Kirk Douglas stars in “Champion.”
As part of Champion: The Stanley Kramer Centennial, the UCLA Film & Television Archive is showing a great double feature Friday night at the Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood. Sally Kellerman will appear in person.
“Champion” (1949, Mark Robson)
Producer Stanley Kramer brought this stylish feature in under budget and ahead of schedule. He also provided a career-defining vehicle for actor Kirk Douglas as a ruthless boxer seeking fame at any cost.
“The Men” (1950, Fred Zinnemann)
Actor Marlon Brando’s first feature (following his Broadway success in “A Streetcar Named Desire”) was this thoughtful portrait of WWII wounded veterans returning to America ambivalent about their role in civilian life. Shot in a veterans’ hospital, and featuring many of the patients as actors, the film was a sobering look behind the trappings of military victory.
From FNB readers