Artivels Undescribable Perfection

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

GazerRise Fantastic!

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

vincentlynch-moonoi Despite the bad news that I'll relate shortly, this is one heckuva film with bravura performances by James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander.But first, the bad news. The emphasis here is not on boxing, and as a result there is darned little boxing action. And, I watch a fair bit of boxing on cable, and what boxing there is here is not done very convincingly. However, the emphasis here is on a study of the main characters.James Earl Jones plays Jack Jefferson here, representing the real historical figure Jack Johnson. Jane Alexander plays his White mistress. And it is miscegenation that drives the plot here. The story differs from the real life figure in that Jack Johnson was married 3 times, each time to a White woman. In the story, as in real life, it is the miscegenation which leads to the improper use of the Mann Act as a means to derail Jefferson's career. Rather than go to prison (which Johnson eventually did), Jefferson escapes to Europe and then Mexico.While this was not Jones' first film, it was the film which propelled him into big-screen stardom. And make no mistake, it is a bravura performance, although a couple of times he seems to be acting as if on stage; however, that does not detract from the film. As is Jane Alexander's performance. It is the strength of these two performances which leads me to assign the film an "8" (were it not for the poor boxing segments, I would have given it a "9"). The film was Jane Alexander's debut in cinema.Veteran actor Chester Morris has a role as Pop Weaver. It was Morris' last role; he committed suicide as a result of having stomach cancer. Hal Holbrook has a small role, as does Beah Richards, one of my favorite Black character actresses of the time. Lou Gilbert is the boxing manager and Joel Fluellen plays the trainer; both excellent performances.

eric262003 James Earl Jones steps into the metaphorical Hollywood ring playing the first African-American to break the colour barrier as Jack Jefferson (based on real life boxer Jack Johnson). Not only that but he also goes on to become the first African-American to win the World Heavyweight Champion. After winning the Championship, the boxing community was deeply outraged by such events, that Jefferson becomes an instant target of racism as scouts were splurging around looking for their next "White Hope". If that isn't enough, the outrage is turned up another notch in both the white and black community as Jefferson is currently in a relationship with a Caucasian woman Eleanor Bachman (Jane Alexander). And while Jefferson keeps knocking down all these tough guys to their feet, these detractors use underhanded tactics to finally bring him down.Under the direction of Martin Ritt (who directed such classics as "Hud" and "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold"), and based on a play by Howard Sackler (who also wrote two "Jaws" scripts), the movie is one to likely hold one's interest but it doesn't measure up the long-running very successful play. The primary struggle this movie has is the standard clichéd look at the world of boxing during that time period (early 1910's) and the somewhat theatrical performance by James Earl Jones. The story feels too narrow thin and Jones' performance is way too powerful (I'll give him a break it was his first starring role), but the film is very lopsided and awkward in its delivery.With that said, Jones gives an amazing performance and the powerful bass voice he possesses will deliver the message across from here to kingdom come. Is it possible that they refrained from a cool cat like Sidney Poitier character to a more loud, eternally defensive character to add more tension for the character and the predominately bigoted Caucasian characters? It also seems interesting that even through trials and tribulations, Jefferson still has a smile on his face, even though his smile is obviously superficial. Jones was excellent in his Oscar nominated role complete as a weighs in a grimaced expression faced with an angering interior.Aside from Jones' powerful performance, Jane Alexander was wonderful as she reprises her Broadway performance as the troubled caught-in-the-middle Caucasian love-interest to Jack. We feel her pain as bi-racial relationships was not tolerated in that time period, let alone when this film was released in 1970 for that matter. but her anguish will likely melt your heartstrings in the right place. It's too bad she never rose further in the film industry as other divas in the 1960's and 1970's.The film loses its panache once Jefferson is forced to leave the United States for (Cuba?)and issues start to drag on for too long making the movie not intended for cinema. It starts to become formulaic and predictable. But in all fairness "The Great White Hope" set the bar for other boxing movies of this calibre like "The Hurricane" and "Ali". The boxing scenes feel real and authentic, but the issues on racism in movies have been going on for years that it's something I've seen thousands of times. But at the end, the powerful message left me with a lump in my throat. It was that powerful.Even though this movie was lopsided and not very setting at times, it still grabs your attention and delivers a very powerful punch. I recommend this movie mostly to the performances and the characters especially from James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander and for the supporting stars as well like Hal Holbrook, Moses Gunn, Robert Webber, Beah Richards and R.G. Armstrong. If you ever have a chance please feel free to watch this movie and feel intrigued by it.

wellesradio ********THIS MAY CONTAIN A SPOILER******** ********THIS MAY CONTAIN A SPOILER******** ********THIS MAY CONTAIN A SPOILER******** This film was beautiful and heart-rending. To correct another reviewer, YES, this does have a boxing scene in it. A wonderful one. I actually had to step out when the main character was about to get his first big match, so it may even have two scenes. But really the beauty is in the drama and the almost Shekespearean tragedy. Does the hero triumph in the end? No, but neither do his enemies, for thought they revel in it, it is all of humanity that suffers a loss in this man's defeat.I.K. from Scandinavia has posted a review of this film that can only be viewed as blatantly racist. According to this person, "I only wanted to see this movie because of Jane Alexander and Karl-Otto Alberty, both favorites of mine." FINE. Whatever your reasons, yo saw the movie. And you didn't like the movie. Fine as well. Perhaps you don't like this type of movie or perhaps James Earl Jones didn't convince you or any other number of reasonable opinions. But to call this movie a typical boxing movie is completely ignoring the touchy subject matter. It's like you fastforwarded all the talking parts. From the looks of it, all the other movies you've reviewed involve espionage and very white European spies operating during WWII. A keen interest in Hitler as well. But you offer no other clue as to why this film had nothing to offer to you, save this telling remark, "although it has some provocative scenes (black man having sex with white woman)." Since when in the past 40 years has this ever been called "provocative" except from ignorant bigots such as yourself? I have petitioned the administrators to remove your racist review and I hope that they will remove this response to it as well, seeing as there will be no need for it. I truly hope your shortsighted views are not indicative of your country of origin (although I doubt it) because you are a terrible representative and a shame to your fellow countrymen.

gelman@attglobal.net I first saw the play at least 35 years ago when it debuted at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., with James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander in the lead roles. Recently, Arena revived the play, and I thought it was dated and a dud. But the film, which has just appeared on PBS, reminded me of the power, not so much of the play which has elements of caricature, but of the acting. Jones and Alexander were both outstanding in the movie, Jones as the black heavyweight champion (Jack Johnson in thin disguise)and Alexander as his white lover. The two of them deserved the stardom that came with these roles when the play moved from the Arena Stage to Broadway. It may not even be the best movie about boxing, but it's worth seeing because of Jones and Alexander. Moreover, the virulent racism directed at Jack Jefferson (Jones's character) and the role of the Federal government in prosecuting him under the Mann act are useful reminders of the way our country was at the beginning of the 20th Century. long ago.