After the success of the Lodger, British International Pictures scooped up Hitchcock from Gainsborough, and the first film under this new collaboration (at BIP's Elstree studios) would be a romantic drama set in the world of boxing. (Hitchcock's last two films for Gainsborough, Downhill and Easy Virtue, were filmed before The Ring, but released after, so I'll be reviewing the films in order of their release date).
The Ring's plot focuses on "One Round" Jack Sander (Carl Brisson) who takes on all comers in a carnival for a one pound prize to anyone who can last a round with him. A visiting Australian Bob Corby (Ian Hunter) takes the challenge after he's encouraged by the Mabel (Lillian Hall-Davis), who sells tickets as well as being Jack's girlfriend. After Bob stuns the crowd by knocking out Jack, its revealed that he's the Australian heavyweight champ. He gives Jack a job as his training partner while letting him climb the ranks in the boxing strata. Mabel starts to develop more than a crush on Bob, which continues after she marries Jack. After defeating the last challenger to the title, Jack has it out with Bob, which leads to the two fighting for the crown, with seemingly Mabel as the prize.
The movie has a pedestrian and predictable plot (the only one in Hitchcock's career that is solely credited to him, even though its obvious that frequent Hitchcock screenwriter Eliot Stannard and Hitchcock's wife Alma Reville has a hand in its conception) but I think the director goes further than he did with The Lodger in bringing the story to the screen in an engaging way.
The main cast is ho-hum. Brisson is good but does really stand out. Lillian Hall-Davis is a dilemma here because her characterization doesn't really make her likable since she's in this school girl crush with Bob, while seemingly ignoring Jack throughout the entire picture making the audience really wonder if Jack should make the effort in winning her back. She's not bad in the role, but I just don't really think the way Mabel is written, that any actress could have done much with role. Hunter is also good as the rival, but he's too one-dimensional.
The humor in the film really helps a lot, which is obvious at times, but underplayed so well. Gordon Harker (as Jack's trainer in his film debut) steals every scene he's in. Two sequences I liked were 1) in the beginning at the carnival when One Round battles the challenger, Gordon Harker would send the opponent off into the ring, turn around and get the guy's coat and have it waiting for the challenger who staggers back to his corner about 5 seconds after the fight starts and 2) when Bob gets into the ring with Jack, a beaten up "1" card goes into a slot to indicate the round and when it goes to a second round, a seemingly never used "2" card is used. (Hitchcock told Francois Truffaut that he was proud of that touch even though it seemed it was underappreciated by the audience).
Besides humor, the young director does do some creative montages to indicate the passage of time (showing Jack's climb towards the title with poster marquees over a variety of seasons) as well as a set of champagne filled glasses going flat when Jack waits for Mabel to return home. The boxing scenes are done well, but it isn't like watching Rocky or Raging Bull. (I found it funny that the male audience for the final fight are clad in formal evening wear and the referee - played by Eugene Corri, one of the first boxing referees to officiate from inside the ring - is wearing a tux.) One scene during the final fight I found creative is that (not spoiling anything here) when Jack is knocked down, instead of Hitchcock focusing on him shaking it off and slowly getting up, he focuses on one member of the crowd who puts on his coat expecting that the fight is over, but peers over his shoulder to see Jack rise and then takes off his jacket and goes back to cheering his head off.
Despite the imagination used by Hitchcock in the film, The Ring didn't do so well with audiences (especially compared with the Lodger). Critics did appreciate at the time of its release and has grown with contemporary reviews. Truffaut told Hitchcock that he had viewed it several times and Hitchcock did feel that it was his "second" true Hitchcock film (this after talking about Downhill and Easy Virtue). I feel that when compared with other romantic dramas of the 20's, it holds up very well due Hitchcock being at the helm and it is one of his more underappreciated efforts that's worth another look.
The movie was restored in 2012 by the British Film Institute in an effort to preserve Hitchcock's surviving silents. In this restoration, an alternate print used for foreign distribution was used to maximize the film's running time and is featured on Kino Lorber's 5 picture set that was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in December 2019, which can be purchased here.
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