The Ring (1952 film)

1950 film by Kurt Neumann

The Ring

Poster of The Ring

Directed by| Kurt Neumann
Screenplay by| Irving Shulman
Based on| 1953 novel The Square Trap by Irving Shulman
Produced by| Frank King
Maurice King
Starring| Lalo Rios
Gerald Mohr
Rita Moreno
Jack Elam
Cinematography| Russell Harlan
Edited by| Bruce B. Pierce
Music by| Herschel Burke Gilbert

Production
company

King Brothers Productions

Distributed by| United Artists[1]

Release date

* September 26, 1952 (1952-09-26)

Running time

| 79 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
L-R: Rita Moreno, Lalo Ríos and Lillian Molieri

The Ring is a 1952 American film noir film directed by Kurt Neumann and based on a novel by Irving Shulman. It tells the story of a Mexican-American male who becomes a boxer, believing this kind of achievement will gain him respect among the English-speaking white majority. The film was shot in various locations in early 1950s Los Angeles. The film examines institutionalized bigotry.[2]

## Plot

[edit]

The film focuses on a young Mexican-American named Tomas Cantanios, who boxed under the pseudonym Tommy Kansas, a resident of Los Angeles's poor Chicano neighborhood.[3] He feels constrained due to his inability to thrive in a white-dominated society. Therefore, to achieve popularity, he becomes a professional boxer, achieving fame and recognition. He soon discovers that Anglos are only drawn to him for his sports reputation and that they still consider him an outsider because of his ancestry and skin color. In fact, the only two white men who treat him decently are his manager Pete and trainer Freddy. However, their tolerant behavior is based primarily on monetary gain. Tommy also is conflicted by his unconditional love for Lucy, the daughter of a punch-drunk bum.

## Cast

[edit]

* Lalo Rios as Tommy
* Gerald Mohr as Pete
* Rita Moreno as Lucy
* Robert Arthur as Billy Smith
* Robert Osterloh as Freddy
* Jack Elam as Harry Jackson
* Martin Garralaga as Vidal
* Peter Brocco as Barney Williams
* Julia Montoya as Rosa
* Lillian Molieri as Helen
* Pepe Hern as Rick
* Victor Millan as Pablo
* Tony Martinez as Go-Go
* Art Aragon as himself
* Robert Shayne as Jimmy, Aragon's manager
* Ernie Chavez as Joe
* Edward Chan Sieg as Benny
* Robert Altuna as Pepe Cantanios

## Production

[edit]

The Ring is one of the early sports-centered films in Hollywood in which discrimination against Chicanos is presented. Its Mexicano/sports themes can be traced to the 1940s with films like The Girl from Monterrey.

## See also

[edit]

* List of boxing films

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Cine: Estamos rodando (in Spanish). Cinema: We are rolling
2. ^ Romano, Frederick V. The Boxing Filmography: American Features, 1920-2003. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2004. p. 90.
3. ^ 1968-1978: El desarrollo del cine chicano* cinelatinoamericano. PDF (In Spanish: The development of Mexican cinema* Latin cinema, published for Jesús Treviño

## External links

[edit]

* The Ring at IMDb
* The Ring at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Kurt Neumann

* El Tenorio del harem  (1931)
* Fast Companions (1932)
* My Pal, the King (1932)
* The Big Cage (1933)
* The Secret of the Blue Room (1933)
* King for a Night (1933)
* Let's Talk It Over (1934)
* Half a Sinner (1934)
* Wake Up and Dream (1934)
* Alias Mary Dow (1935)
* The Affair of Susan (1935)
* Let's Sing Again (1936)
* Rainbow on the River (1936)
* Espionage (1937)
* Make a Wish (1937)
* That Navy Spirit (1937)
* Wide Open Faces (1938)
* Generals of Tomorrow (1938)
* Ambush (1939)
* Unmarried (1939)
* Island of Lost Men (1939)
* All Women Have Secrets (1939)
* Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940)
* A Night at Earl Carroll's (1940)
* Brooklyn Orchid (1942)
* Fall In (1942)
* The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942)
* Taxi, Mister (1943)
* Yanks Ahoy (1943)
* The Unknown Guest (1943)
* Tarzan and the Amazons (1945)
* Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946)
* Tarzan and the Huntress (1947)
* The Dude Goes West (1948)
* Bad Men of Tombstone (1949)
* Bad Boy (1949)
* Two Knights from Brooklyn (1949)
* The Kid from Texas (1950)
* Rocketship X-M (1950)
* Cattle Drive (1951)
* Reunion in Reno (1951)
* Son of Ali Baba (1952)
* The Ring (1952)
* Hiawatha (1952)
* Tarzan and the She-Devil (1953)
* Regina Amstetten (1954)
* Three from Variety (1954)
* Carnival Story (1954)
* Circus of Love (1954)
* They Were So Young (1954)
* The Star of Rio (1955)
* Mohawk (1956)
* The Desperados Are in Town (1956)
* She Devil (1957)
* Kronos (1957)
* The Deerslayer (1957)
* The Fly (1958)
* Machete (1958)
* Watusi (1959)
* Counterplot (1959)

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