NYT’s ‘The Arts’: Update on Lowell ‘Fighter’ Movie

August 10, 2010 by PaulM Posted in Culture, History, Lowell 2 Comments

The front page of “The Arts” section in the NYTimes has an article about the long and winding road to the cinema screen for the mostly Lowell-filmed Micky Ward bio-pic “The Fighter,” starring Mark Wahlberg as the boxer, Christian Bale, and Amy Adams, among others. The nationwide release date is December 10. Lots of Oscar talk already. (Notice the misspelling of Ward’s name on the boxing trunks in the photo below—the source of the photo is not the NYT).  Read the story here, and consider buying the Times if you appreciate the reporting.

Web photo courtesy of directoryofboston.com

2 Responses to NYT’s ‘The Arts’: Update on Lowell ‘Fighter’ Movie

  1. Tony Sampas says:

    I haven’t read it yet but I have watched “Irish Thunder” get checked in and out of the Pollard Memorial Library (Lowell Public) many times. It’s a red hot item. One night I was working the reference desk when two big fellows with walkie talkies appeared before me and asked it it would be possible for us to leave the lights on in the library after we closed. I replied, “Is that because your director passed by and saw how pretty our stain glass windows are at night?” “Yeah.” A call was put into OUR director and it was arranged that the lights would stay on all night for the shoot. In addition to this the movie grips got permission to change the burned out light bulb in our front entryway. So, soon we’ll see if our glorious public library is in the film or if it got left on the cutting room floor. At the time I refrained from telling those guys that I thought “Irish Thunder” was a much better title than “The Fighter.”

  2. PaulM says:

    Earlier today, City Councilor Patrick Murphy set me straight on the spelling of Ward’s name on the trunks. It turns out, and this is a great detail, that the fighter’s first name was really misspelled on his trunks by whoever provided the trunks for his 2001 bout with Emanuel (Burton) Augustus. He won that fight. Therefore, the photograph of Mark W. from the film scene is historically correct, picking up the mistake made in real life.