The Champ is a 1931 movie that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was written by Frances Marion, Leonard Praskins and Wanda Tuchock, and directed by King Vidor. The movie stars Wallace Beery (Andy "Champ" Purcell) and Jackie Cooper (Dink), and tells the story of a washed up alcoholic boxer who tries to put his life together for the sake of his young son.
Beery won the Oscar for Best Actor (sharing the prize with Fredric Marc...
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The Champ is a 1931 movie that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was written by Frances Marion, Leonard Praskins and Wanda Tuchock, and directed by King Vidor. The movie stars Wallace Beery (Andy "Champ" Purcell) and Jackie Cooper (Dink), and tells the story of a washed up alcoholic boxer who tries to put his life together for the sake of his young son.
Beery won the Oscar for Best Actor (sharing the prize with Fredric March for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), and Marion for Best Story.
Screenwriter Frances Marion wrote the title role specifically for Wallace Beery, who by 1931 was no star but merely an aging character actor. Despite the melodramatic script, director King Vidor eagerly took on the film as emphasized the traditional family values and strong belief in hope that he felt was essential to a good motion picture. Wallace Beery claimed to have turned down a $500,000 offer from a syndicate of Indian studios to play Buddha in order to take the role in The Champ...
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