Knockout: The Boxer and Boxing in American Cinema

by Leger Grindon

Overview

A study of Hollywood's continuing fascination with the sweet science

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604739893
Publisher:	University Press of Mississippi
Publication date:	05/10/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Leger Grindon, Middlebury, Vermont, is a professor of film studies at Middlebury College where he has taught since 1987. He is the author of Shadows on the Past: Studies in the Historical Fiction Film and Hollywood Romantic Comedy: Conventions, History, Controversies.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

1 Why the Boxing Film? 3

The Meaningful Structure of the Boxing Film Genre

2 Gangsters, Champions, and the History of the Boxing Film 32

3 "Down for the Count" 73

Critique of the Success Ethic in the Boxing Film

4 "On the Ropes" 99

The Conflict between Assimilation and the Indigenous Community

5 Romance and the Ring 128

Gender Conflict in the Boxing Film

6 "Hitting Below the Belt" 156

Violence, Suffering, and Male Emotion

7 Body and Soul 189

The Conflict between the Flesh and the Spirit

8 Art and Genre in Raging Bull (1980) 231

Epilogue: Into the Twenty-First Century 267

Appendix I Cycles/Clusters of the Boxing Film Genre 283

Appendix II Boxing Films Cited 291

Works Cited 295

Index 303

Editorial Reviews

"A very smart and accessible study of an important Hollywood genre. Grindon's knowledge of the social and historical background of boxing informs his excellent analysis of the films."



—Aaron Baker, Arizona State University, author of Contesting Identity: Sports in American Film


"Leger Grindon's knowledgeable and astute look at the boxing film is a model of genre criticism. He has managed to say fresh and interesting things about an important group of films, some well-known, some less known than they should be. His analyses are informed and insightful. Not only is this the definitive work on the boxing film; it has valuable things to say about film genre generally and about the role of genre criticism."



—Edward Buscombe, author of Injuns! Native Americans in the Movies

From the Publisher