The actor Audie Murphy was the most decorated combat soldier of WWII, receiving the Medal of Honor and awards for bravery from France and Belgium.
I mention this because I didn’t believe him as a boxer a single second of 1956’s World in my Corner. This is the third and last movie in a Kino Lorber blu-ray boxed set that is film noirs about boxing. The other two starred Tony Curtis who, for all I know, never fought for real in his life but who I definitely believed was a fighter in those roles.
On the other hand, watching Murphy in this, I couldn’t stop thinking about Glass Joe, the first, and easiest, opponent you have to defeat in the Nintendo game Punch-Out. As a character in the stands says watches Murphy’s first fight in this picture, “I’ve seen better fights at the hockey game.” Who hasn’t?
Like most movies like this, our protagonist is an angry young (youngish?) man, yet we never really find what drives that anger. And, without that, no reason why he’s fighting.
Eventually he does have something to first for. Taken under the wing of a wealthy promoter played by Jeff Morrow, he meets Barbara Rush and now has the motivation to climb the social ladder high enough to get to tap that. And he believes his route to that is to become the best boxer.
There is a pretty funny moment when Murphy first encounters Morrow in the gym of the mansion and thinks he’s some sort of hired help. But, hey, isn’t it great the owner lets the help use his gym? The two end up boxing and Murphy ends up walloping the more experienced guy, who is also a head taller than him and looks like he has about 50 more pounds of muscle. Uh huh.
I didn’t find anybody I cared for enough in this to root for them. Our hero is full of unjustified arrogance and played by somebody I never believed as a boxer. Rush, as the love interest, has only two character traits: she wants to be a writer and whines endlessly about being lorded over by her father, without ever bothering to strike out on her own. The icing on the cake is when she tells Murphy material possessions aren’t really worth much. Easy to say when you’re wealthy.
Fans of boxing may find something to enjoy in World in my Corner: the boxing matches seem to occupy at least half the screen time. Other than that, I suspect even noir fans may find it difficult to find anything worthwhile here.
Dir: Jesse Hibbs
Starring Audie Murphy, Barbara Rush, Jeff Morror
Watched on Kino Lorber blu-ray