Bodyhold (1949)
Starring: Willard Parker, Lola Albright, Hillary Brooke
Written by: George Bricker
Directed by: Seymour Friedman
A plumber gets roped into the world of professional wrestling, and manages to remain true to his morals in spite of his seedy surroundings. No, it isn’t the untold story of Dusty Rhodes in the WWF. And nope, it isn’t even TL Hopper’s long overdue big-screen debut. It’s Bodyhold.
Tommy Jones (Willard Parker, Kiss Me Kate) is the plumber in question, and is roped into a wrestling match in a somewhat similar fashion as Rocky Balboa: he’s brought in by Charlie Webster (Roy Roberts, Chinatown), a manager of some questionable character, as a replacement for an injured wrestler challenging for the world title. To his surprise, he finds out that the wrestling business is not exactly on the level, and he refuses to throw his match. As Webster plans to incapacitate Jones, the plumber-turned-wrestler’s girlfriend tries to expose the pernicious manager’s intentions — and uncovers the fact that Webster had taken out Jones’ predecessor in a similar fashion.
Of special note: the film features performances by Henry Kulky, Wee Willie Davis and Ed “Strangler” Lewis.
