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10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Beery & Cooper An Interesting Pair, 9 December 2006

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

When I first saw this movie it was my first look at either Wallace Beery or Jackie Cooper. I found both of them very interesting to watch. I also found out why Bob Hope and Jack Benny used to make a lot of sarcastic lines about "being about as pretty as Wallace Beery." He definitely had an ugly "mug." However, he was a lovable loser, at least in this film.

Cooper played "Dink," a cocky little kid who just loved "The Champ" (Beery). On the VHS tape, Cooper's squeaky little voice did not come across well and often was annoying to hear.

The boxing scenes were hokey but I liked the ending because at least Beery won the fight, although he collapses afterward. I believe he lost in the re-make of this with Jon Voight and Ricky Shroder in the 1979 film, but I'm not sure.

The kid's devotion to the champ, even under the toughest of situations, was touching. With clearer sound and picture, I would have kept the tape. I should check out the DVD.

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10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Only someone with ice water in their veins could fail to be moved, 8 August 2000
Author: LGREY from Somerville, MA

The central relationship of the adoring street-wise kid (Cooper) and his devoted, boozing, gambling ex-champ Dad (Beery) is astonishing. We are observing behavior here, not acting. Cooper gives the best child performance I've ever seen and Beery is utterly human, flawed and unforgettable.

This film is full of terrific moments - comedy and heartbreak. The friendship between Cooper and his black pal is beautifully color-blind. When Cooper states, "He's colored," it's with a child's open, untainted honesty. I find King Vidor's films to always resonate with humanity and compassion. He was one of our greatest filmmakers as Frances Marion was one of our greatest screenwriters.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Heartwarming Classic, 15 February 2002
Author: JoeytheBrit from www.moviemoviesite.com

This is one of those movies that will always have an audience simply because of the warmth and belief in the human spirit that lies at it's core. It's impossible not to be moved by this movie, not only by the two big 'tearjerker' scenes (the prison scene, and the finale), but also by the relationship between washed-up ex-champ Beery and his blindly devoted son. The affection between the pair comes across as genuine, and is never spoiled by being too sentimental. Pre-Hays Code, the pair are portrayed as loveable rogues with dubious morals (Beery only accepts one of his ex-wife's cigarettes after Cooper assures him that he stole it), an important aspect of the movie that would surely have been lost had it been made a few years later.

Only the big fight looks dated. The action is speeded up (presumably to increase the excitement for a comparatively unsophisticated '30's audience), which creates the impression of watching a video game. Also, Wallace Beery looks more like Butterbean than Tyson or Lewis, but that's a minor complaint that doesn't detract from the enjoyment of this wonderful movie.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Film with a ton of heart., 1 December 2004

Author: Mike-764 (michaelnella@yahoo.com) from Flushing, NY

Former heavyweight champ Andy Purcell goes down to Tijuana in hopes of getting a fight. Andy's son, Dink, watches his father train, but Andy gives into his vices of gin and gambling, which constantly gets him in trouble. Andy wins Dink a race horse, which is entered in a race, where Andy meets his ex-wife Linda (with her current husband Tony) at the track and wants to be reunited with her son (Dink) and give him a better life outside of the one Andy gives him. Andy gets arrested and thrown in jail, where he decides that Dink would be best living with his mother, which devastates Dink (who idolizes his father). Andy is released from jail (thanks to Tony & Linda)and gets a bout with the Mexican heavyweight champ, where Dink runs back to his father to watch him hopefully win the fight, even though he is out of shape and not at the level of his opponent. The film is a toughing piece of cinematic brilliance, despite the static camera-work (very uncharacteristic of King Vidor). Beery and Cooper work so well together and their performances are what makes this film a classic. The script does not lose anything in the 70 plus years since its release. If the ending doesn't make you shed tears, you have to be a robot. Rating, 8.

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Blueprint Film, 2 March 2006

Author: Piafredux from United States

'The Champ' seems to have been a blueprint film for all the others of the tough-tender school that followed it, and - owing entirely to Jackie Cooper's playing perfectly off of Wallace Beery's has-been, alcoholic pug - it's perfectly charming.

Yes, the fight scene is rather hokey: had they tried to use Wallace Beery's telegraphed-the-day-before roundhouse punches, even the toe-to-toe sluggers of 'The Champ's bygone day wouldn't have survived one round in the ring. But the film isn't about the fight scene, it's about the love of father for son and son for father - and to this day 'The Champ's' story artfully delivers its soft knock-out blow with tender sucker punches and love-taps to the heart.

Compared with today's fare 'The Champ's' pacing is slow but the time taken works nicely, especially in the one-on-one scenes captivatingly played by Cooper and Beery.

There's plenty of archetypal King Vidor composition-in-frame that's still imitated today, and in many instances the lighting is exemplary of the gorgeous black & white textural artistry of Hollywood's Golden Age. Lovers of classic B&W work might want to grab more than a few frames from the DVD.

Beery's work is quite good here, but Jackie Cooper's remarkable, potent chops steal the show - and your heart; though 'The Champ' has a good many fine, classical attributes there's none better in it than Cooper's unforgettable performance.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Wallace Beery Should Have Shared The Oscar With Jackie Cooper, 3 June 2009

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Probably the greatest disconnect among film personalities in history is that of Wallace Beery. On the screen he played these lovable oaf types, even when he was a bad guy. Off the screen he was a violent man, given to fits of temper and I can't recall anyone having a good word to say about him. Possibly for that reason Beery could lay claim to the fact he was the greatest actor in films. The crowning achievement of his career was his Oscar winning performance in The Champ.

Of course Beery could not have done it without little Jackie Cooper as well. It's their scenes together that make the film as memorable as it is. Instead of splitting the Academy Award with Fredric March who was also awarded The Best Actor for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, possibly Beery should have given half of his half to Cooper.

Beery is actually a former champ in this film. He's an over the hill, alcoholic pug who lives a hand to mouth existence with his young son Cooper. He split from his wife Irene Rich years ago, taking Cooper and she'd like to get him back. She's pretty well fixed now with a new and rich husband and a daughter by that marriage.

The fly in the ointment is that Cooper is really attached to his father and blind to the faults he has. And Beery really does love his son, the only really happy part about his life. He's probably way too old to be seriously in the fight game, but he needs the dough for his kid.

The Champ is guaranteed four handkerchief film even now almost eighty years after its debut. A remake was done in 1979 with Jon Voight and Rick Schroder in the main two roles, but it wasn't a patch on this one.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Pretty good film - still looks good today, 23 August 2000
Author: dust-7

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

SPOILERS!

Hard to believe it's as old as 1931, in a lot of ways. As far as production, it's about what you'd see, today, except it's in black and white. And it could be a movie, today - save that it would highlight the bums that get thrown up against title holders - unlike Stallone's Rocky, who was in pretty good fighting shape and had a few moves. Beery seems out of his element as a fighter - looking at best like a beery (no pun intended) brawler, though his character plays the ex-heavyweight champ. But then, the athleticism of the era wasn't what it is today. On the other hand, there were some great fighters in the 20s and 30s, and Beery's shape and skill is out of their class, entirely. Anyhow - small gripe, perhaps. One might excuse Beery, in the championship fight, just as the bum thrown in to boost the Mexican champ's rating - as is done, today. I don't see it necessarily played up that way in the film. But I might have missed something.

Some things also bring home the era of this film. For ex., the effort, it seems, to mimic the newsreel footage from the theaters of the day, by slowing down the film rate, thus artificially speeding up the action. We see this sort of 'newsreel' effect at both the horse race and the concluding championship fight. There's also an interesting 2 or 3 second montage during the fight which strikes me as 60s style film-making, or later. But it's just 2 or 3 seconds. Generally - it's a good looking film. It plays well, even today.

The subplot with the black boy, who hangs about with the young Purcell, and the other kids - an inspiration (perhaps?) for the 'our gang' crew that followed first in theatrical shorts a few years later? - is clearly intended to encourage racial tolerance, and repel a bigotry which was openly and boldly part of the fabric of world culture in the 1930s and before. The little black boy doesn't roll his eyes, or do goofy things, or talk in a slow drawl, or any of the rest. He just acts normally. When 'Dinkus' Purcell (the Jackie Cooper character) unknowingly runs into his divorced Mom, whom his Dad never much mentioned and never identified for the kid, she asks - who's your friend? 'Dink' replies, and then comments - "He's colored." And Mom/strange lady replies - "And what a pretty color." Again, just clearly something important to the story, and very out of touch, and actively opposed to the ethic of the time.

As for the rest of the story, it's basically a child custody story, about the love and affection of the child in question, with the death of one of the disputants the resolution and which enables the emotional concluding scene where 'Dink', who had kept an arm's length from Mom (once she told him who she was) in favor of his Dad (whom he knew and loved), breaks down at the sudden loss of his father, lying dead on the training table, and for the first time tearfully cries out, "Mother," and then rushes to her. She carries him out through a gauntlet of reporters and onlookers - bringing down the curtain. The End.

There's not much to quarrel with in the story. It is a coincidence that the ex and her new husband run into The Champ, Andy, at the south of the border race track. But coincidence can happen, and does. It is somewhat difficult to believe that an out of shape, fairly weak, and uncoordinated brawler, as Beery is in the ring, could land the lucky punch against a fighter in trim shape, enough to take him out for the full count. But, that's the story, that's Hollywood, that's Rocky, and - what the hey.

It might have been interesting to see brother and sister interact a little more. Cooper's oddly adult inflections and mannerisms seem to play well against the spoiled but good natured little girl - just happy to have a 'new' brother. It might have been interesting to see the game in which Andy wins so much, and the horse he eventually fights to get back. Might have been interesting to see Andy and Dink out and about, a little more, rather than just 'in training' or in the flat. And so on, so forth.

It's clear why Beery got the nod for the award. He seems to have had a sort of Long John Silver, sort of patronizing, slow-talking 'rap'. in various films. Here, save for a few instances, he plays it pretty low key. He seems just like a regular guy in the Mexican prison, thinking over his part in the custody dispute, and thinking he's just not the father for Dink. And when Dink comes to the cell, and Andy tells him to 'shove off', basically, it's believable, with just the right tone, delay, cliched delivery, and choked back tears. When he takes the money from Linda's rich hubby, he comments on being down on his luck, and almost lapses into Long John - but just not quite. And surely he spoke for a fair number in the audience in the early first years of The Great Depression.

It's a good film. The emotional manipulation is right up on the surface, and may be a bit too trite and obvious; particularly as the extraneous 'background' scenes I might like to see, as suggested above, just weren't there. The film was 'tight' and 'stayed on message' in that way. And it feels right, almost. It has its flaws, but remains a good film.

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8 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Beery not bad, Cooper excellent, Irene Rich terrible, 24 March 2004

Author: Chris Burin from Bath, England

I've just finished watching this film, which I've been wanting to see for years and I was impressed without being overwhelmed. Wallace Beery's not bad (though a bit stilted) in the leading role; he's better than Irene Rich, playing his ex-wife, who throws herself around the screen, swooning from sofa to sofa in a totally over-acted performance. However, it's Jackie Cooper who steals the show with a portrayal which manages to be both heart-rending and realistic. I know the concept of "real sound" is a disputable one, as sounding real on screen may just entail being a good actor, rather than a realistic one, but nonetheless he does seem far more genuine than the rest of the cast. 8/10.

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Swell!, 2 November 2009
Author: dbdumonteil

I had seen the 1979 remake starring Jon Voigt and Faye Dunaway (the female part was much more important ) and I was not that impressed.Jon Voigt was too good-looking and too handsome to portray the champ successfully.The original really blew my mind:the Wallace Beery /Jackie Cooper team was a winning one and it's one of the best pairings man/boy in the history of cinema ,with echoes of Charlie Chaplin's "the kid" .Although the movie takes place in the prizefighters milieu,the plot is pure melodrama ,mainly aimed at the female audience .The reactionary side of the melodrama -the posh lady horrified at the people around her boy, a "normal" wealthy family is the safe way to happiness,etc- is present but emotion survives the tear-jerker side .And I dare you not to shed a tear when the boy screams "I want the champ!".

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"a wonderful kid", 10 July 2009

Author: kidboots from Australia

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Jackie Cooper was the top child actor at MGM in the early 30s when it was the top studio. He started off as part of "Our Gang" but just a year later was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in "Skippy" (he just lost out to Lionel Barrymore in "A Free Soul"). L. B. Mayer called him "a wonderful kid" and teamed him and Wallace Beery in the emotional and heart wrenching film "The Champ". It has the most tear drenching finale of any film I have ever seen and Jackie Cooper gives an outstanding performance as Dink, the little boy who has an unswerving faith in his hopelessly alcoholic father. The sets have a very gritty and real look - not at all what you would expect from MGM "the dream factory".

Little Dink lives with his dad, a washed up fighter who can't stay off the booze. His managers try to talk him up to some promoters, promising that he is the same fighter he always was - Dink's job is to sober him up but unfortunately it doesn't work. Andy "The Champ" has always promised Dink a race horse and when his luck changes, he buys "Lil' Champ" - an old and beat up horse that they train up for a race. The day of the race Dink meets his mother (he or she doesn't realise it), Linda, who has the horse "Blue Boy" next to "Lil' Champ" in the stables. Dink introduces her to his little mate - "he's coloured" he says, "yes, but he's kind of a pretty colour" she replies. (It was interesting that you didn't see her shake hands with the little boy, their hands were out of the camera range).

When "Lil' Champ" loses the race, Linda (Irene Rich)realises who Dink is and wants to give him everything that he has missed out on. (Even though Linda seems lovely - her character is portrayed as once having been a gold-digger who only married Andy when he was rich and famous and left him for a more prosperous gentleman when he was down on his luck).

Andy is then paid $100 to let Dink visit his mother - while there he sings a few bars of a popular song (Ruth Ettings' "Don't Tell Him What Happened to Me"), meets his step-sister Mary Lou (adorable Marcia Mae Jones) a little cutie who talks to Dink about the reality of fairy tales. After his visit Linda is determined to take Dink away from the unwholesome life he is leading with his dad. Dink and Andy have a magical relationship but after a heartfelt scene Andy convinces Dink to live with his mother, but with Dink away, he loses the will to go on.

The ending is the most emotional ever and Jackie Cooper was a genuine star. There will not be a dry eye by the film's end. In an interview, I heard Jackie Cooper say he did not get on with Wallace Beery. They made a few pictures together and were considered a team, adored by the public. Cooper said whenever people stopped him in the street to ask what Beery was really like, he had to lie and say what a wonderful guy he was - he couldn't tell them the truth and spoil their illusion. The previous reviewer was right - Beery was not well liked.

Highly Recommended.

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