Champion: "We're not hitchhiking any more"

 Champion, by Mark Robson presents a boxer who is very different from the noble, lower-class heroes of The Set-Up and Body and Soul. All three come from humble origins, entering boxing with ambitions of money and fame. But whereas Stoker Thompson and Charley Davis overcome greed and corruption to win their final bouts, Midge Kelly embodies that same greed and corruption in his own film. 

  

Using physical deformity to characterize moral deformity is a literary tool as old a the Greeks. Boxing films in particular lend themselves to this device, film as a medium allows the deformity to become visual, and boxing allows the injuries to add up as the film progresses. In Kelly's last fight, a fifteen round slug-fest, his face is beaten almost to the point of being unrecognizable. This is no coincidence as he has just raped Emma,punched his brother, threatened Grace, and "sold" Palmer. The transformation Midge undergoes during his final fight, emphasizes that this is him at his worst. This is his lowest moment, he has all but lost his humanity. The irony that Kelly's lowest moment happens concurrently with his championship fight is typical of Robson in this film, who followed an implicit rape scene with the upbeat roar of a band.

Midge's journey begins with a robbery in a dark train car, with the robbers shouting an almost prophetic line: "get smart it's only paper". While the first two films depict what Leger Grindon refers to as "the conflict of Market values vs Family Values", Robson is more cynical. In his film, there is no conflict, money trumps everything. The ironically named Grace Diamond, a lover of Midge's only takes interest in him after he defeats here previous lover in a boxing match. The antithesis of loyalty, Diamond follows the money wherever it leads. When Kelly's fights dry up, she dumps him, remarking: "I told you I was expensive, you can't afford me anymore". As a result, Midge is convinced to change managers from Haley, who is has served as a father figure for Midge, with a manager who likely takes a smaller cut and can get him more, higher paying fights. Here again is an opportunity for a Market vs Family conflict, but family never stood a chance. Where Rossen and Wise make their arguments against greed and corruption through redemption, Robson does so through example.

There is a conflict raging throughout the film however, and that "body vs soul". Midge begins the film as an downtrodden character, the victim of robberies, snobbery, slights and insults. Midge has redeeming qualities, he is ambitious, hard-working, tough, and charming. Nevertheless, he carries a chip on his shoulder, one that many lower-class men are all too familiar with. The ambition to be great, to be successful and self-sufficient has driven all of our boxers so far. In Midge, his ambition goes a little bit further, digging into the core of his personality. After his successful fights, Midge's brother suggests he leave the sport, fearing that Midge might lose his health, and himself to the ring.He notices a change in Midge, telling him that: "You weren't just hitting that guy in the ring...you were hitting a lot of guys, different guys, all the guys who've ever hurt you...there's something wrong about that". Boxing has become an outlet for Midge, not only to fulfill his ambition for money and success, but as a way to vent all of the repressed rage he has accumulated over a lifetime.

As a final, ironic scene, Midge's response to Connie, and his final words are the exact same, a side effect of the intense trauma Midge has suffered to his head during the fight(another unique literary tool prevalent in boxing films). He proclaims "We're not hitchhiking anymore, we're riding". Riding, apparently, straight to his death.(•_•) / ( •_•)>⌐■-■ / (⌐■_■)