooney in the title role. This film was not a remake of the 1932 film of the same name starring James Cagney. The supporting cast for the 1938 version features Edward Arnold, Frank Morgan, Lionel Stander, and Jane Wyman.

Contents

Plot

Tommy McCoy becomes a boxer, not for love of the sport but for the money. He has to put up with his alcoholic, gambling father Brian. Just before his first major fight, Tommy learns that his opponent has been injured and has been replaced at the last minute by Tommy's good friend, former world champion Johnny, trying to make a comeback. During the bout, Tommy kills Johnny and is named "Killer McCoy" in the newspapers. He then comes under the control of powerful bookmaker Jim Cain.

While training, Tommy meets and falls in love with Cain's daughter Sheila. Cain has been very careful to keep his daughter from learning about his profession. Cain tries to break up their romance, but without success.

Tommy wins fight after fight, becoming a contender. If he wins his next bout, he will get a shot at the world championship title. However, "Pug" Walsh, a traitorous associate of Cain's, has both Sheila and Brian kidnapped. He orders Tommy to lose the fight in the eighth round or else. Tommy has no choice; he endures a merciless pounding for round after round, not even daring to hit his foe for fear a lucky punch could end the match and his loved ones' lives. Brian pretends to collapse, then manages to grab a gangster's gun. He sends Sheila to the fight, while he holds their two former captors at gunpoint. However, while he is distracted by the radio broadcast of the fight, one of the men shoots him; he fires back, and all three are killed. Sheila arrives just before the start of the eighth round. Tommy proceeds to knock out his opponent, then announces he is giving up boxing. Cain also retires. Afterward, Tommy and Sheila get married.

Cast

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $1,369,000 in the US and Canada and $663,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $761,000. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abe Attell</span> American boxer (1883–1970)

Abraham Washington Attell, often referred to by newspapers as "The Little Hebrew", was an American boxer who became known for his record-setting, six year consecutive reign as World Featherweight Champion from 1906 to 1912, and his nearly consecutive ten-year reign starting in 1902. Said to be a friend of the gangster Arnold Rothstein, Attell was charged with game fixing in the Black Sox Scandal in 1919, but the charges were dismissed before trial. He also was suspected of other infractions including fixing fights, and using drugs during a fight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kid McCoy</span> American boxer

Charles "Kid" McCoy, born Norman Selby, was an American boxer and early Hollywood actor. He claimed the vacant world middleweight title when he scored an upset victory over Tommy Ryan by 15th-round knockout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lionel Rose</span> Australian boxer (1948–2011)

Lionel Edmund Rose MBE was an Australian professional boxer who competed from 1964 to 1976. He held the undisputed WBA, WBC, and The Ring bantamweight titles from 1968 to 1969, becoming the first Indigenous Australian to win a world title. He later became the first Indigenous Australian to be named Australian of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Ryan</span>

Tommy Ryan was an American-Canadian World Welterweight and World Middleweight boxing champion who fought from 1887 to 1907. His simultaneously holding records in both weight classes was a rare and impressive feat for a boxer. His record is a topic that has been up for debate for decades. As of May 2021, Boxrec.com lists his official record as 82–2–13 (68KO). The International Boxing Hall of Fame lists his record as 86–3–6 (22KO). Others list his record anywhere from 86–3–6 (68KO), to 90–6–11 (70KO), to 84–2–11 (70KO). Some historians have even speculated that he held closer to 90 knockouts. Ryan was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the class of 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Coulon</span> Canadian‐American boxer

John Frederic Coulon was a Canadian-American professional boxer who was the world Bantamweight Champion from March 6, 1910, when he wrested the crown from England's Jim Kendrick, until June 3, 1914, when he was defeated by Kid Williams in Vernon, California. He was also a boxing manager late in life and managed, among others, Eddie Perkins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al McCoy (boxer)</span> American boxer

Al McCoy,, born Alexander Rudolph, was a boxing World Middleweight Champion from 1914 to 1917. He had a total of 157 bouts. Of those determined officially, he won 44 with 27 by knockout, and had 6 losses, and 6 draws. Around 107 of his fights were no decision bouts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Chip</span> Lithuanian-American boxer

George Chip was a Lithuanian-American boxer who was the World Middleweight Champion from 1913 to 1914 in an era of great middleweights. Chip came to be known as a heavy puncher with an impressive knockout ratio. In his time, he was known as "The Madison Miner" and "The New Castle Miner." He was the father of Major general William C. Chip, USMC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Olin</span> American boxer

Robert Lous Olin was an American boxer who became the World Light Heavyweight champion on November 16, 1934, against Maxie Rosenbloom at Madison Square Garden. He was trained by Ray Arcel and managed by Harold Scadron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Harris (boxer)</span> American boxer

Harry Harris was an American boxer. He was the World Bantamweight champion from 1901 to 1902, but boxed top-rated opponents throughout his career. Charley Rose ranked Harris as the #10 All-Time Bantamweight.

Teddy "Redtop" Davis, alias Murray (Sugar) Cain, was a featherweight professional boxer from South Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newsboy Brown</span> American boxer (1905–1977)

David Montrose, better known as Newsboy Brown, was an American boxer who held the World Flyweight Title for eight months in 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Paul</span> American boxer

Tommy Paul was a world featherweight boxing champion from Buffalo, New York. He won the world featherweight championship in May 1932, defeating Johnny Pena in a boxing tournament in Detroit. He was inducted into the first class of Buffalo’s Ring No. 44 Boxing Hall of Fame and in 2003 to the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. He retired from the ring in 1935.

Thomas Sullivan, also known as "Tommy", and "Irish Tommy" was an American professional light heavyweight boxer whose murder remains unsolved.

<i>Killer McCoy</i> 1947 American film about a boxer directed by Roy Rowland

Killer McCoy is a 1947 American sports drama film about a boxer starring Mickey Rooney. It is a remake of The Crowd Roars (1938). The picture was directed by Roy Rowland with a supporting cast featuring Brian Donlevy, Ann Blyth, James Dunn, Tom Tully, and Sam Levene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Glick</span> American boxer (1903–1978)

Joe Glick (1903-1978) was an American boxer from Brooklyn who established himself early as a top contender among junior lightweights. He had two Junior Lightweight Title shots against Tod Morgan in 1926–27, but was unable to take the championship. Moving up in weight class, he also excelled as a Lightweight. His long career spanned twenty-three years and included over two hundred verified bouts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abie Bain</span> American boxer (1906-1993)

Abie Bain was a rated Jewish Middleweight boxer from Newark, New Jersey. In 1930, he moved up a weight class and challenged Maxie Rosenbloom for the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World in Madison Square Garden, though he lost the bout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Goodrich</span> American boxer (1900-1982)

Jimmy Goodrich became the World Lightweight Champion when he defeated Chilean boxer Stanislaus Loayza in a second round TKO at Queensboro Stadium in Queens, New York on July 13, 1925. He retained the title only five months, losing it by unanimous decision to Rocky Kansas on December 7, 1925. Goodrich was known for having never been the victim of a knockout.

Tommy Freeman was an American professional boxer who competed in the 1920s and 1930s. He won the welterweight world championship on September 5, 1930, when he defeated reigning champion Young Jack Thompson. He lost the title to Thompson the following year, on April 14, 1931. Remarkably, the majority of his recorded wins were by knockout, and his losses were few, at under ten percent of his total fights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Walsh (American boxer)</span> American boxer

Jimmy Walsh was an American boxer who claimed the World Bantamweight Championship on March 29, 1905, when he defeated Monte Attell, in a controversial six-round bout at the National Athletic Club in Philadelphia. His claim was recognized by the World Boxing Association, at the time the National Boxing Association. The fight ended in a disqualification called by the referee when Walsh sent a low right hook that landed below the belt of Attell. Most sources believed Walsh had led throughout the fight and that the blow should have been considered legal, which may be why Walsh was credited with the title by the National Boxing Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Burman</span> American boxer (1898–1979)

Joe Burman was a British-born American boxer who was briefly awarded the World bantamweight championship by the New York State Athletic Commission, when reigning champion Joe Lynch cancelled a bout with him scheduled for October 19, 1923. Burman defeated five world champions in his career, Pete Herman, Sammy Mandell, Joe Lynch, Charles Ledoux, and Johnny McCoy and was rated among the top bantamweight boxers in the world for several years. He had only three losses and was never knocked out in an exceptional career that spanned eight years, and included as many as 120 bouts.

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.