The Champ is a 1979 American neo noir drama sports film directed by Franco Zeffirelli and a remake of the 1931 Academy Award-winning film of the same name directed by King Vidor. It stars Jon Voight as Billy Flynn, a former boxer who attempts to support his son (Ricky Schroder) and reconcile with his ex-wife (Faye Dunaway) by fighting in the ring again.
The film is the last featuring Joan Blondell to be released during her lifetime.
Plot
Ex-boxing champion Billy Flynn lives in the city of Hialeah, Florida, where he is trying to settle down as a horse trainer after giving up his boxing title. A boxer propositions that Billy enter a match with him in the future. Billy shows up at the gym with his son T.J., who calls his father Champ. When he learns the man has not arrived, Billy angrily storms out of the gym, leaving his son behind. T.J. later finds him drunk inside a bar. When he takes him home, neighbor Josie asks about his drunken state on the street, and T.J. tells her that Charlie and his friends bought him four beers as a celebration.
The next morning, Billy announces that he won $6,400 gambling and uses it to buy T.J. his own horse named She’s a Lady. Lady is entered in a race, but suddenly collapses, scraping her leg. Annie, Billy's wife from whom he had separated seven years ago, had placed a bet on the horse and arrives after Lady's fall. Billy explains that he told T.J. that Annie was dead and that she had deserted them. Annie invites T.J. to her cruise ship.
Annie's current husband confronts Billy to convince him to tell T.J. that Annie is his mother. Billy tells him that because she was not there for T.J., he has no mother. Billy loses a gamble on T.J.'s horse and is told by Whitey to either give him Lady or $2,000 in cash. Annie gives Billy the money, but Whitey takes the horse instead. After assaulting Whitey in response and attacking anyone who tries to stop him, including a police officer, Billy is arrested and taken into custody, where he tells T.J. that he is to live with Annie. T.J. refuses to leave, and Billy slaps him in a fit of rage. At her home, Annie tries to comfort T.J., but accidentally tells him that she is indeed his mother. T.J. refuses to accept her as his mother, and Annie is distraught.
When Billy is released, he hugs T.J. at a stadium and promises to never leave him ever again. Annie visits Billy and says that she wants him to explain why she wasn't there for T.J. After a fight, Billy allows her back into his life as a friend. To make amends with his son, Billy explains his promise to fight in the ring after Jackie warns him about his age and constant headaches, which could be fatal when boxing. Jackie reluctantly agrees to train Billy to fight again.
The night of the fight arrives. From his dressing room, T.J. sees that Billy's opponent is much stronger than Billy, but Billy wins the first two rounds. He later receives many blows to the head and is weakened. The doctor examines Billy during a break and explains that if Billy suffers more damage, the fight will have to be stopped. Billy continues to receive sharp blows but finds enough stamina to knock out his opponent. Billy faints on the way back to his dressing room, and he calls for T.J. to ask him if he is happy that his father won. T.J. replies that "the champ always comes through." Billy then dies from his injuries. T.J., unaware that his father is dead, tries frantically to rouse him. Jackie tells T.J. that his father is dead. T.J. says goodbye to Billy and is embraced by Annie.
Cast
Jon Voight as Billy Flynn ("Champ") Faye Dunaway as Annie Phillips Ricky Schroder as Timothy Joseph "T.J." Flynn Jack Warden as Jackie Joan Blondell as Dolly Kenyon Arthur Hill as Mike Phillips Strother Martin as Riley Elisha Cook Jr. as Georgie Mr Motivator as fitness trainer Stefan Gierasch as Charlie Goodman Mary Jo Catlett as Josie Kristoff St. John as Sonny Dana Elcar as Hoffmaster, an attorney Robert Redford turned down the lead role. Ryan O'Neal signed to play the lead but wanted his son Griffin as T.J. After the director refused, claiming that Griffin was too old, O'Neal withdrew from the project. The filmmakers conducted a six-month talent search with thousands of applicants to cast the role of T.J., and Schroder was chosen immediately after his audition.
Production
Director Franco Zeffirelli said that he was inspired to remake the original film after seeing it again on television. It had first made an impression on him as a child because of the parallels between his own troubled youth and that of the boy in the story.