The best punch trackers on the market
7th October 2020
By: Andrew Rihn
Boxing and movies have gone hand-in-hand ever since audiences saw Bob Fitzsimmons KO Gentleman Jim Corbett with a blow to the solar plexus in 1897. High in drama and low in cost, boxing has been a staple subject for the movie industry, from Body and Soul to Requiem for a Heavyweight, from Rocky to Raging Bull. The movies I review, however, won’t be appearing on any Top 10 lists. Or any Top 50, for that matter. But what these B-movies lack in name recognition, they more than makeup for with their blunt charisma, their quirks, and their unexpected cameos. These are the sometimes-forgotten pictures that shaped the genre we know today. Join me in rooting for these cinematic underdogs as we explore some of boxing’s Not Quite Classics.
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Contrary to today, it wasn’t common in older boxing pictures for the pugilist to fight for ego or glory. The common trope was for the protagonist to fight for selfless, charitable causes. James Cagney played this storyline twice: in Winner Takes All (1932) he uses his prize money to pay for a child’s medical care, and in City for Conquest (1940) he boxes to pay for his brother’s music school tuition. Maybe you saw this scenario resuscitated in 2012’s Here Comes the Boom, which featured a teacher-turned-MMA fighter raising money for his underfunded school. 1956’s The Leather Saint takes the selfless fighter trope and runs with it.
Gil Allen is a young Episcopalian priest. He works out once a week at a friend’s gym and his workout includes time on the heavy bag. He boxed a little in college, we learn. When manager Gus approaches Gil about fighting professionally, Gil demures. But after visiting a local children’s hospital, where they are in need of a second iron lung and a swimming pool for physical therapy, Gil reconsiders venturing into the fight game. On a mission to raise funds for the children, he approaches Gus but does not disclose his true vocation.
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Gus lines up a fight with shrewd boxing promoter Tony Lorenzo (played by Cesar Romero, later TV’s Joker). Gil impresses the crowd in his first fight, landing a one-punch KO. He also catches the eye of Pearl (Jody Lawrance, step-sister of Norma Jean Baker, aka Marilyn Monroe), a nightclub singer who “associates” with promoter Tony. Her ex was a boxer who died in the ring. Now she drinks and dreams of a future with every new fighter she meets, including Gil.
Gil begins winning fights regularly, donating the money to the church fund, and explaining away the donations as coming from a man “in the leather business.” Pearl pursues him, but rather than settle on a Hollywood ending in which they end up together, Gil rebuffs her gently. She discovers Gil’s secret life as a priest and his mission to help the children’s hospital and is moved to improve her own lot. She quits drinking and helps Gil raise the remaining funds. In the final scene, Pearl brings manager Gus and promoter Tony to attend the opening of the new children’s pool they unwittingly helped finance.
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The story is simple and the script eschews unnecessary gimmicks or cheap laughs. Characters sit and talk. They are earnest and hold long conversations that tease out real conflicts and emotions rather than merely introduce plot twists. The tone strikes a surprising balance between the cynical and the saccharine and The Leather Saint feels more abundant, more thorough, for all the stereotypes and Hollywood cliches it avoids.
A nice detail: in the boxing promoter’s office hang a pair of George Bellows prints. But not the most famous images, “Stag at Sharkey’s” or “Dempsey and Firpo”. No, someone has hung the lesser-known “Both Members of this Club” and “Club Night” on the wall. It’s a small touch of set design, but it’s the accumulation of subtle gestures that elevates The Leather Saint.
The movie’s most compelling angle is that we sit with Gil, an Episcopalian priest, as he prays alone several times. Gil’s roles in the pulpit and the ring put him squarely in the public’s eye, but he remains a private man. We never see him preach to a congregation. His motivations (and even his actions) remain inscrutable to those observing him. He is driven not by platitudes or sermons, but by something interior and individual. Such urgent and candid faith is notoriously difficult to translate into an onscreen presence; easier to represent the zealot or the wide-eyed simpleton. Gil, the fighting priest, is a man seeking not to be understood, but to understand himself and his place in the world.
The Leather Saint succeeds by refusing to diminish its characters. By exploring the quiet moments, counterpoints to the frenzied action of the fights, and by allowing Gil’s conflicts to co-exist, The Leather Saint becomes more than just a boxing picture. It becomes an elegant portrait of faith-in-action.
More ‘Not Quite Classic’ reviews:
Iron Man (1931)
They Never Come Back (1932)
The Prize Fighter and the Lady (1933)
They Made Me a Criminal (1939)
The Contender (1944)
Day of the Fight (1951)
Flesh and Fury (1952)
Kid Monk Baroni (1952)
The Ring (1952)
