The Miracle Kid (DVD)

An unscrupulous publicity agent cons a pair of shady business rivals into backing a series of rigged boxing matches. The fighter at the center of this crooked racket is young Jimmy Conley, an average pugilist with a disapproving fiancee. Unaware that the bouts are fixed, Jimmy is lured by the prospect of a big payoff. He ignores the wishes of his bride-to-be, even after she warns him about the illegal scheme he's unwittingly involved in. In the last bout, Jimmy's eyes are finally opened, and he finds himself in the biggest battle of his life.

Actor Tom Neal, who stars as Jimmy Conley in this serio-comic tale of corruption and redemption, had everything going for him in the 1930s. A record-breaking college boxer, heir to a family fortune, with a Harvard law degree and a budding Broadway stage career, Neal went to Hollywood, where he made a decent living playing heavies in over 80 low-budget productions, most notably in Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 noir classic, Detour, with Ann Savage. In 1951, his fortunes forever changed after he savagely beat fellow actor Franchot Tone in a dispute over actress Barbara Payton. His film career dried up almost instantly. In 1965, Neal was tried and convicted in the shooting death of his third wife. He served six years of a ten-year sentence, and died of heart failure less than a year after his release from prison.

• drama