mmallon4
There's something about Gentleman Jim which makes the film uplifting, it has a real aura of celebration to it. There's nothing better than hearing Auld Lang Sang during the opening credits of a piece of classic Hollywood filmmaking. Compare this to the many bleak biopics which portray historical figures going through unprecedented amounts of suffering, Gentleman Jim really stands out with its combination of comedy and drama which never takes itself too seriously to create something unique; historical accuracy be dammed!Errol Flynn and Jack Carson make for a fun duo as a pair of part time con-men. Flynn's reaction at the film's beginning to the pickpocket currently in the act of robbing him, just a quick "get outta there" and a slap on the wrist as he continues himself to con other people, it's so brief you would almost miss it and if it doesn't show what a great actor he is then I don't know what will; such sly confidence.Gentleman Jim is a movie full of blink-and-you-miss-them moments of subtle comedy. One of my favourite of these is the moment in which a child asks his mother during a fight "why doesn't daddy look that like in his underwear" and her response of "shh, he did once". I love the child's reaction with his eye's rolling up as if he's saying"oh, I totally get it". The movie does also have its more overt moments of humour in the form of Corbett's entertaining family of screwballs led by a scenery chewing Alan Hale. Yet even Hale's chewing of the scenery is outdone by Ward Bond as the over the top, manly force of nature that is John L. Sullivan.Gentleman Jim differs from most boxing film partially due to its time period setting. The film acts as a piece of 1890's nostalgia when there would still have been people alive in 1942 to remember this period. It is easily apparent the filmmakers put great strides into recreating the time period with its lush sets and great attention to detail. However the other aspect which makes the movie stand out amongst boxing pictures is its presentation of boxing as a real gentleman's sport, making the movie really live up to its title. This isn't a story with Rocky Balboas nor does it take place in sweaty, gritty inner city gyms. I guess somewhere along the way the sport of boxing became less sophisticated and more middle to lower class.Classic Hollywood films are generally not known for their realistic boxing scenes with their use of sped up footage and not very convincing punches. Gentleman Jim does a better job than other boxing films of the era. Flynn learned to box for the role and no body doubles where used while the fights for the most part do come off as convincing. The meeting between Corbett and Sullivan after their fight is the film's real tearjerker moment: what true gentlemen. An acceptance that your time has come to an end and that it will happen to all of us eventually.
Edgar Allan Pooh
. . . "In that case, I'm no lady," is the way Jim and Vicky exchange their vows in what has to be one of the better "feel good" film biographies of the 1900s. Since the entire story of GENTLEMAN JIM occurs in the late 1800s, these risqué-sounding disclosures are delivered fully-clothed, in a semi-public place. Errol Flynn portrays the title pugilist as a Devil-may-care risk-taker, like himself. Since the boxing rings of James J. Corbett's time were sized somewhere between Louisville's Churchill Downs and New York City's Central Park, Jim realizes that he has plenty of room to dance around his far heavier opponents for 15, 20, or 65 rounds, ducking 99% of their punches. Then, when the bigger brutes are too weak to box their own shadows, Jim lays them flatter that the Marquess of Queensbury. In a larger sense, GENTLEMAN JIM is carefully constructed to show that nearly all Rich People are lucky hypocrites, generally undeserving of their Wealth, and desperate to kick off anyone trying to follow them up the Ladder of Success. That makes this flick a "Two-Fer."
ferbs54
Based on James J. Corbett's 1894 autobiography "The Roar of the Crowd," the 1942 Warner Bros. film "Gentleman Jim" gives the prizefighter's story a Hollywood gloss but remains top entertainment nevertheless. In it, Errol Flynn stars in what he later called his favorite film role (over "The Adventures of Robin Hood," "Captain Blood," "The Sea Hawk" and "Objective, Burma"? Incredible!), giving a remarkably likable, high-energy and physical performance; practically an Oscar-worthy one. In his own 1959 autobiography "My Wicked, Wicked Ways," Flynn reveals that he was knocked unconscious three times in one day (by pro boxer Jack Loper) and suffered a mild coronary while making the film, but his energy on screen never flags; this is a highly impressive demonstration of Flynn's skills as both an actor and a physical performer.In the film, we first meet Corbett in 1887, when he was a 21-year-old, brash, conceited, boastful bank teller in San Francisco, toiling away with his buddy Walter (the always amusing Jack Carson). His life changes very quickly, however, when he is admitted as a protégé in the posh Olympic Club, much to the disdain of elegant society girl Vicky Ware (the beautiful Alexis Smith, who had already appeared opposite Flynn in 1941's "Dive Bomber" and would go on to star with him in 1945's "San Antonio"). After knocking out the ex-British heavyweight champion at the club's gym, Corbett, to the delight of his constantly brawling Irish family, begins to climb the rungs of the nascent boxing sport, his fancy footwork and 73-inch reach being two huge assets, while the newly incorporated Marquess of Queensberry rules helped transform what was up until then a rough-and-tumble melee into the more refined sport that we know today. Corbett's career, of course, culminates with his victory over the "Boston Strong Boy" John L. Sullivan in New Orleans, on September 7, 1892. And as depicted on film, with Ward Bond playing John L., what a tremendous bout this 21-round fight is!Even those who don't like the sport of boxing, I feel, should enjoy "Gentleman Jim." The four fights depicted on screen (the one with the Brit champ; a hungover fight in Salt Lake City; a dockside matchup against Tony Choynski, preceding a police raid and riot; and the big bout in New Orleans) are well done, exciting, tense and marvelously shot by director Raoul Walsh, a man who excelled at both fast-moving action scenes AND period re-creations, both of which talents are utilized here. (This was Flynn's third film out of an eventual seven with the director.) Though hard hitting, the fights are not ugly to watch, unlike, say, those in the 1956 Humphrey Bogart film "The Harder They Fall" and Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull." Rather, the fights in "Gentleman Jim" stress Corbett's remarkable agility and footwork ("That bloke jumps around like a jackrabbit," declares the Brit fighter; "He should've been a dancer," says an Irish priest later on), and Flynn, doing all his own stunts, bobs and weaves and skips and moves like the real deal. Indeed, during the big fight, he makes Sullivan look like a lumbering stumblebum, which, for the first four rounds at least, was how things supposedly really went down. Though the two men had just about the same reach, and though Sullivan outweighed Corbett by a good 34 pounds, Corbett's new "scientific approach" to boxing, so well shown in the film, ultimately won the day. But wait...an even better scene follows, in which Sullivan comes to Corbett's victory party, and the two men touchingly reveal to one another their mutual respect and admiration. It is a wonderful scene, and Bond and Flynn are both superb in it. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fine work turned in by the film's uniformly fine cast (including Alan Hale as Corbett's dad and William Frawley as his bellicose manager) and note what a great-looking picture this is, with impressive sets (especially those in the ritzy Olympic Club) and a screen that is filled (as was Walsh's wont) with constant motion. A huge triumph for everyone concerned, the picture really is (you'll pardon the expression) a knockout!
alexandre michel liberman (tmwest)
This film takes you to San Francisco at the end of the 19th century, where boxing matches were done illegally in the streets. There were few rules and many rounds. There is a great fight where the boats and barges are used for the people to watch, and you feel you are seeing San Francico exactly the way it was at those times. James Corbett, in an excellent performance by Errol Flynn is the right man at the right place, when boxing was changing, with new rules, where the technique was becoming more important and the fact he called himself "gentleman" very significant in relation to the changes. The "fighting Irish" , including the always present priest, makes you think of the John Ford films, specially "The Quiet Man" which was made much later in 1952. There are two important relationships of Corbett in the film, one with Victoria Ware (great Alexis Smith), who represents the social status he longs for, and the famous John L. Sulllivan (Ward Bond), who comes from the days of bare-knuckled fighting. I greatly enjoyed seeing this movie, directed by Raoul Walsh.
