In his first starring role, Paul Newman dominates the screen as "The Contender", playing a boxer on the rise, the day before his big fight which if successful should earn him a title shot. The future superstar's acting chops are on display, with elements of his great "The Hustler" performance already on view.
With very fine support by Frank McHugh as his loyal manager and Inger Stevens as his supportive wife, Newman punches across an indecisive character worthy of "Hamlet", getting more than the jitters when he encounters a down & out fighter he had beaten just six years before, now reduced to a nearly brain-dead has-been selling handkerchiefs on the street corner.
His life at a crossroads, this contender he's playing decides to quit, before he ends up a beat-up palooka himself. But the fight is only a day away, and he'll be leaving everyone in the lurch. Edmund Morris' screenplay does a fine job of presenting the issues facing Newman's character, and the show carefully avoids the genre's cliches, looking at the human side of the story rather than the sports angle.