February 20, 2013 : RING OF FIRE: EMILE GRIFFITH STORY

by · Published · Updated


Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story

Directed by Ron Berger & Dan Klores,  87 minutes, Documentary, 2005

February 20, 2013/ 7:30 pm / Cases by the Sea, Coral Bay

Join St. John Film Society at Cases by the Sea in Coral Bay!  Bring your own chair or sit at the picnic tables and enjoy local food at Reggie’s.  Documentary filmmakers Dan Klores and Ron Berger look at a dark moment in American sports history — March 24, 1962 — when St. Thomas’s Emile Griffith fought Cuba’s Benny “Kid” Paret for the welterweight boxing championship. At the weigh-in, Paret taunted the gentle giant with an anti-gay slur. Later, Griffith pummeled Paret into a fatal coma as a nationwide TV audience watched. Decades later, six-time welterweight champion Griffith spoke of the fateful night that haunts him.  The film includes compelling boxing footage and interviews with Griffith and family, historians, and sports journalists.  Ring of Fire was a 2005 Sundance featured film and called “extraordinary” by The New York Times.

St. John Film Society is partially funded by the NEA, VICA, and YOU!  Your $5.00 suggested donation is always appreciated!

Find out more about Virgin Islander Emile Griffith here.

Thanks to Elaine Ione Sprauve Public Library, home to the St. John Film Society film collection.