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Monkey on My Back
TITLE DETAILS

Monkey on My Back

1957-05-29 · 94 min · ★ 6.8

Drama

The painfully true story of welterweight boxing champion Barney Ross is detailed in Monkey on My Back. Cameron Mitchell stars as Ross, whose meteoric ring career is interrupted when he joins the Marines at the outset of WWII. A highly decorated hero, Ross contracts malaria oversees and is given morphine to assuage the pain. By the time he returns to the states, Ross is a confirmed drug addict. Before he can rise to the top again, he must hit rock bottom and his descent into the hell of narcotics dependency is graphically illustrated (so much so that the film was almost denied a Production Code seal). Though a cured Barney Ross served as technical advisor for Monkey on My Back, he ended up suing the producers for defamation of character -- and lost.

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Production details

Directors
André de Toth
Production companies
Edward Small Productions
Countries
United States of America
Status
Released

Top Cast

Cameron MitchellCameron MitchellBarney Ross
Dianne FosterDianne FosterCathy Holland
Paul RichardsPaul RichardsRico, Drug Pusher (as Paul E. Richards)
Jack AlbertsonJack AlbertsonSam Pian
Kathy GarverKathy GarverNoreen
Lisa GolmLisa GolmBarney's Mother
Barry KelleyBarry KelleyBig Ralph
Scotty BeckettScotty BeckettCorpsman (uncredited)

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