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off the gas and electricity. His children, underfed and
chilled, become sick. Braddock returns to Madison Square
Garden, hat in hand, and begs for money. He also applies
and receives federal assistance—welfare—at $6.40 a week.
Compared to Braddock, Cinderella had it easy.
Then Braddock’s agent, an unlikely fairy godmother,
shows up with an extraordinary proposition. A huge, young
bruiser and leading contender for the heavyweight title—
“Corn” Griffin—had been scheduled to fight the next
evening at Madison Square Garden. But Griffin’s opponent
has backed out at the last minute. Rather than cancel the
fight, Madison Square Garden has offered Braddock $250 to
serve as Griffin’s punching bag. Desperate, Braddock accepts.
What happens the next day—June 14, 1934—is the
stuff of fairy tales. Braddock borrows boxing boots and heads
to Madison Square Garden. He can’t afford dinner; his agent,
aghast, fetches a bowl of hash minutes before the fight.
When Braddock enters the ring, his robe bears another
boxer’s name.
After the opening bell, Griffin, a thick-necked bull of a
man, charges Braddock and pounds him mercilessly.
Braddock, sustained only by raw courage—and a tough chin,
survives the first two rounds. Then, in the third, he surprises
Griffin with a thunderous hook, knocking the giant out cold.
Because Griffin was the top contender, Braddock himself
is placed on the list of contenders. He proceeds to score one
upset after another until he’s next in line to face Max Baer
(Craig Bierko), the heavyweight champion whose fearsome
right has killed two boxers. The manager of Madison Square
Garden requires Braddock to sign a waiver absolving it of
responsibility should Braddock also perish at Baer’s hands. At
a restaurant, Baer runs into Mae and warns her against let-
ting her husband into the ring, adding that she’s too pretty
to become a widow. “Maybe I’d comfort you after he’s gone,”
he says with a leer.
On June 13, 1935, the night of the fight, as Mae goes to
church to pray, reporters speculate on whether Braddock
can last a single round against the champ. The betting odds
against Braddock are the worst in memory. But a movie
named after a fairy tale must have a happy ending, and
Cinderella Mancomes through. After fifteen harrowing
rounds, Braddock wins a unanimous decision. In 364 days,
he has gone from impoverished “bum” to heavyweight
champion of the world.
“This is a true story,” declared director Ron Howard. Yet
fairy tales, by definition, are make-believe; and Hollywood, by
reputation, believes in nothing as fervently as the dollar. Thus
viewers are entitled to ask: Does Cinderella Mantell the
actual story of James J. Braddock?
The surprising answer, given the implausibility of the plot,
is yes, up to a point. And that point begins with the Baer-
Braddock fight: Madison Square Garden did not warn Braddock
of the danger of fighting Baer or oblige him to sign a waiver.A
sCinderella Man(2005) opens, boxer James J. Braddock
(Russell Crowe) lands a right-hook that sends his oppo-
nent sprawling to the canvas—a knockout. Braddock raises
his hands in triumph. The crowd roars and a jazz band blares.
After the match, Braddock’s agent peels off a wad of bills—
$8,000—Braddock’s winnings. This is just the beginning, the
agent tells Braddock, because he has a shot at the heavy-
weight title.
When Braddock arrives at his home in New Jersey, his
wife, Mae (Renée Zellweger) leaps into his arms.“I’m so proud
of you,” she says. Three children race out of the house and
mob their father. Later, as Braddock prepares for bed, he sets
his gold watch and thick wallet onto a polished wood
dresser. The year is 1928.
Abruptly, the scene dissolves. A cheap, unfinished
dresser comes into focus. The watch and wallet are gone.
Braddock, unshaven, looks wearily around a squalid hovel.
The children, on mattresses in shadows, cough and wheeze.
The year is 1933.
Braddock, like much of the nation, has fallen on hard
times, his savings wiped out by the Depression. Worse, he has
broken his powerful right hand and, desperate for money,
resumed boxing before it healed.
During a bout in Mount Vernon, Braddock again
breaks his hand but tries to finish the match so he can earn
his $50 fee. The fans jeer and the boxing commission
revokes his license. He tries to work at the dockyards but
often there is no work to be had. The grocer refuses credit.
The milkman stops deliveries. The power company shuts
RE-VIEWING THE PAST
Cinderella Man
Russell Crowe and Renée Zellweger embrace in Cinderella Man.