A homeless, unemployed drifter named Raymond (Sonny Shields) appeared at their front door asking to "earn a meal," where Ethel confronted him with a shotgun, crassly: "Holy s--t! Who the f--k are you and what the f--k do you want?" She proposed cleaning the s--t out of the chicken coop in exchange for a meal.Finally, the time for the match in Moscow arrived on Christmas evening, and American commentators on the USA Network announced the fight - "the most watched event in boxing history" - although it was a "non-sanctioned fight" not for the title.The visual scope of the film paralleled what was portrayed in other western epics of its era, such asDuel in the Sun (1946)andThe Big Country (1958).Some English translations I have made of French poetry had enjoyed some success and I had been appointed to a lectureship at Beardsley College (Ohio) in the fall.