Customer Reviews

Carnera: The Walking Mountain ( Carnera - Il campione pił grande ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Italy ]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Prior to watching the DVD, I had heard Carnera's name, but knew very little about him. An exchange in one scene mentions the possibility of a fight being fixed and in reading I've done since viewing the film there are frequent allegations of mafia involvement in many of his early fights. The title fight between Carnera and Max Baer is interesting for the fact that Primo was knocked down 11 times in 11 rounds before the fight was stopped. I suspect a great deal of embellishment for entertainment purposes, but the film maintained my interest and I would recommend it to any boxing fan.

JUST WATCHED THIS FILM. ALL IS CAN SAY IS... WOW. GREAT, GREAT MOVIE, A HIDDEN GEM THAT DESERVES TO BE SEEN BY ANY FAN OF BOXING MOVIES. FILM LOOKED LIKE THEY SPENT A TON OF MONEY ON THE PRODUCTION.

Just watched this film and while a good story, there were several historical inaccuracies, especially in the Stribling and Baer fights. The dialogue between the characters was a bit farfetched at times, though at the end of the film there was a disclaimer about fictional exchanges. For the boxing purist, this film doesn't begin to tell the full story of Primo Carnera.

The film does a great job depicting Carnera's career and thankfully does not sink into the gutter with the B-movie cliches that have soiled the great Carnera's legacy. I am the editor of The USA Boxing News and have spoken over the past 30 years with many fighters from that period, including Jack Dempsey, Max Schmeling, Johnny Risko, Jersey Joe Walcott and Buddy Baer and they never believed the stories about Carnera and they were ringside during his fights! Champions of the caliber of Jack Dempsey certainly can recognize a fake fight, or that a fighter is not talented. Remember, none of those stories were ever printed during Carnera's fight career. Even when boxing was investigated with the Kefauver Committee hearings during the 1950's, there was no evidence that any of Carnera's fights were fixed. There is no testamony from any of Primo's opponents, many of which were still alive at the time, including Carnera.

The only person attached to Carnera that even hinted at that was Leon See, a disgrunteld individual who was shown the door as soon as Carnera hit the big time.

Like all heavyweights on the way up, he fought some ham and eggers to build up a record, but those fighters were beaten because they were outclassed, not taking a dive.

And then there is the stuff that the mob took all of Carnera's money. That is another insult to Carnera. What many of these so called writers after the fact did not research is that Carnera took his fight earned money out of the States and purchased a huge estated in Sequals, Italy and had his money there. What wiped Carnera out financially, but not enough where he ever lost his estate, was World War II, just as it did with Max Schmeling in Germany. After the war, Carnera became quite wealthy by performing in professional wrestling. He earned enough money to not only maintain his estate in Italy, but purchase a rambling estate in the United States and also run a successful restaurant.

Sadly, because of inuendos and fake stories, Carnera's great career is clouded in controversy.


To insinuate that Jack Sharkey took a dive to lose his title is a disgrace to a fistic great like Sharkey. If one looks at the actual fight film, the punch hits Sharkey right on the button. Carnera may not have had a punch like Joe Louis or Max Baer at the time, but he sure had a big enough punch to knock someone out if he was able to land his Sunday punch at the perfect time.

Carnera is ripped apart in history because of his connection to the Italian Facists during the early 1930's. If he were an American, or even an Englishman, those lies would have never been written about him.

Primo Carnera was a great fighter and would surely be wearing a championship belt in this day and age. The film is a fine testament to his career.

As accurately pointed out in one of the reviews above, the movie glosses over the fact that Carnera's fights were rigged, making it appear that one or two along the way were thrown in order to smooth Carnera's hard fought path to glory. The truth is that almost all of Carnera's fights were thrown, including his championship won from an ethically challenged Jack Sharkey as well (who was also controlled by a crook).

Carnera was controlled and exploited by gangsters. They took the bulk of his earnings and made a fortune on bets. They controlled all of his fights except those against major contenders that could not be purchased, such as Baer and Louis. Carnera was left with only a few hundred dollars after his owners and manager were through robbing him blind. He turned to professional wrestling where he made some decent money that he actually was allowed to keep. Carnera is loved by fascists today because he represents the type of compliant and productive victim they dream of.

The movie is a re-animation of the fascist propaganda line under Mussolini that the 6'6" 265lb Ambling Alp was the invincible product produced by combining hard work with an Italian superman (Italy's version of Max Schmeling. Joe Louis knocked them both out, making him a type of human kryptonite). The truth was he was a mediocre, muscle-bound fighter, who didn't have the skill, speed, and reflexes required to be a great fighter.

The movie falsely portrays Max Baer (now famous as the champion that lost to the "Cinderella Man") as a dirty fighter who beat Carnera largely because Carnera played by the rules. Nothing could be further from the truth. Baer was one of the hardest punchers of all time. He wound up and cracked Da Preem square on the chin in the first round. Carnera never recovered and was knocked down eleven times during the massacre, which was exactly what you would expect to see when matching a big piece of meat, like a professional wrestler, e.g., which Carnera later successfully became, against a real fighter like Baer.

At the end of the movie there is a fictional quote supposedly made by Carnera espousing his fictional view that his career was an example of what hard work and dedication can do. In fact, Carnera's career is a historical example of what vicious exploitation by racketeers can do, a lesson to be learned by those in all walks of life, not just fighters and sports figures. Here is a real quote by Carnera, given shortly before his death:
"Life has a way of evening things up. Where are those greedy vultures now? They were either killed by their own kind or put in jail. Some of them became little better than beggars and panhandlers. All that money. What good do it do any of them?" -"The World Heavyweight Boxing Championship", by John McCallum.

For a much more accurate biographical depiction of the Carnera crime and exploitation tragedy, see the great "The Harder They Fall", starring Humphrey Bogart (Max Baer even makes a guest appearance).