Kirk Douglas here gives one of the definitive performances of his career as ruthless boxer Midge Kelly, who will stop at almost nothing to become a success. Though inferior to that other great boxing drama, The Set-Up (made the same year), Champion is still flashy and watchable, thanks to some razor-sharp, Oscar-winning editing. Douglas repeatedly betrays his disabled brother (Arthur Kennedy), his watchful manager (Paul Stewart) and the women in his life (Marilyn Maxwell and Ruth Roman among them) right up until his fist-breaking comeuppance - a punishment producer Stanley Kramer must have wished he could have inflicted upon Douglas in real life after the star had a nose job halfway through production, meaning nobody could lay a glove on him. That aside, this remains a real achievement for all concerned.

An unscrupulous boxer fights his way to the top, but eventually alienates all of the people who helped him on the way up.