Review: The Ring (1927)

Carnival sideshow boxer Carl Brisson meets his match when Ian Hunter steps up to take him on…and promptly beats him. Humiliated in front of his girl (Lillian Hall-Davis), Brisson finds out that the victor (Ian Hunter) is actually an Australian boxing champ. Seeing her man defeated causes Hall-Davis to switch her interest to Hunter, whilst still continuing to see Brisson. Brisson actually ends up working as sparring partner to Hunter, but it’s obvious that his true destiny lies in challenging Hunter for the big belt. That’s if he can win enough fights in the meantime to even get a shot.

 

Director Alfred Hitchcock (“The Lodger”, “The 39 Steps”, “Strangers on a Train”) scripted this 1927 boxing romance-drama himself (with only uncredited contributions by wife Alma Reville), and sadly it’s bottom-tier Hitchcock for me. I can’t figure out what his interest was here. Even by 1927 standards there’s not a lot going on here. It’s your standard two boxers rivalling for both professional glory and the girl. It’s far too stock to garner much interest or investment. Worse, the central love triangle doesn’t grab the audience. There isn’t enough of a connection with any of them. Also, in my opinion the wrong guy wins on both of those fronts. I get why it happens, but I don’t agree with it. I won’t reveal who, but the guy who wins is completely unlikeable, whilst the ‘loser’ takes both losses like a true champ. You struggle to figure out the appeal of one of the two blokes and therefore struggle to really relate to the girl, either. In fact, she’s a bit cruel and flaky if you ask me. The best thing by far is the performance by Ian Hunter as an Australian boxer, though he can’t save this thing single-handedly. This isn’t indicative of a filmmaker on the rise, it’s a filmmaker still learning on the job. There’s a couple of interesting shots in the boxing ring, but otherwise you won’t get much of an indication of its maker here.

 

Although it isn’t Hitchcock’s worst film, this boxing romance/drama doesn’t have much of anything going for it. It’s utterly forgettable despite solid work by a charismatic Ian Hunter.  

 

Rating: C

 

 

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