Tony Galento -vs- Jackie Gleason

Tony Galento -vs- Jackie Gleason
As told to Rocky Marciano 
Main Event 
Television Series 1961
16mm Sound Film Transfer 

Rocky’s Talk Show 

In 1960, former heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano was contracted to host a boxing and interview program called Main Event.  Each of the 30 episodes included studio interviews between Rocky and a contemporary celebrity, actor or sports star.  The interviews lasted only a few minutes each, and were followed by the feature presentation being a recent or classic boxing match.  Some shows were better than others, but all the interviews were interesting, and the best ones were classic.

Here is the Jackie Gleason’s famous episode with Rocky Marciano, where Gleason describes his famous altercation with Tony “Two-Ton” Galento outside a nightclub.  

I also really enjoyed their refreshing and genuine conversation.

Willie Pastrano -vs- Terry Downes

Willie Pastrano vs Terry Downes

Light Heavyweight Championship

King's Hall, Belle Vue, Manchester, Lancashire, UK

November 30, 1964

Thanks to a fellow collector for requesting this rare footage featuring the great Light Heavyweight Champion (1963-65) Willie Pastrano.  Trained by Angelo Dundee, at his best Pastrano resembled both Muhammad Ali and Willie Pep.  He was a glamorous, fast, resourceful and defensive boxer, who made up for his lack of KO power with constant movement.  Here is the original BBC broadcast of Pastrano’s title defense against former Commonwealth (British Empire) middleweight champion, Terry Downes.

Jake LaMotta Touches The Earth

Jake LaMotta vs Danny Nardico,

Coral Gables, Florida, December 31, 1952

16mm Sound Film Transfer

12 Minutes

The Fight and The Knockdown

Nearly two years after the great Jake LaMotta lost his middleweight title to Sugar Ray Robinson in their final epic battle, LaMotta was still fighting on.  In this match against light heavyweight Danny Nardico, Jake is still savvy and tough, but with each passing round, he falls further behind.  What makes this bout notable is that Jake’s once granite chin fails him, and LaMotta is suddenly and dramatically knocked down for the first time in his long career.

The Film

The film is in great condition.  The ring photography is very good and the action is clear.  Despite the pounding that LaMotta takes after the seventh round knockdown, Jake fights with characteristic disdain, holding the rope for support with one hand and punching with the other even as Nardico’s punches wail in.

Collector's Note: 190 16mm Boxing Films Added to Archive

Collector's Note:

I have recently acquired a collection of nearly 200 16mm classic boxing films.  Most are in excellent condition.  I am happy to say that among the many reels of film are rare and/or rarely seen fight films.  As the material is cataloged and archived, I will be showing some of this material on this blog, including brilliant quality upgrades of copies that have previously been traded among collectors, or currently seen in low quality on Youtube.

Max Baer | Rare Training Footage 1934

Max Baer | Rare Training Footage

King Levinsky Exhibition prefight 1934

16mm Sound Transfer

The New Champion

Max Baer was one of the most colorful and exciting of the heavyweight Champions.  The fact that he did not hold the title very long, and lost it out of recklessness to Jim Braddock in 1935 did not darken his legacy as a boxer and personality.  Much has been written about Baer’s lack of training, particularly after he lost the title, but I question this notion.  It’s certainly true that Baer was a gifted athlete, and his discipline only went so far, but for Max boxing was a means to an end.  A fighter with no training discipline would not have won the fights he did again fellow contenders like Tommy Farr, Tony Galento, Pat Comisky, Ben Foord and others until he retired in 1941.

Gene Tunney -vs- Jack Dempsey 1926 (Restored Full Fight)

Gene Tunney -vs- Jack Dempsey 1926

World Heavyweight Championship

Philadelphia, PA

(Complete Fight Reconstruction/speed correction/exposure/frame aspect/image matching)

The Fight

I’ve always wanted to see the complete 1926 Dempsey-Tunney fight film.  The first of their two bouts was huge at the time, but has since been overshadowed by the rematch and “The Long Count” the following year.  I wanted to see how the first fight played out, especially how did Dempsey perform during the first couple of rounds when he was still fresh, and still believing that he was invincible?  Did Tunney really overwhelm Dempsey from the start or was it more competitive than what the newspapers said?  What does the surviving footage reveal?

A couple of years ago, film collector Tony Fosco told me he wasn’t sure that complete footage of  Tunney-Dempsey I still existed.  He claimed to have compiled most of the rounds from various sources, but not all.  Joe passed away before I saw his film.  I have since spoken to Steve Lott of Big Fights Inc, who said that only about 14 minutes exist of the 1926 fight.  This particular 14 minutes is what most people have seen over the last 70 years, from home movie shorts from Castle Films to ESPN Classic television.

The Film

A few months ago I obtained from a collector what was promised to be a copy of the complete original 1926 film.  The DVD that arrived contained a copy of the original footage, but it was from a poor washed out screen-copy that only showed rounds 1 through 6 (I’ve seen this copy on Youtube already, which has filler footage tacked on after round 6.)  The footage is poor, but it’s a good reference.  So I went back through my own film collection and discovered several short versions of this famous fight going back to when I started collecting films as a teenager.  These were editions not only from Castle Films, but Blackhawk Films, documentaries, Classic Sports, Newsreels and sports compilations.  As I went through each version, I realized that most of the material was taken from the same original theatrical fight film.  However, no two editions were exactly the same, suggesting that each version contained unique footage.

The Reconstruction

Over the following week, I rounded up the footage I had and loaded everything into my video editor.  The various sources were trimmed round by round, matching the best quality footage with the action in the original master.  Some clips showed the entire round, some clips lasting only a few seconds.  I quickly discovered that in the most common editions of the fight (Castle Films, Official Films), the rounds were completely out of order.  For instance, rounds described as 1 and 10, are actually portions of rounds 3, 5 and 9.  These were also, incidentally, the worst rounds for Dempsey.  When the editing was finished, I had partial or complete footage of every round (except for rounds 7-8 which were never issued).

** Note that the picture quality jumps back and forth as the best quality footage is inserted for that portion of the fight.

The progression of the fight went mostly as the newspapers described it.  Tunney was brilliant, and he controlled the action from beginning to end.  His strategy was to throw an endless barrage of overhand rights to slow Dempsey down.  Then Tunney would pepper Dempsey with jabs and combinations. When Jack rushed Gene to the ropes, Tunney would spin Dempsey around and hold until the referee broke them.  Tunney did this over and over again through the entire fight, and Jack never had an answer.

What about Dempsey?  Did he really look like an old tired fighter?  Having not fought in three years, Dempsey was rusty, but he was also unprepared.  In the early rounds, when Jack was still fresh, he showed flashes of his old style, and Gene struggled to control the action.  Tunney didn’t take full control of the fight until the round 3.  The biggest myth about the fight is that Jack simply held on after the early rounds and was close to being knocked out at the end.  The Dempsey I see in this film was outclassed, but he was game until the very end, and even launched a rally before the final bell.  Tunney was an absolute ironman.  Gene had to be incredibly strong to do what he did, fighting Dempsey at the same pace for 10 rounds.  I believe that even in 1926, Gene Tunney was still the only fighter in the division who would have beaten Dempsey.

I hope you enjoy seeing this great fight, as much as I enjoyed restoring it.

Max Baer 1964 Documentary

Max Baer “The Tender Hearted Tiger” 1964

Television Documentary, 25 minutes.

Restored from video transfer

The Film

The 1964 documentary “The Tender Hearted Tiger” profiled the life of Heavyweight Champion 1934-35 Max Baer.  Fight footage, still photographs and interviews with family and friends are shown.  I previously posted a clip from this production featuring Tony Galento, but this is the complete film.  This is a great time capsule, though inaccurately follows the path of Baer’s boxing career.  For instance, Baer fought Schmeling in 1933, which was three years before Schmeling fought Joe Louis.  Also, Schmeling was not a Nazi, as the film suggests.  Schmeling was used for Nazi propaganda leading up to the Second World War, but was discarded after he lost to Louis.  Otherwise this is a great introduction to Max Baer, with some very rare footage.

Restoration

The video transfer I received was poor.  Most Sections were dark and the audio was low.  Video has much less latitude than film for restoration.  Video can be tweaked only so far before the image begins to fall apart.  Still, I cleaned up and boosted the audio portion, and adjusted the picture levels from scene to scene to make the picture brighter and clearer.  Otherwise, I made no edits to the film, and it appears in its original cut.

Max Baer & Tony Galento Prefight Newsreel 1940

Max Baer & Tony Galento Prefight Newsreel 1940

“The Tender Hearted Tiger” (Excerpt)

Documentary 1964

The Film

The 1964 documentary “The Tender Hearted Tiger” profiled the life of Heavyweight Champion 1934-35 Max Baer.  Fight footage, still photographs and interviews with family and friends are shown.  This excerpt of the film is a rare prefight promotional newsreel of Max Baer trash talking with Tony Galento before their fight in 1940.

Two Sluggers at The Office

Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis Newsreels and in Training

They Were Champions (Excerpt) 1954

16mm Sound

The Film

They Were Champions, produced in 1954, follows the linear heavyweight champions from Sullivan to Marciano.   There’s little film of the actual title fights, but plenty of newsreel and rare training footage.  I’ve chosen these two segments, as Dempsey (in training for Willard) and Louis were the most ferocious punchers up to that point.  The power of these two champions is still something to behold.

The Restoration

The 16mm film I acquired is in fair to good shape.  Some of the Dempsey action ran too fast to follow the action, so I slowed that footage to a more natural speed.  A portion of this is silent.  The Louis segment runs with sound, just as it appears in the documentary.

Joe Louis vs Tony “Two Ton” Galento 1939

Joe Louis vs Tony “Two Ton” Galento

World Heavyweight Championship

Yankee Stadium, New York, June 28, 1939

16mm Sound, Theatrical Release

The Fight

The more I learn about Tony Galento, the more I like him, though I still wouldn’t have rooted for him.  He was one of the roughest, meanest boxers ever, who made the most of his tools, which included a tank-like physique, an iron chin, a clubbing left hook and general contempt for his opponents.  He was one of the most colorful boxers of any era, who understood that humor mixed with attitude sells tickets.  Galento’s boxing record is mixed, but after a string of knockouts, Tony was signed to fight champion Joe Louis in 1939.  Few gave the New Jersey bar owner a “f’n” chance.  But Galento roared into Louis in the first round, and took it to the champ for the following three.  In the third round, Galento caught Louis with a left hook, and partly off balance, Louis went down for a one count.  By the Fourth round Louis had learned to punch inside Galento’s left hook, and at point blank range, the Brown Bomber cut Tony to pieces.

The Film

The film of this fight has been circulated and shown on TV for years, but most often as a 10 minute highlight.  This edition of the film is the complete theatrical version that was shown movie theatres in 1939, which includes all four rounds, as well as pre and post fight, plus interviews.  Before acquiring this 16mm print, I had never seen the prefight instructions, which includes Tony’s complaints about Louis’s hair not being wiped down.  Showing no respect, Galento runs his glove across Louis’s head.  Louis’s trainer, Joe Blackburn responds by reaching over to wipe Galento’s head in retaliation.  If Louis was intimidated, he didn’t show it.

The Restoration

Most prints of this fight film are poor, stark and overexposed.  The 16mm print I have is above average in quality. Sections appear well photographed, while others are bright or very dark.  This is not the entire film, but I have included the rarely seen portions.

Tunney-Dempsey Audience Film Surfaces | A Window In Time

A Window In Time.  Tunney-Dempsey 1927, audience film.

Gene Tunney vs Jack Dempsey II

World Heavyweight Championship

Chicago, September 22, 1927

16mm Black and White Audience Film
 

**This film is currently being archived, and will be shown pending licensing.

The Fight

I’ve written about the second Tunney-Dempsey fight on this blog before, showing the “Long Count” in real time.  The Long Count is one of the most famous moments in boxing history, and the fight was well documented by a commercial film crew.  However, among the 104,943 people attending the fight, was a fan with a 16mm camera. 

The Film

Amateur films taken at fights are not unheard of, but rarely seen.  In the days before video, 8mm and 16mm home movies were family keepsakes, almost never copied or distributed.  Three examples of audience movies that have come to light include the ringside film of the LaMotta-Cerdan fight (16mm film shot by a fan) as well as 8mm audience films of Graziano-Zale II and Marciano-Vingo.  In those cases, the home movies were the only film documentations of the fight.

The Camera

The average person owning a movie camera was extremely rare in 1927, let alone successfully filming a night time sporting event.  16mm had been introduced by Kodak four years earlier in 1923.  8mm would not be on the market until 1932.   Kodak produced 16mm stock on safety film, and not nitrate, which helped this footage survive decades of storage.  Judging from the frame rate, the camera had a spring driven motor, running the shutter at approximately 16-20fps.  The film is well preserved.  It has dried somewhat over the years, making it stiff, but not inflexible.  There’s also some shrinkage and emulsion stains, but otherwise the film is remarkably clean and free of scratches.  The film speed is unknown, but was likely low (perhaps 100 ASA) and was reversal film stock.  Meaning, this is not a print, but the actual film that was in the camera at the fight. 

Picture Quality

The stadium scene is very dark, but the exposure setting was in range for the brightly lit boxing ring.  The fighters, the referee and overhead lights are clearly visible. The first minute of the movie contains footage shot in the early evening outside the stadium; including silhouettes the surging crowd walking toward the camera.

Views of the Fight

This is an amateur film, photographed with a bulky hand held camera. It provides no definitive alternate view of the bout.  However, for those who are passionate about boxing history and events, the film is a window in time.  Seated on the stadium field, perhaps 20 rows from the ring, the filmmaker captures brief excerpts throughout the fight, sometimes no more than a few seconds at a time. Early in the reel, the camera peers past the head of a spectator sitting in front.  The photographer then moves closer to the ring, and to a slightly better angle, possibly the aisle.  In most shots, it appears the photographer was chasing the action, rolling film directly after a flurry or anticipating a peak in the fighting.  Still, from shot to shot, Dempsey charges in, with Tunney jabbing and countering.  In one shot between rounds, we see ring card “3” being paraded for the audience as the camera pans across the inside of the stadium, though it’s too dark to see the crowd.

The Long Count

The seller told me that the movie did not include the Long Count.  I assumed he was correct . . . until I viewed the film myself.   Toward the end of the reel, Tunney throws and misses a right, and then back off.  Having watched the commercial films of the fight many times, I’m familiar with the action and recognized this key moment.  It was definitely the seventh round.  Suddenly, the camera begins to swing around.  The view of the ring is blocked as the crowd stands.  People are on their feet, moving and waving.  The crowd is in an uproar.  As the ring comes back into view, Tunney is back on his feet, with Dempsey pursuing.  The film ends shortly after. 

I scanned and rendered the film to video, and replayed the sequence in slow motion.  It’s only a few frames long, but there they are, the fighters, on the far side of the ring; Dempsey with his back to the camera, standing over Tunney with referee Barry’s right hand in the air, and his left reaching to direct Dempsey away - The Long Count.

Despite the limited view of the fight, the thrill of this film is the audience perspective, watching the fight within a stone’s throw of the ring, surrounded by one hundred thousand cheering fans.