The Ring (1952)

The Ring is a 1952 American film noir film directed by Kurt Neumann and based on a novel by Irving Shulman. It tells the story of a Mexican-American male who becomes a boxer, believing this kind of achievement will gain him respect among the English-speaking white majority. The film was shot in various locations in early 1950s Los Angeles. The film examines institutionalized bigotry.

Director – Kurt Neumann

Writer – Irving Shulman (screenplay)

Cast –
Lalo Rios – Tommy
Gerald Mohr – Pete
Rita Moreno – Lucy
Robert Arthur – Billy Smith
Robert Osterloh – Freddy
Jack Elam – Harry Jackson
Martin Garralaga – Vidal
Peter Brocco – Barney Williams
Julia Montoya – Rosa
Lillian Molieri – Helen
Pepe Hern – Rick
Victor Millan – Pablo
Tony Martinez – Go-Go
Art Aragon – himself
Robert Shayne – Jimmy, Aragon’s manager
Ernie Chavez – Joe
Edward Sieg – Benny
Robert Altuna – Pepe Cantanios

Watch “The Ring” (1952)

Plot

The film focuses on a young Mexican-American named Tomas Cantanios, who boxed under the pseudonym Tommy Kansas, a resident of Los Angeles’s poor Chicano neighborhood. He feels constrained due to his inability to thrive in a white-dominated society. Therefore, to achieve popularity, he becomes a professional boxer, achieving fame and recognition. He soon discovers that Anglos are only drawn to him for his sports reputation and that they still consider him an outsider because of his ancestry and skin color. In fact, the only two white men who treat him decently are his manager Pete and trainer Freddy. However, their tolerant behavior is based primarily on monetary gain. Tommy also is conflicted by his unconditional love for Lucy, the daughter of a punch-drunk bum.