Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Micitype Pretty Good

BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

dannyrovira-38154 A classic boxing drama based on the life of James J Corbett, this is one Erroyl Flynn's finest performances, with magnificent supporting performances Alexis Smith ,Alan Hale, William Frawly, with special kudos to Ward Bond for his magnificent portrayal of the great John L. Sullivan. This gem of a film features some of the finest boxing sequences and cinematic history.

weezeralfalfa Beginning with "They Died with their Boots on" of the previous year, director Raoul Walsh began an association with Errol Flynn that lasted through the war years. "Gentleman Jim" was sandwiched between various WWII films for the duration of the war. After "They Died with their Boots on", Olivia de Havilland was never again Flynn's leading lady. Although a variety of leading ladies filled her shoes over the remainder of Flynn's career, Alexis Smith was the most frequent, costarring in 4 of Flynn's films from 1941-50. She looked especially striking in Technicolor, with her flaming hair and greenish eyes. Unfortunately, the present film was shot in B&W. To see Alexis in a Flynn Technicolor film, checkout the westerns "San Antonio" or "Montana".Although the present film is supposed to be a partial biopic of the pioneer progressive boxer "Gentleman" Jim Corbett, I'm sure Alexis's character is purely fictional. Corbett was married some years before the fight with heavyweight champion J.L. Sullivan. Alexis, as Victoria, keeps popping up in Corbett's life, and secretly puts up the $10,000. needed to stage the Corbett-Sullivan fight, mostly to hopefully see Corbett get beat by Sullivan. Of course, this backfires when Corbett wins. Victoria comes across as very confident of her place in Nob Hill society in San Francisco, but is very condescending toward Corbett, whom she sees as too ambitious and talented as a boxer and as too aggressive in seeking to be an accepted gentleman member of the Olympic Club. She alternatively encourages him toward a romantic relationship, then slaps him down when he oversteps her invisible bounds. Clearly, she's jealous of his overall talent and probably fears he would be too dominating in a relationship with her.Historically, Corbett's fame is based not just on his defeat of Sullivan, but in introducing a new style of boxing, largely imported from England, emphasizing fancy foot work and gloved hands, instead of bare knuckle slugging. Historically, Corbett also was a reasonably good actor, and after his boxing days were over, he made money in vaudeville.Ward Bond does a good job impersonating Sullivan, except that he overdoes the confusion in the ring due to Corbett's quickness and dancing. He is shown being gracious toward Corbett in his defeat. I don't know if this is historically correct. I viewed a 130 min. version of this film on You Tube. The standard version is 144 min. I didn't have the feeling that something important was missing.

classicsoncall I never thought this film would have been as entertaining as it turned out to be. You can chalk that up to the effective screenplay, talented Warner Brothers cast, and the competent direction of Raoul Walsh. As with most biopics, this one makes liberal concessions to historical accuracy, yet the broad parameters of 'Gentleman' Jim Corbett's career are used to outline the story and it even manages to get some of the minor details correct along the way as well.The real Jim Corbett did come from a working class San Francisco family; his father ran a livery stable and undertaking business and if the picture had included his entire family, there would have been a total of ten Corbett children 'at it again' whenever they got into their normal roustabouts. Jim was the fourth in line, and it appears the picture wisely kept the number of siblings here at a manageable level. Interestingly, Errol Flynn himself was thirty three when he made this picture, twice the age of Corbett when he became the Olympic Athletic Club champion at age seventeen in 1883, four years actually before the date stated at the beginning of the picture.The rise of Corbett through the boxing world and the record of wins he established is fairly accurate here. Corbett was the first serious practitioner of the Marquess of Queensbury Rules, relying on skillful boxing with gloves and timed rounds with a rest period in between. John L. Sullivan, enthusiastically portrayed here by Ward Bond in a great characterization, was the archetype practitioner of the 'old' London Prize Ring Rules. That term was somewhat of a misnomer, as there really weren't any rules prior to about 1892. Sullivan reigned at a time when bare knuckle fighting would have included the kind of punching, kicking, and gouging that one might associate with 'pro' wrestling today. In other words, it was no-holds barred all the way.The story does take a minor liberty with the way the eventual match between Corbett and Sullivan came about. In the picture, Corbett antagonizes the champion into making a challenge, but in reality it was somewhat reversed. Sullivan actually placed a newspaper ad that insulted and challenged three famous boxers of the day to a fight - Charlie Mitchell, Frank Slavin and Corbett. Corbett was the first to come up with the ten thousand dollar side-stake raised from friends within his social circle. When he met Sullivan for the title on September 7, 1892, he weighed 178 pounds against 212 for his heavyweight opponent.I guess I'd have to question the way the film made Sullivan look so foolish in defeat, using a straight on bullying style against Corbett's agility. Of course, no one alive today was at that fight, so who can really say. One thing for sure, Sullivan was eight years older than his challenger and somewhat out of condition. Under the old rules Sullivan probably could have tossed him right out of the ring, but here in the twenty-first round, the champ ran out of steam and was put away by his more scientific rival.Aside from Flynn, what makes this picture fun are actors Alan Hale as Corbett's father, William Frawley as his manager, Jack Carson as long time pal Walter Lowrie, and 'brothers' Pat Flaherty and James Flavin in uncredited roles. The characters they portray lend a humorous element to the story line and are a welcome addition to the boxing sequences. The hint of a feuding romance between Corbett and socialite Victoria Ware (Alexis Smith) probably wasn't all that necessary, but did add another dimension to his character. The real life Corbett walked off his bank job at eighteen to impulsively marry a woman named Olive Lake. The marriage lasted eight years until he met Vera Taylor who became his second wife the year he won the title. That marriage lasted thirty eight years.

Michael You could have given Flynn any director, setting or costume but even at this point in his career, he could still never escape his self-moulded image. To be fair though, he tries his best as 19th century boxer James J Corbett in this 'biopic' - hurr hurr, as the Warner machine does its ineluctable best to see his story told as they see fit.Hence, some of the studio's finest worked if not on historical accuracy, the splendid period recreation - characterisations and all - and Raoul Walsh sure loves pugnacity, as evidenced in his later Cagney films. It has to be said that Alexis Smith makes a splendid Olivia de Havilland.