Frances Marion wrote scripts for three movies of Wallace Beery and this was her best script for which she won an Academy award. The story is about a down and out boxer who is at the bottom end of the society makes come back for the sake of his idolizing son brilliantly played by Jackie Cooper. This nine year old star of "Our gang" got bigger praise than Beery from the critics, and loud sobbing from the audience. The friendship between Dink (Jackie Cooper) and his black friend Jonah (Jesse Scott) is color blind and another touching part of the movie. This true tear jerker was directed by King Vidor and excellent supporting roles played by Irene Rich, Jesse Scott and Roscoe Ates. The story has an interesting end when Dink finds his real mother who only happens to be wealthy and too willing to care for him. This movie was done with such professionalism in all departments that it was the biggest box office hit in 1931 for MGM studios; much needed revenue for the studio to stay alive at the height of great depression.
Another movie inspired by Cooper's "You can do it, dad," phrase of this movie was the "O'Shaughnessy's boy." The script for was pretty much the Jackie Cooper – Wallace Beery formula but their "Champ" box office hit was not repeated. In 1978, 47 years after this movie, Champ was remade starring Jon Voight and Faye Dunaway, which also did not repeat the success of the original Champ.
4 out of 5 found this helpful