1957’s The Crooked Circle is a boxing noir where the technical advisor in the opening credits is revealed to some unfortunate soul with the name of Mushy Callahan. You have to wonder how many punches a guy had to take to the face to get a name like “Mushy”.
A young boxer played by John Smith takes some more blows than necessary, as this capable pugilist agrees to throw some fights for his crooked manager (John Doucette) and the man’s gangster superiors (Philip Van Zandt and Richard Karlan). In a situation like that, I always wonder what the fighter would do if they were facing an opponent so grossly incompetent that it would be impossible to take a fall. Would they knock themselves out? Maybe run headlong into the other’s gloves?
It’s also too bad older brother Don Kelly didn’t warn him beforehand about the crooked promoters, as he was once a fighter for them who was also paid to throw bouts. Unfortunately for him, he got so punch-drunk in one match that he forgot he was supposed to lose. Wonder if that’s what happened in real-life to Mushy?
The starts before Smith’s career, when he is just helping Kelly at a seaside resort where he’s been hiding out after failing to throw that match. Reporter Steve Brodie finds Kelly there. He had been investigating the mysterious death of another boxer working for Doucette’s who also appeared to win a fight he shouldn’t have. Smith is an aspiring boxer, and he begs the reporter to take him back to the city with him and introduce him to the right people. Kelly is initially adamantly against this, but finally acquiesces, telling his kid brother he at least needs to change his last name.
Brodie sets up Smith with honest trainer Robert Armstrong. Unfortunately, a rigged system results in Smith being replaced in the semi-finals, so he appoints Doucette his manager. The scene where the contract is signed had me thinking that, when terms are being negotiated for such an agreement, the two managers should go to opposite corners and come out swinging.
I suppose Smith would eventually be forced by his new keepers to take a fall eventually, but the first time he ends up doing that is because he goes to them to get fronted a thousand bucks to buy an engagement ring for Fay Spain. That would be over $11,000 today, which made me wonder what size of rock he was planning on giving her. He settled on this number because that is what one of the rubdown guys in the locker room told him a quality ring would set him back. That is not somebody from whom I would take advice on anything regarding marriages or, for that matter, money. For that much money, I think he should glue a cheap ring onto a decent car and tell her that’s the ring. I can already picture her running alongside the car, trying desperately to keep up with it.
And I think that mostly because of the unpleasantness of Spain’s character. She isn’t a gold-digger, but she does have aspirations and she burdens Smith with those. Early on, she derides him for not thinking for himself, which really means he isn’t acting on her demands. This happens back when he was working with his brother at that seaside hotel. To use a fishing analogy, I would tell him to cut bait and run. Later, she’s a little too excited when speaking to him on the phone after a successful match, gushing over how he is becoming an important man. She talks about guys hitting on her, but she shoots them down, saying she is practically engaged. I wonder if Smith knew he was about to be engaged to her.
This is a solid noir, not exceptional in any regard, but it does exactly what it means to do. It is competently made, though economical and without much embellishment. This city seems to only have one restaurant, as the same set is used each time a scene needs to be set in one.
With obvious budget constraints like that, it is no surprise this was the product of the lowly Republic Pictures. The opening credits claim they used some sort of process they called Naturama, which is obviously the cinema equivalent of vaporware. To the best I can guess, it that, if anything, things on the screen look rather natural, even if the shoot was overwhelmingly on sets.
The acting is also decent enough, though nobody gets especially meaty roles. The dialogue is perfunctory, with few noteworthy lines. The most memorable character is Doucette, though only because he is so convincingly menacing. Although it isn’t witty, I was amused by him telling everybody they can look him up in the book. I like to think he meant the Yellow Pages, and they should look under “G” for “gangsters”.
Funny how the one thing that most surprised me about The Crooked Circle was a very minor bit towards the beginning, where Smith and Kelly get into a fist fight. Immediately after, they apologize to each other. As I write this, there is a weird backlash against anything resembling “soft power”, and that includes admitting to any mistakes. This film shows that real men apologize.
Dir: Joseph Kane
Starring John Smith, Fay Spain, Steve Brodie, Don Kelly
Watched as part of Kino Lorber’s blu-ray box set Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXIV.