Background poster of Champ for a Day blurred
Poster of Champ for a Day

Champ for a Day

1953-1h 30min
Star icon accompanying the rating score
6.0 / 10 1

An up-and-coming heavyweight fighter, George Wilson, arrives in Vulcan City, a small mid-western town over-run by racketeers, to fight a heavily-favored Frankie Sebastian. George arrives but his manager Dolan is nowhere to be found. But Ma and Pa Karlsen, owners of Karlsen's Kozy Kottages motel and restaurant take him under their wing. He meets Miss Gormley who is also there to meet the no-show manager who is blackmailing her brother. Dolan still hasn't arrived by the date of the fight but, to the surprise of sports-promoters Tom Healy and Dominic Guido, George shows up and wins the fight. This wins him the friendship of trainer Al Muntz and the enmity of Willie Foltis, a punchy ex-fighter and a Healy henchman. This leads George to a fight with "Soldier" Freeman, whose manager Scotty Cameron has made arrangements for the favored-Freeman to take a dive, so he and Healy and Guido can clean up betting on the underdog. But Honest George has other plans.

Directed by William A. Seiter

Writers Irving Shulman

Stars Alex Nicol Audrey Totter Charles Winninger

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Cast

Alex Nicol's picture in the cast

Alex Nicol

George Wilson
Audrey Totter's picture in the cast

Audrey Totter

Miss Peggy Gormley
Charles Winninger's picture in the cast

Charles Winninger

Pa Karlsen
Hope Emerson's picture in the cast

Hope Emerson

Ma Karlsen
Joseph Wiseman's picture in the cast

Joseph Wiseman

Dominic Guido
Barry Kelley's picture in the cast

Barry Kelley

Tom Healy
Harry Morgan's picture in the cast

Harry Morgan

Al Muntz
Jesse White's picture in the cast

Jesse White

Willie Foltis
Horace McMahon's picture in the cast

Horace McMahon

Sam Benton
Grant Withers's picture in the cast

Grant Withers

Scott Cameron
Dick Wessel's picture in the cast

Dick Wessel

'Speedtrap' Calhoun
Hal Baylor's picture in the cast

Hal Baylor

'Soldier' Freeman

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