Unusual morality tale with John Ireland
Movie Lover:
call me Z from
somewhere out there -- May, 12, 2006
John Ireland is a sports writer who works to get a nice-guy poor kid named Johnny a scholarship playing college basketball. Johnny instantly falls in love with a girl named Pat, but also gets mixed up with a guy named Mr. Taft who bets on basketball. He starts throwing money at Johnny in amounts large enough to corrupt even an honest straight-arrow kid, trying to get him to start underperforming to shave points off of scores. Johnny resists for a while, but between wanting to show Pat a good time and getting his little brother some Christmas presents, he starts missing a few shots here and there and taking the money. After a while he gets a case of conscience and wants to quit cheating... and Mr. Taft turns to violence to try to keep him on the hook. Entertaining, moralistic little B-flick that plays like a pseudo-noirish afterschool special. Strange to see basketball footage of nothing but white guys.
5.4/10
