The Square Ring | |
---|---|
Directed by | Basil Dearden |
Written by | Robert Westerby additional dialogue Peter Myers Alec Grahame |
Based on | the play by Ralph Peterson |
Produced by | Michael Relph executive Michael Balcon |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Otto Heller |
Edited by | Peter Bezencenet |
Music by | Dock Mathieson |
Production company | |
Distributed by | GFD (UK) |
Release date |
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Running time | 83 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Square Ring is a 1953 British tragi-comic drama, directed by Basil Dearden and made at Ealing Studios. It stars Jack Warner, Robert Beatty and Maxwell Reed. The film, based on a 1952 stage play by Ralph Peterson, centres on one night at a fairly seedy boxing venue and tells the disparate stories of the fighters and the women behind them.
Six stories that take place mainly in the locker room prior to and after various bouts during a single evening at a cheap boxing stadium: ex-champion Kid Curtis (the Docker Starkie role in the original play) attempting a comeback; Eddie Lloyd, a former amateur boxer making his professional debut; ‘Happy’ Burns a chirpy lightweight; Rick Martell, a crooked fighter planning to throw a fight; Whitey Johnson, a punch drunk ‘has-been’; and Rowdie Rawlings, a simple heavyweight. Danny Felton is the experienced ex-pro dressing room attendant.
The play debuted in October 1952 and was immediately successful. Film rights were bought by Michael Balcon at Ealing. In November 1952 he announced John Mills would star, with Basil Dearden to direct and Michael Relph to produce. [1] Relph later said he was reluctant to make the film as he felt box movies were bad box office. [2]
Eventually Mills dropped out and was replaced by Canadian actor Robert Beatty. [3] He had no boxing experience so he trained for two weeks with Dave Crowley in preparation for the role. [4]
The play was all male but three women were added to the film. [5] The women included Kay Kendall and Joan Collins, who were both under contract to Rank. Kendall had just made Genevieve but it had not been released. Collins appeared opposite then husband Maxwell Reed. [6]
Critical reception was mixed. [7] One review called the film "uneven", accusing it of "veering between comedy and tragedy". [8]
Dame Joan Henrietta Collins is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. She is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
Robert Rutherford Beatty was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK.
The Ealing comedies is an informal name for a series of comedy films produced by the London-based Ealing Studios during a ten-year period from 1947 to 1957. Often considered to reflect Britain's post-war spirit, the most celebrated films in the sequence include Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Whisky Galore! (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Man in the White Suit (1951) and The Ladykillers (1955). Hue and Cry (1947) is generally considered to be the earliest of the cycle, and Barnacle Bill (1957) the last, although some sources list Davy (1958) as the final Ealing comedy. Many of the Ealing comedies are ranked among the greatest British films, and they also received international acclaim.
Maxwell Reed was a Northern Irish actor who became a matinee idol in British films during the 1940s and 1950s.
Sir Michael Elias Balcon was an English film producer known for his leadership of Ealing Studios in West London from 1938 to 1955. Under his direction, the studio became one of the most important British film studios of the day. In an industry short of Hollywood-style moguls, Balcon emerged as a key figure, and an obdurately British one too, in his benevolent, somewhat headmasterly approach to the running of a creative organization. He is known for his leadership, and his guidance of young Alfred Hitchcock.
William Inglis Lindon Travers was a British actor, screenwriter, director and animal rights activist. Prior to his show business career, he served in the British Army with Gurkha and special forces units.
Ralph Douglas Vladimir Slocombe OBE, BSC, ASC, GBCT was a British cinematographer, particularly known for his work at Ealing Studios in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as the first three Indiana Jones films. He won BAFTA Awards in 1964, 1975, and 1979, and was nominated for an Academy Award on three occasions.
Basil Dearden was an English film director.
Lady Godiva Rides Again is a 1951 British comedy film starring Pauline Stroud, George Cole and Bernadette O'Farrell, with British stars in supporting roles or making cameo appearances. It concerns a small-town English girl who wins a local beauty contest by appearing as Lady Godiva, then decides to pursue a higher profile in a national beauty pageant and as an actress.
Michael Leighton George Relph was an English film producer, art director, screenwriter and film director. He was the son of actor George Relph.
The Gentle Gunman is a 1952 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring John Mills, Dirk Bogarde and Elizabeth Sellars. The film is based on a 1950 play of the same title by Roger MacDougall that was televised by the BBC in September 1950. It was produced by Ealing Studios. The film's sets were designed by the art director Jim Morahan.
Saraband for Dead Lovers is a 1948 British adventure historical drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Stewart Granger and Joan Greenwood. It is based on the 1935 novel by Helen Simpson. Set in 17th-century Hanover, it depicts the doomed romance between Philip Christoph von Königsmarck and Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the wife of the elector of Hanover. The saraband mentioned in the title is a type of Spanish dance.
Out of the Clouds is a 1955 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Anthony Steel, Robert Beatty and James Robertson Justice. An Ealing Studios production, the film is composed of small stories dealing with the passengers and crew on a day at London Airport.
Wings of Danger is a 1952 British second feature crime film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Zachary Scott, Robert Beatty and Kay Kendall. The screenplay, based on the 1951 novel Dead on Course by Trevor Dudley Smith and Packham Webb, concerns a pilot who is suspected of smuggling. It was released in the United States under its working title of Dead on Course.
I Believe in You is a 1952 British drama film directed by Michael Relph and Basil Dearden, starring Celia Johnson and Cecil Parker and is based on the book Court Circular by Sewell Stokes. Inspired by the recently successful The Blue Lamp (1950), Relph and Dearden used a semi-documentary approach in telling the story of the lives of probation officers and their charges.
Hal Harvey Fieberling known professionally as Hal Baylor, was an American actor, probably best known for his role as Pvt. 'Sky' Choynski in the film Sands of Iwo Jima.
The Square Ring is a 1952 play by Ralph Peterson.
The Square Ring is a 1960 Australian TV play based on a stage play by Australian Ralph Petersen which had been successful on the stage in England and been filmed in 1953.
Peter Bezencenet (1914–2003) was a British film editor and film director. He co-scripted the 1936 film Conquest of the Air. He was employed by the Rank Organisation on a number of films during the 1950s, including several for Ealing Studios. He also acted as location director for the television series Richard the Lionheart in the early 1960s. During the 1960s he directed four films and episodes of the TV series The Pursuers.
"The Square Ring" is a 1959 British TV play for Play of the Week with Sean Connery. It was based on a 1952 stage play by Ralph Peterson that had been turned into a British film in 1953.