World in My Corner

Although the "War-Hero" Always Gave His All in a Career Where He Took On 50 Roles, Mostly in Westerns, and Some TV..."Whispering Smith" (1961),

"Murph" Never Received Credit from the Critics that He Deserved. He Did Have a Huge Fan-Base and His Movies Always Made Money, He was Mostly Ignored and Dismissed as a B-Movie "Pedestrian" Doing Hack-Work.

This is just Not True. His Westerns, Yes Most were Low-Budget, Always seemed to Have an Edge, and Something Not Usually Found in the Routine Oaters so Popular in the 1950's.

Here He Plays a "Boxer" (quite effectively) who Seeks the Middle-Weight Title, Getting Involved with "Crooked" Promoters and then "Seeing the Light", Decides to Fight the Title Match On His Own Terms.

Barbara Rush is the Love Interest, the Rebellious Daughter of a Tycoon, that Also "Sees the Light" Concerning Murph and the Rather Routine Story, with some Bite, is Driven Home by Her and Jeff Morrow, as the Father.

The Ring Footage is Outstanding and You Won't Find Much Better and Should Satisfy Boxing Fans.

It's an Above-Average "B" from the Mid-50's and a Treat to See Audie Murphy in More than just a Western, where He Excels, and this Gangster-Boxing Movie is Another "Win" for the Champion Soldier.

For Pugilist Fans a Must See...

For All Others, it's...

Worth a Watch.

Audie Murphy is an honest young boxer with an honest manager in John MacIntire. But he wants beautiful Barbara Rush, and her father, Jeff Morrow, is a manipulative man. Can Audie remain an honest man and have Miss Rush?

It's pretty much a standard boxing movie, although Murphy, who is mostly quiet, out with long speeches that mark plot switches three or four times. The corruption of the fight game is hinted at throughout, but doesn't turn into actual action until the last act. The fight scenes with Chico Vejar are well shot, and pretty brutal. With Tommy Rail, Howard St. John, and Sheila Bromley.

Occasionally Universal Pictures let Audie Murphy do some work other than westerns. I'm sure he was grateful for the change of scenery and pace and a chance to vary his roles. Rural Texas country kid Murphy does quite well in World In My Corner as an aspiring young boxer from the mean streets of Jersey City.

Getting laid off from a job means that Murphy has to give his all to a boxing career. He's unpolished, but has the instinct. Two people take an interest in him, millionaire sportsman Jeff Morrow and old time fight manager John McIntire. And Murphy takes an interest in Morrow's daughter Barbara Rush.

The conflict in this film is whether Murphy will keep his integrity or turn himself over to racketeer promoter Howard St.John. When this film came out there were rumblings about organized crime's involvement in boxing and soon it would come out at the Senate rackets committee hearings.

World In My Corner has Murphy getting the most of what boxing could give him. But he pays a heavy price for it.

As you can see a great cast of players back Murphy in this film. I would also include Tommy Rall in a non-musical role as one of Murphy's friends from Jersey City. He's quite a conniver, but does show he's Murphy's friend in the end.

A very nicely done boxing film that gets too little attention.

The mid-1950s proved to be the last stand for Hollywood's traditional boxing movie. (In 1955, for example, Tony Curtis appeared in "The Square Jungle" while John Derek donned gloves for "The Leather Saint.") Audie Murphy's "World in My Corner" may be the best of this lot even though it follows a well-worn formula: poor but honest boxer from the wrong side of the tracks gets a taste of the high-life, falls for a rich society girl, and is tempted to "take a dive" for money.

The sole variation here is that rich-girl Barbara Rush is also the good-girl. (In some movies, the rich-girl is portrayed as a flashy blonde temptress who tries to lure the boxer into corruption. Opposing her, of course, is a poor but devoted good-girl who dresses modestly and who has dark hair. Guess which girl the boxer winds up with in the final scene.)

At least "World in My Corner" seems aware of its routine nature. Rather than trying to hide it, the movie makes it an asset by playing things straight, avoiding unnecessary detours and keeping both plot and characters within a narrow focus. The result may not be stylish or innovative but it does offer a modest degree of satisfaction.

Audie Murphy may never have been Oscar-material but he's well-cast here and does passably well in the many boxing sequences. Needless to say, he often appears bare-chested and this opportunity to exploit a young actor's "beefcake" potential partially explains the appeal of the boxing movie. Had Ben Affleck come along a generation or two ago, for example, he'd probably have had at least one boxing movie under his belt, though his chest would probably have been shaved for the sake of "decency."

Audie Murphy plays Tommy Shea, a not particularly distinguished boxer whose career is anything but stellar. However, an aging boxing manager, David Bernstein (John McIntire), thinks Shea has real promise...though he lacks discipline and training. It happens that Bernstein works for a rich guy...a guy who is looking to back a promising young fighter and soon Tommy is getting the guidance he needs. The problem, however, is that to get a chance at the title, Tommy might need to play by the rules of the mob...perhaps throw a fight or two. What is he to do?

This is a decent boxing film. But in a genre where there are many great boxing pictures, it's quite undistinguished by comparison. It's not like the movie is bad or anything like that...but similar stories have been told better. It also would have helped had the writer made Tommy a bit more likable and less impulsive.