The Knockout (1925 film)

The Knockout
The Knockout
	Lorna Duveen with bear cubs
Directed by	Lambert Hillyer
Written by	Joseph F. Poland; Earle Snell; Marion Fairfax
Based on	The Come-Back; 1925 novel; by Morris DeCamp Crawford
Produced by	Earl Hudson
Starring	Milton Sills
Cinematography	Roy Carpenter
Edited by	Arthur Tavares
Production; company	First National Pictures
Distributed by	First National Pictures
Release date	August 23, 1925;
Running time	8 reels
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

The Knockout is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Lambert Hillyer and starring Milton Sills. It was based on the novel The Come-Back by Morris DeCamp Crawford. It was produced by and released by First National Pictures.^[1]^[2]

Plot

As described in a film magazine reviews,^[3] Sandy Donlin, world’s light heavyweight boxing champion, hurts his right arm and is told by his doctor that, if he uses the arm in the fight, he will never use it again. Because he thinks the arm useless, he accepts the offer of the lumberman Parker to become his manager in a Canadian lumber camp. Donlin accepts because he has just met and fallen in love with Jean Farot, daughter of Parker’s rival. Parker wants Donlin at the camp because he can whip Jack Ducane, the foreman for Farot, who has blocked the efforts of Parker’s men to jam Farot’s logs. Ducane accuses Donlin of getting the Farot loggers drunk to cause them to jam the logs. Donlin learns in the ensuing fight that the right arm has healed. Parker’s men blow up Farot’s dam and jam the river with logs. Donlin offers to break the jam and unsuccessfully tries dynamite. Jean loses faith in Donlin’s love because she thinks he is in the plot against her father, who is in Parker’s debt. Donlin goes to New York, wins another championship fight, pays Farot’s debt, and permanently establishes himself in Jean’s favor.

Cast

Milton Sills as Sandy Donlin
Lorna Duveen as Jean Farot
JohnPhilip Kolb as Black Jack Ducane
Edward Lawrence as Mike Leary
Harry Cording as Steve McKenna
Frankie Evans as Brown
Harlan Knight as Farot
Jed Prouty as Mac
Claude King as Parker

Preservation

With no prints of The Knockout located in any film archives,^[4] it is now lost film. Just the trailer survives in the Library of Congress collection.^[5]

References

^ Progressive Silent Film List: The Knockout at silentera.com
^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The Knockout
^ "New Pictures: The Knockout", Exhibitors Herald, 22 (12), Chicago, Illinois: Exhibitors Herald Company: 54–55, September 12, 1925, retrieved September 6, 2022 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ The Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: The Knockout
^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress, [trailer only] p. 98 c.1978 the American Film Institute