Ringside

A Lippert movie from 1949, at 68 minutes it seems quite long because the story is uninteresting and completely cornball.

Don Barry plays a pianist who turns boxer to avenge his boxing brother's injury that was intentionally meted out in the ring by a vicious boxer, leaving bro a blind man. While the cliches can lull the viewer into unconsciousness (with no lasting effects) it's no fun at all to watch.

These B-movies of the '40s and '50s at their best were quite entertaining, but that was due to eccentric characterizations (think Elisha Cook Jr.) and plenty of comedy relief. None of that here, a fatal error. And after tons of poorly choreographed fight footage, the ridiculous happy ending, with a moral lesson included, is a real groaner.

This slap-happy prizefighting "epic" from cash-strapped Lippert Pictures boasts a moth-eaten plot lifted shamelessly from James Cagney's CITY FOR CONQUEST (pugilist brothers, one a concert pianist, the other blinded in the ring). Still, it does bear the distinction of being the only fight film ever to feature -- I kid you not -- narration by a talking boxing ring.

Casting-wise, there are some amusingly oddball points of interest: the ever-peppy Don "Red" Barry as a slugger turned virtuoso ivory tickler, Marcia Dean, aka Lippert's answer to Vera Rhuba Ralston, as an amorous nurse, Lyle "Find out what in hell it is that they want!" Talbot as a ringside announcer, and Borscht Belt "humorist" Joey Adams as a stogie-chomping cut man.

Ringside is a boxing story from B studio Lippert Productions. It concerns a promising pianist who gives up a career as such to go in the ring and avenge his brother who was blinded during a world middleweight championship bout. The pianist is Don Barry and the blind boxer is Tom Brown.

There is probably so much wrong with this particular boxing film I almost dare not catalog it. Barry has some boxing skills, but while he's fast with feet and hands, he lacks a real punch. He wins all his fights by decision. A punch is something you're born with in the fight game, it can't be acquired with training.

But even worse no concert pianist worthy of the name would dare risk his hands boxing. Both trades require good hands used for vastly different purposes.

Barry has it in his mind revenge, but Brown was a fool to get in the ring. He was told that he had optic nerve damage, but chose to go in anyway. No boxing commission even back then would have sanctioned Brown going in the ring. Fight fans and film fans would have known that back in 1949.

All in all Ringside ranks as one of the worst films on pugilism I've ever seen.

Two brothers use their boxing skills to help each other.

I got this turkey in the 3-movie package of Forgotten Noir. Good thing the other two aren't so bad. Reviewer bkoganbing is spot on. The premise is ludicrous, at best. Having tough guy King Cobra (Barry) sashay from the ring to the concert stage requires more than a little stretch.

No need to belabor the cheap sets, the screwball storyline, or the bad photography. Too bad the results don't rise to a campy level. I'm just sorry that two good performers like Barry and Brown are wasted in this misfire. One thing for sure—despite the bad script, they certainly look like brothers.

(In passing— Speaking of brothers, ex- pug Tony Canzoneri {Swinger Martin} could pass for Edward G. Robinson's thuggish brother.)

Tom Brown is an aspiring middleweight boxer. His brother, Don 'Red' Barry is an aspiring middleweight..... I mean an aspiring concert pianist. Tom is engaged to Sheila Ryan, the daughter of his manager, Joseph Crehan. Don has been studying under William Edmunds, who admires his command of the piano, but worries he plays without passion. Tom wants the title bout with champion John Cason, so he can marry Sheila and send his brother to study in Europe. When he gets it, however, he not only loses; he's blinded. He had bet everything on the match, so there's no money for an operation, no money to send Don to Europe, no money to marry Sheila. So Don puts his plans on hold and starts boxing, to make enough money for an operation for his brother and to fight Cason.... and do to him what Cason has done to his brother.

It's a Lippert production, so if it sounds like a Poverty Row boxing picture from before the war, that's not surprising. What is surprising is the way B movie director Frank MacDonald makes it an enjoyable feature. Here are all these people who have known each other for decades, and they act like it, taking care of each other, and cracking chestnut jokes that sound lifelike and amusing.

The boxing sequences, which make up half the movie are well shot by Ernest Miller. Cason looks like a mean man who enjoys pummeling his opponents into the ground. He was a well-respected stuntman, but he delivers his lines well. Also excellent as a weaselly little gambler looking to get even with the brothers, and make a few bucks in the process, is Tony Canzoneri. He had been lightweight champion in the early 1930s.

It's certainly not a great movie, but it tells its story efficiently and entertainingly.