Breakdown

No, not a lost classic...but much better than I expected. And, considering it was directed by an electronics engineer (his only film) and written by a guy who only has a few credits to his name, it's even more of a surprise.

The low budget comes through at times and the direction can be amateurish, but the last fight scenes seem like the real thing. The script is the real gem. Good dialogue and complex characters. It's not "The Set Up" and not really a noir, but it's definitely worth checking out. It was Ann Richards last film with her husband, Edmund Angelo, directing. Maybe they should have done more?!!

"Breakdown" is a cheap B-movie about boxing. Now, you might assume that a cheap film like this would be bad, but the movie is surprisingly effective and worth watching.

When the story begins, Terry is in prison and has shown himself to be a terrific boxer. He's so good that a promoter manages to get him released. Ironically, the judge who agrees to the release was the same one which presided over the trial where Terry was convicted of murder! As for Terry, he's excited more at being able to perhaps prove his innocence than his prowess as a boxer. Oddly, despite this, Terry is an amazing boxer...and soon is being considered for the title fight against 'the champ'. But what about his need to prove his innocence?

The major theme in this one is not just Terry proving his innocence but two other themes. One is about boxing and women...and Terry's trainer hates that Terry is falling in love. The other is about a boxer named 'Punchy'...who is severely brain damaged by years of boxing. Punchy's ex-girlfriend is worried this will also be Terry's fate!

The film manages to be pro- AND anti-boxing....but mostly anti. The script is quite good and the film well worth seeing even though most of the actors are unfamiliar faces and the film was obviously made by a minor studio. I was about to give it a 7, but the ending was a bit disappointing and left some important plot elements dangling.

Low-budget melodrama with very fine performances, adapted by author Robert Abel from his own stage play, THE SAMSON SLASHER. Though it suffers a few minor lapses in character logic (i.e. one character reveals something rather devastating about his lover, but the next scene finds his lover behaving as if nothing had happened), the writing is uniformly sharp in the story of an amateur boxer sprung from prison who falls in love with the niece of the hanging judge who sentenced him.

Sheldon Leonard and Wally Cassel are quite strong in critical supporting roles, though lead actor William Bishop is a slightly flat cross between Frank Lovejoy and Rock Hudson. He pulls it off adequately, but it's the brother characters played by Leonard and Cassel who buoy the narrative, with the latter as a quite obviously gay, and spurned, boxing trainer.

A fascinating aspect of this film is its absolutely relentless final boxing match, where Bishop takes a pummeling not unlike the depiction of the LaMotta/Leonard fight in RAGING BULL where DeNiro's LaMotta refuses to go down. One has to wonder if Scorsese caught this rarity on late-night television and it stuck.

It's difficult to find information on this film but it appears to be in the public domain, so perhaps it will turn up as a bargain basement DVD. Particularly interesting to note that this is the sole film of stage director Edmund Angelo (who also produced, and cast his wife, Ann Richards).