Four Star Playhouse 1.08

Knockout

starring Broderick Crawford

directed and co-written by Blake Edwards

Boxing manager Mike Dundee (Broderick Crawford) takes a chance on Bobby Gregory, a very raw talent. Julio, Dundee's trainer, gets Gregory into shape. Gregory does well as a professional boxer but he gets thrown a curveball on the night before his first big fight when he learns that the champion he will be fighting has been paid to throw the fight by a gangster named Bulloti who has waged $200K on the match.

Thoughts

This is a decent episode. It ended a little too abruptly to fully satisfy me but I enjoyed it more than most of the previous episodes of this show.

Notes

This is the only episode of this show in which Broderick Crawford appeared. He also appeared in episodes of Kraft Mystery Theater, Kraft Suspense Theatre, and Night Gallery. I have also seen him in recent years in All the King's Men (1949).

Ron Hargrave played the part of Bobby Gregory. This is the only episode of this show in which he appeared. His acting career, according to IMDb, only lasted from 1952 to 1960 but he didn't die until 2023.

Buddy Wright played the part of Fred Stevens, the champ that Bobby Gregory faces off against in the ring. This episode is his only acting credit according to IMDb.

Ted di Corsia played the part of Bulloti. This is the first of two episodes of this show in which he appeared. He appeared in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), The Twilight Zone (1959), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Kraft Suspense Theatre, and The Outer Limits (1963). The first episode of The Twilight Zone in which he appeared was 1.04 The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine. The first episode of The Outer Limits in which he appeared was 1.11 It Crawled Out of the Woodwork. He's been in a few movies I have seen but the only one I have seen in recent years is The Killing (1956).

Leonard Nimoy has a small, nonspeaking, uncredited part in this episode as one of Bulloti's henchmen. He's in two scenes but blink and you'll miss him.

This is the third of ten episodes Blake Edwards that Blake Edwards had a hand in writing and the first one that he directed. See my notes for 1.05 Welcome Home for more about Blake Edwards career. I've seen a few movies he has directed but it's been quite a while since I last saw one.