Stanley Kubrick has a strong legacy in the seventh art.

With films like Paths of Glory (1957), Spartacus (1960), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Shining (1980) and Full Metal Jacket (1987), he is considered one of the most influential filmmakers in celluloid.

But while many are familiar with these films, only a few knew about his particular interest in boxing. In fact, his first documentary is focused on the discipline of the boxing ring. Day of the fight (1951) was produced by RKO and presents the fight between Irishman Walter Cartier and New Yorker Bobby James.

Kubrick met Cartier years earlier after doing a photo report for Look magazine, where he worked in his youth to make a living. That's how he started using his camera to capture the essence of a contact sport like boxing.

In the documentary, the viewer can see Cartier's preparation, including his breakfast and lunch, as well as his pre-training, arrival in the dressing room, and the fight against Bobby James. The shots were filmed by Kubrick behind the ring, and you can already perceive that characteristic style of his work. In addition, Kubrick became fascinated by the physical and psychological violence seen in boxing, a very popular sport in his native New York.

It was not a short documentary that turned out to be profitable since he spent $3,900 on production, while only receiving $4,000 from the production. This only meant a profit of $100.

But it was with Day of the Fight that Stanley Kubrick discovered his vocation for cinema, so he stopped being a photographer and started dedicating himself to film. That same year he released Flying Padre, another documentary focused on a Catholic priest, and then in 1953 he released Fear and Desire, his first film (which he did not like the result).

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