Iron Man
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Joseph Pevney
Jeff Chandler
Evelyn Keyes
Stephen Mcnally
Rock Hudson
Joyce Holden
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
At the start of the heavyweight championship boxing match, the fans boo at title holder Coke Mason, as his estranged wife Rose bitterly recalls the circumstances that brought them to this day: Coke works as a miner and Rose as a store clerk in Coal Town, Pennsylvania. Coke saves all his money so they can marry and open a radio store to escape their hated jobs and the stifling small town. When fellow miner Alex repeatedly picks fights with Coke, Coke's older brother George encourages the two to box. Alex dominates the match until the ordinarily composed Coke becomes enraged and beats him viciously. Frightened by his own brutality, Coke vows never to fight again. Days later, Alex uses too much dynamite to blast a hole in the mine and the roof collapses. George heads the rescue effort and works throughout the night to rescue the men. Later, at the hospital, after she overhears George urging Coke to give up low-paying, dangerous mining work for boxing, Rose convinces Coke that if he boxes for only one year they will have enough money to open their shop. Coke begins to train with his pal, Tommy "Speed" O'Keefe. During his first fight, Coke again is foundering until he becomes incensed and pummels his opponent, causing the crowd to boo him for what they see as dirty fighting. Over the next few months, Coke continues to win in the same manner and the crowds grow to despise him. Max Watkins, an esteemed sports writer, reports that Coke is murderous and should not be allowed to fight. Coke despairs over the crowd's animosity, but as the money pours in, Rose and George encourage him to keep fighting until one day they watch as he is badly beaten in a fight with champion Jackie Savella. Realizing that he is not a skilled fighter, only a brutal one, they urge him to quit, but Coke has grown cold and insists on proving to the fans that he is a champ. Soon, while Speed begins to fight his own matches and gains a reputation as a beloved, clean fighter, Coke grows more despised and bitter. At a party, George and Herb Riley, Savella's manager, recognize that during the upcoming Mason-Savella fight, the boxers will destroy each other, either because of Savella's skill or Coke's rage. Hoping to avoid this, George convinces Rose to pay all their savings to Riley in exchange for Savella taking a dive. After Coke wins the fight, however, Max is suspicious and calls for an investigation. The hearing convinces Coke that Rose and George have no faith in his skill, and he punches both Rose and Speed and storms out. Weeks later, Coke, still estranged from Rose and George, tells Max that he is the only person he can trust. Coke reveals that as a child, he was always taunted and forced to fight for his life, an experience he cannot now shake. Max agrees to manage him but instructs Coke that he must learn to take humiliation without wanting to kill his opponent. Soon, Coke wins the heavyweight championship, and the only fighter he has yet to compete against is Speed, who has become a close contender for the title. When Rose learns that the two are scheduled to fight, she berates Max, who explains to her that this fight will be Coke's ultimate challenge and may force him to grow up. Back in the present, Rose watches nervously as the fight begins. During the match, the fans and reporters stir when they realize that Coke is not fighting dirty. The competition is fierce, but in the last round Speed wins. George rushes to Coke's side, and as he helps the fighter leave the ring, the crowd slowly rises to its feet in a standing ovation. When Rose runs to Coke, he embraces her while the fans cheer.
Director
Joseph Pevney
Cast
Jeff Chandler
Evelyn Keyes
Stephen Mcnally
Rock Hudson
Joyce Holden
Jim Backus
Jim Arness
Steve Martin
Paul Javor
Eddie Simms
George Baxter
Raymond Gray
Walter "whitey" Ekwert
John Maxwell
Larry J. Blake
Ken Patterson
Herbert Vigran
Peter Scott
Gene Wesson
Taylor Reed
Bruce Riley
Johnny Call
Steve Roberts
Bob Evans
Frank Marlowe
Charles Sullivan
James Lennon
Howard Mitchell
Tommy Marr
Barbara Ann Knudson
Ann Zika
Sherry Moreland
Gregg Sherwood
Harry Cording
Frankie Van
Larry Mcgrath
Tommy Herman
Rube Schaefer
Emil Hanna
Ethan Laidlaw
Larry Winter
George Berkeley
George Khoury
Peter Similuk
Michael Cisney
Cy Ring
Henry Corden
John Indrisano
Mushy Callahan
Joe Mcturk
Ned Roberts
Joe Rocca
Donald Kerr
Alan Marston
George Brand
Harold Bostwick
Frank Moran
George Adrian
Michael Dale
William Marks
Joan Wrae
Doris Cole
John Mckee
John Carpenter
Eleanor Bassett
William O'brien
Larry Carper
Stu Wilson
Carl Sklover
Gloria Ann Simpson
Al Rhein
Mike Portanova
Felice Richmond
Pepito Perez
Art Dupuis
Joy Hallward
Elmo Lincoln
Sally Yarnell
Mike Lally
Charles Sherlock
Peggy Leon
Doug Carter
Wally Walker
Jack Daley
John Nikcevich
Crew
John Austin
Phil Bowles
Robert Boyle
Leslie I. Carey
Borden Chase
Don Cunliffe
Edward Dodds
Russell A. Gausman
Joseph Gershenson
Carl Guthrie
Bernard Herzbrun
David S. Horsley
Joe Lapis
Lew Leary
John W. Rogers
Aaron Rosenberg
Russell Schoengarth
John Sherwood
Joan St. Oegger
Bill Thomas
Frankie Van
Bud Westmore
George Zuckerman
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Barbara Ann Knudson made her feature film debut in Iron Man. Frankie Van, a former prize fighter, portrayed a referee and acted as technical advisor in the picture. Director Joseph Pevney had previously acted in the 1947 Roberts Productions boxing film Body and Soul (see the AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-50). According to a January 1951 Los Angeles Daily News article, Pevney copied some of the camera tricks from that film, including the use of a hand-held Eyemo camera for the fight scenes. Although Hollywood Reporter news items add Scottie Beal, Gorilla Jones and Abie Bain to the cast, their appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. Universal had previously used William Riley Burnett's novel as the basis for the 1937 picture Some Blondes Are Dangerous, directed by Milton Carruth and starring Noah Beery (see the AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40).
