Tonight's Movie: World in My Corner (1956) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

Audie Murphy stars as an up-and-coming boxer in WORLD IN MY CORNER (1956).

It's a Universal Pictures film which is part of the Dark Side of Cinema X collection from Kino Lorber. I've previously reviewed another film in the set, THE SQUARE JUNGLE (1955), starring Tony Curtis.

Curtis is also in the final film in this boxing-themed set, FLESH AND FURY (1952).

WORLD IN MY CORNER was written by Jack Sher, from a story he wrote with Joseph Stone. It tells the story of Tommy Shea (Murphy), who has no family and has just been laid off from the factory where his late father worked.

Broke and hoping for a fresh start, Tommy looks up Dave Bernstein (John McIntire), a former boxing trainer who'd given Tommy his card after seeing him in a boxing match. Tommy begins training with Bernstein, while also taking a job at the estate of Bernstein's employer, Robert Mallinson (Jeff York), receiving room and board in exchange for doing chores.

After initially clashing, Tommy and Mallinson's beautiful but troubled daughter, Dorothy (Barbara Rush), fall in love. Tommy wants to make it to the big time quickly so they can get married, but crooked promoter Harry Cram (Howard St. John) makes it difficult for Tommy to fight on the up-and-up. Dave won't countenance anything but an honest fight, and Tommy agrees with him, while also hungry for money and success.

I quite enjoyed this fast-moving 82-minute film. It doesn't break any new ground, but it's interesting and has some unpredictable characters, including York's ball bearings tycoon and Tommy's on-again, off-again manager, played by dancer Tommy Rall. Rall also appeared with Murphy in WALK THE PROUD LAND (1956) that year.

Murphy may not be the first person one would think of to portray a boxer, but his natural intensity sells it. According to THE FILMS AND CAREER OF AUDIE MURPHY by Sue Gossett, Murphy trained seriously for the role with Chico Vejar. Vejar was an army boxing instructor who also plays Murphy's boxing opponent, Al Carelli.

The plot elements, including crooked boxing promoters and troubled young lovers, may be familiar but I like what was done here. Rush is lovely, and it's quite enjoyable watching her with Murphy; they have good chemistry.

Best of all is McIntire as Murphy's trainer. McIntire was one of the great chameleons of the acting business, who shared Walter Brennan's ability to believably play far older characters. It's hard to believe he was only 48 or 49 when he worked on this. He's always interesting.

"B" Western fans will want to watch for Sheila Bromley, previously known as Sheila Mannors, who plays Rush's mother. Bromley was the leading lady in '30s Westerns such as MOONLIGHT ON THE PRAIRIE (1935) with Dick Foran and WESTWARD HO (1935) with John Wayne.

WORLD IN MY CORNER was directed by Jesse Hibbs. It was filmed in black and white by Maury Gertsman.

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray is from a new 2K master which looks terrific. Disc extras consist of the trailer, along with trailers for two additional Audie Murphy films, and a commentary track by Eddy Von Mueller.

I'll soon be taking a fresh look at Tony Curtis in FLESH AND FURY (1952), the final film in this set, which I enjoyed several years ago at a film festival. Fans of Tony Curtis, Audie Murphy, and/or boxing films should find this a most enjoyable collection.  (Update: Here is my review of FLESH AND FURY.)

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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