Editing The Champ (1931 film) (section)

==Assessment==
[[File:The Champ (1931) trailer 1.jpg|thumb|right|[[Jackie Cooper]], [[Edward Brophy]], and [[Wallace Beery]] in ''The Champ'']]
The film, along with Beery's role in ''[[Min and Bill]]'', catapulted Beery's career.<ref name="Balio" /><ref>Pendergast, Sara and Pendergast, Tom. ''The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers.'' 4th ed. New York: St. James Press, 2001. {{ISBN|1-55862-477-5}}</ref> Beery signed a contract with MGM shortly thereafter specifying that he receive a dollar more per year than any other actor on the lot, effectively making him the world's highest-paid actor.  The picture also made nine-year-old Jackie Cooper the first child star of the 1930s, an era noted for its numerous, popular child actors.<ref name="Balio" /><ref>[[Leonard Maltin|Maltin, Leonard]] and Bann, Richard W. ''The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of [[Our Gang]].'' New York: Crown, 1992. {{ISBN|0-517-58325-9}}</ref>

At the time the movie was released, critics criticized the film's lack of originality.<ref name="Slide">Slide, Anthony, ed. ''Selected Film Criticism.'' Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1982. {{ISBN|0-8108-1570-2}}</ref> For example, ''[[The New York Times]]'' declared that "something more novel and subtle" was needed, although it also praised Beery's acting.<ref>Hall, Mordaunt. [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A01E2DF133BE23ABC4852DFB767838A629EDE "Father and Son"], ''The New York Times'', November 10, 1931.</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]],'' too, very much liked Beery in the film, noting that he delivered a "studied, adult" performance.<ref>O'Neil, Thomas. ''Movie Awards: The Ultimate, Unofficial Guide to the Oscars, Golden Globes, Critics, Guild & Indie Honors.'' New York: Perigee, 2003. {{ISBN|0-399-52922-5}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' called the film repetitive, blasted Cooper for sniveling, and accused director King Vidor of laying "on pathos with a steam-shovel."<ref name="Time" /> Nonetheless, ''Time'' praised the movie, declaring it "Utterly false and thoroughly convincing..."<ref name="Time" /> Many critics cited the "special chemistry" between Beery and Cooper, which led the two actors to be paired again numerous times.<ref>Norden, Martin F. ''The Cinema of Isolation: A History of Physical Disability in the Movies.'' New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1994. {{ISBN|0-8135-2104-1}}; Romano, Frederick V. ''The Boxing Filmography: American Features, 1920-2003.'' Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2004. {{ISBN|0-7864-1793-5}}</ref> Cooper and Beery had no such chemistry off-screen.<ref>Halliwell, Leslie and Walker, John. ''Halliwell's Who's who in the Movies: The 15th Edition of the Bestselling Encyclopedia of Film, Actors, Directors, Producers, and Writers.'' New York: Published by HarperCollins, 2003, p. 42. {{ISBN|0-06-053423-0}}</ref><ref>Thise, Mark. ''Hollywood Winners & Losers A to Z.'' Milwaukee, Wisc.: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2008. {{ISBN|0-87910-351-5}}</ref> Cooper accused Beery of upstaging and other attempts to undermine his performances, out of what Cooper presumed was jealousy.<ref>Cooper, Jackie.  ''Please Don't Shoot My Dog''.  Morrow, 1980, pp. 54-61.  {{ISBN|978-0-688-03659-1}}</ref> Critics today still highly praise ''The Champ''.<ref name="Slide" /><ref name="Lutz">Lutz, Tom. "Men's Tears and the Role of Melodrama." In ''Boys Don't Cry?: Rethinking Narratives of Masculinity and Emotion in the U.S.'' Milette Shamir and Jennifer Travis, eds. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-231-12034-6}}</ref>

''The Champ'' has been described as an inverted [[Chick flick|women's film]], because men in the film are not generally depicted at the top of the socio-economic ladder, but are shown as a primary childcare provider.<ref name="Lutz" /> The famous final scene, in which the camera is thrust into Jackie Cooper's weeping face, has been compared to similar aggressive and intrusive camera work in classic motion pictures such as ''[[Liebelei]]'' ([[Max Ophüls]], dir.; 1933), ''[[Broken Blossoms]]'' ([[D.W. Griffith]], dir.; 1919) and the films of [[Roberto Rossellini]].<ref name="Gallagher" />

''The Champ'' has had significant cultural effect. A number of motion pictures in the 1930s, some of them also starring Wallace Beery, repeated the basic story about a man surrendering to drink and redeemed by the love of his long-suffering son.<ref>Dooley, Roger Burke. ''From Scarface to Scarlett: American Films in the 1930s.'' New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981. {{ISBN|0-15-133789-6}}</ref> [[Film critic]] [[Judith Crist]] has argued that almost any film pairing an adult actor alongside a child actor must be compared to ''The Champ'' in terms of the chemistry between the actors and the effectiveness of the film.<ref>[[Judith Crist|Crist, Judith]]. ''Take 22: Moviemakers on Moviemaking.'' New York: Viking, 1984. {{ISBN|0-670-49185-3}}</ref> The film had an immediate effect on world cinema as well. ''The Champ'' is considered one source film which inspired [[Yasujirō Ozu]]'s classic [[Japan]]ese film ''[[Passing Fancy]]'' (''Dekigokoro'', 1933).<ref>Kerpan, Michael. [http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/04/32/passing_fancy.html "Passing Fancy (Dekigokoro)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713025703/http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/04/32/passing_fancy.html |date=July 13, 2009 }}, ''Senses of Cinema.'' June 2004.</ref> The film was, in part, the inspiration for the father and son in the [[Berenstain Bears]] books.<ref>[[Stan Berenstain|Berenstain, Stan]] and Berenstain, Jan. [http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA250731.html?text=berenstain "The Bear Beginnings."] ''[[Publishers Weekly]]''. October 7, 2002.</ref>