Displaying items by tag: Marshall Thompson
Basketball Fix, The
THE BASKETBALL FIX
US, 1951, 65 minutes, Black-and-white.
John Ireland, Marshall Thompson, Vanessa Brown, William Bishop, Hazel Brooks, Johnny Sands, Bobby Hiatt, Walter Sande.
Directed by Felix E. Feist.
A small supporting feature from 1951, reflecting some of the nervousness of American society and young people in this immediate postwar period. And the focus is on basketball.
The film is narrated by a top sports journalist played by John Ireland, and an opening indication that his young protégé has become involved in some sport fixing. The rest of the film is in flashback, Marshall Thompson as the youngster, top basketball player, father ill, caring for his young brother, playing games, the training, but trying to get jobs to make ends meet. He is pleasant, well mannered, the ideal type of young man in 1951.
The film shows his career, the offers of scholarships, the top coach, the training and future prospects for playing for the state. However, he is introduced to a smooth talker and his wife, in the betting business, illegal betting, the fixing of matches, not necessarily defeat, but betting on the extent of the win, the process of “shaving points”.
A lot of temptations and pressure from the entrepreneur, his resistance, falling in love with the young woman, caring for his brother, scraping the jobs, but even having to borrow from his girlfriend to pay for the cups of coffee on an outing. He stands up for himself, continually walking out on the temptation, but finding his close friend succumbing to the lure of the money. And, he falls, is able to buy an expensive ring for his girlfriend, observed by the jewellers, contact with the police, and, despite his intentions of doing the right thing, arrested, along with his friend and the entrepreneur and his wife during the final match.
The moral commentary is in the behaviour of the young man, temptation, succumbing, wanting to do the right thing, and his being taken away – the commentary of the journalist but leaving the impact of his behaviour and consequences to the audience.
