One Way Ticket From Palookaville, and Dogville

Rating: 7/10 (21 June 2005)

Braddock lost everything because of injuries and 1929. He didn't take it out on his family, or society or look for scapegoats. He got a second chance, culminating in a title shot in 1935, as a long shot (apparently 10-1). At about the same time, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote "There are no second acts in American lives" (ironically, Fitzgerald was only considered "great" posthumously). The film "Dogville" proposed an America whose "true" ugliness would be exposed by poverty. www.nydailynews.com has reprinted some of its 1935 articles about the fight, including one that depicted a different America: "Braddock has been kicked around. He has been down and out on relief, and all but counted out in the game of life. He's an underdog of underdogs, a fellow who has taken his tough breaks without a squawk and has kept on punching - and Joe Public and his pals love this type of guy."