Future president Ronald Reagan not only hosts but co-stars in this telefilm about
an up and coming boxer, loosely based on Chuck Davey who like the character
John Ericson portrays was a matinee idol like middleweight contender ever so
briefly in the early 50s. Ronald Reagan plays a former boxer now turned trainer
hired by manager Rusty Lane. Rachel Ames portrays Ericson's girlfriend.
What Ericson doesn't know, but what Reagan has figured out is that Ericson's fights were all setups. Lane is building him up for a title shot and as Reagan says even the loser gets a good pay day on the way back to Palookaville.
Even Ames has figured it out, but no one can or dares tell Ericson anything.
A lot of the plot of the Humphrey Bogart/Rod Steiger film The Harder They Fall is used for this drama. Reagan's part is a combination of the roles that Bogart and Jersey Joe Walcott had in that big screen classic.
Reagan could have used a bit of makeup because he sure doesn't look like a former boxer. Still its a worthwhile dram about the fight game.
What Ericson doesn't know, but what Reagan has figured out is that Ericson's fights were all setups. Lane is building him up for a title shot and as Reagan says even the loser gets a good pay day on the way back to Palookaville.
Even Ames has figured it out, but no one can or dares tell Ericson anything.
A lot of the plot of the Humphrey Bogart/Rod Steiger film The Harder They Fall is used for this drama. Reagan's part is a combination of the roles that Bogart and Jersey Joe Walcott had in that big screen classic.
Reagan could have used a bit of makeup because he sure doesn't look like a former boxer. Still its a worthwhile dram about the fight game.