The 1940s boxing champion/bum blindly, obtusely, and stupidly inflicts wounds upon himself (mostly outside the ring in his personal and marital life with sibling rivalry, obsessive and irrational jealousy, and domestic abuse) while he also legally brutalizes opponents in the ring.Maggie woke up in her bedroom and called out for Tracy, who was in her own nightmarish world:Tracy found herself in a filthy bathroom with graffiti on all the walls, and then found herself in a perverted memory of her own dingy childhood kitchen where she was frequently abused - her obese, depraved father""s (Peter Spellos) voice spoke out as he approached her from behind to put his hands on her: "Tracy, girl.Well, it won""t hold.I won""t build it, it""s that simple.I""m not going to make the same mistake twice.Mulwray""s opinion that effectively denies water to he area is unpopular - it is greeted with boos and protests.What remains of the film was directed by the ambitious, extravagant, stubborn and independent-minded Erich Von Stroheim - he spent nine months shooting the film and a total of fifteen months writing and editing it (from 1923-1924).