Bodyhold (1949) User Reviews (2)

a rare Lola Albright

[eric-baril · 6/10 · 19 January 2014]

A friend recommended me A Cold Wind In August and I discovered the sensual Lola Albright. I remembered her in Champion and Joy House. And I finally found this little B movie directed by Seymour Friedman (who had directed the interesting Chinatown At Midnight).

Well, this isn't a masterpiece, but it's an entertaining movie in the wrestling world with convincing fighting scenes, thanks to Willard Parker and his athletic silhouette in his laid back character. I don't remember having seen him in another movie, and it's a pleasure to discover this nice fellow.

The script is written by George Bricker who wrote other B crime movies such as The Mark Of The Whistler, Inside Job, Roadblock, The Whip Hand, Man In The Dark, Loophole and Cry Vengeance (directed by Mark Stevens, beloved by the same friend who recommended me A Cold Wind In August).

It's the other ring sport

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 3 July 2022]

There have been very few serious films about professional wrestlers, with mostly comic relief characters brought in as part of some plot development. It seems that boxing or prize fighting is taking more seriously as a subject of sports films, especially those with a criminal element involved. This late 40s Columbia film noir like drama stars Willard Parker as the hot new star on the wrestling circuit, with Lola Albright and Hilary Brooke exchanging barbs, Allen Jenkins providing light comedy as one of the managers and a lot of other familiar character actors popping in and out to advance the story.

This fast moving drama is aided by a witty script that is funny without even trying, simply because of the types of characters they are writing for, which includes the fighters themselves, managers, announcers, gangsters involved in corrupting the sport, and of course the wild fans. Considering that professional wrestling was a very popular sport on an early television, this film was very timely. Albright indeeds brighten up this film with her own tough personality, stealing every moment she's on screen.