THE BASKETBALL FIX (1951)

Описание: “Big Shot Gamblers Prostituting Our Nation’s Youth!”

You gotta wonder if someone over at JACK BRODER Productions had something of a gambling jones because they made two quickies about betting and sports – The Basketball Fix and Two Dollar Bettor – the very same year. The Basketball Fix is definitely the grimmer of the two and plays like something of a case study of how a wholesome, all-American boy-next-door can go bad.

Johnny Long (a very young MARSHALL THOMPSON, pre-Fiend Without a Face) is the star of Central High’s basketball team: “got absolutely no class but he never misses a basket.” With the encouragement of “well-known sports columnist” Pete Ferreday (JOHN IRELAND, who always seems to look like he has an upset stomach) and “old geezer”/coach Nat Becker (WALTER SANDE), Johnny gets a basketball scholarship to the local college where he quickly becomes one of the team’s star players.

But after another winning game, Johnny is approached by slick semi-thug Mike Taft (WILLIAM BISHOP), who admits to making a lot of money off Johnny’s success, and offers him a $100 gratuity with the promise of more if Johnny will “bring down the points.” Though seemingly offended, the lure of easy money is just too irresistible for Johnny to ignore, especially since he’s the sole support of his kid brother, and can’t afford to properly romance Pat Judd (VANESSA BROWN), the rich girlfriend he met while working as a lifeguard at the Cresthaven Country Club (“where wealth is your password and luxury is an everyday commodity”).

Besides, it’s not like he has to throw a game. Gamblers don’t bet on what team wins but on how much it wins by. Johnny doesn’t have to lose, just miss a few baskets and keep the points to a minimum. “The team still wins. The bookie wins. And the betting public loses.” Inevitably, after another already-on-the-take teammate tutors Johnny in the fine art of hoop missing, Johnny goes on Mike’s payroll but tries to quit after he earns enough to buy Pat a “thousand dollar diamond ring.” Unfortunately, by the time of the championship game, Pat is kidnapped, the gym is full of vice cops, and Johnny learns that he’s “in too deep to get out now...”

With moody photography courtesy of Hollywood vet STANLEY CORTEZ (whose career embraced such extremes as The Magnificent Ambersons and Navy vs. The Night Monsters) and sincere performances by all involved, The Basketball Fix goes out of its way to make Johnny as sympathetic as possible and even treats wealth as if it were a communicable disease just waiting to infect our country’s kids. Nevertheless, as far as Johnny is concerned, we hope they hang the greedy bastard.