The Ring

The Ring (1927) was the first film made by British International Pictures.  It is the only film for which Hitchcock wrote the original screenplay.

Notable cast/crew: Carl Brisson makes his screen debut as 'One Round' Jack Sander and will appear in Hitchcock's The Manxman later.  Lillian Hall-Davis as The Girl.  She will appear in The Farmer's Wife in 1928, but will commit suicide in 1933 when her career doesn't transition to talkies.  Hitchcock considered her his favorite actress at the time.  Ian Hunter as Bob Corby makes the second of three appearances in Hitchcock silent films.  Gordon Harker as Jack's trainer makes the first of three Hitchcock film appearances.  Clare Greet in an uncredited cameo as the Fortune Teller makes the first of six appearances in Hitchcock films.  She and Leo G Carroll are tied for that distinction, not counting her role in 1922's Number 13 which was never finished.  

Running time: 89 minutes

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Plot: We open in a carnival where 'One Round' Jack Sander is taking on all comers.  It's the old carnival game where you try to last a round to win the prize.  Jack kayos several men while his girlfriend sells tickets outside.  She begins flirting with Bob Corby which Jack sees.  The barker picks up on it and goads Bob into fighting Jack.  To everyone's surprise, Bob lasts one round, and the fight continues.  Bob defeats Jack, and we find out he's actually the Australian heavyweight champ come to see if Jack was good enough to be his sparring partner.  Bob's manager gives Jack his card and sets up a trial bout for him.  If he wins it, he'll be Bob's new sparring partner.  In the meantime, Bob continues to make time with Jack's girl, buying her jewelry and doting on her.  

I love the smell of fingers in the morning

Jack and his girl decide to get engaged if he wins the bout, and he does.  They wed despite her continuing dalliance with Bob.  Jack becomes Bob's sparring partner, and it quickly becomes apparent that Jack is good enough to have a career of his own.  It's also apparent his wife is still messing around with Bob.  Jack determines he will have to defeat Bob in the ring to fight for his woman, but that means first making a climb up the rankings through undercard bouts.  This he does, and he's soon poised for a title shot.  He becomes more concerned as his wife spends more time with Bob the longer Jack is out fighting.  She attends raucous parties with Bob and plays the piano afterwards mooning over a photo of him.

Jack's friends from the carnival show up after his last prelim bout, excited to see Jack doing so well.  They go back to Jack's place to celebrate, but the party turns sour when Jack's wife isn't home.  His trainer subtly indicates she's out with Bob, and they quietly excuse themselves to leave Jack to stew in his juices.  When his wife finally staggers home, he loses it and berates her for spending all of her time with Bob.  After a flippant remark from her, he decides to confront Bob that night, bout or not bout.  Jack finds him at a dance club, drops him with one punch, and tells him if he wants revenge he can get it in the ring.  Jack returns home to find his wife has left.

Jack and Bob square off in a titanic bout with Jack's wife seated ringside next to Bob's corner.  As the fight progresses, Jack is getting the worse of it, and she slowly moves towards his corner round by round.  At the climax, she tells Jack she's his, Jack kayos Bob, and she leaves with Jack, dropping the armband Bob had given her on the way out.

MacGuffin: None

Hitchcock cameo: None

Hitchcock themes: 

• Love triangle 

Verdict: I'm a sucker for a boxing story, so I liked this film a lot.  The film is perfectly cast.  Carl Brisson, who had been an amateur boxer, is engaging as the hero, Ian Hunter reprises his role as foil from Hitchcock's last film, and Lillian Hall-Davis enrages as the faithless wife.  Her performance in particular is excellent after you watch Hitchcock's next film The Farmer's Wife where she plays a role that is the complete opposite of this film, and yet she is believable in both.  The fighting sometimes looks a bit comical which may be a combination of outdated fighting styles, the speed of the recording, and the staging of the fight.  For the final knockout punch, Hitchcock is said to have had Brisson actually punch Hunter, and it certainly appears he really did floor him.

Hitchcock uses a number of techniques: camera shots filming the characters' reflection off water, their reflection from the next room off mirrors, blurred lenses to convey drunken perspective, and double exposures to illustrate the characters' thoughts.  Visually this movie holds your interest with technique even beyond the plot.  Rings are a motif throughout from the boxing ring, to the wedding ring Jack gives his wife, to the ring-shaped coiled armband Bob gives her, providing a visual pun throughout the movie.

I found this to be a very enjoyable movie, and Jack Harker steals every scene he's in with his comic timing as Jack's trainer.  Eugene Corri's cameo at the end as the referee is a neat historical footnote as he was the first referee to officiate a bout from inside the ring in 1907.  The ending is a tad trite, and, after seeing this woman dump on him for the entire film, you kind of wish he'd beaten Bob and told her, "You can have him," but that lowers my rating only slightly.

Out of five bananas, I give it:

Next review: The Farmer's Wife