The Great John L.

I read on ebay that the film was released on home video once in 1985.

It has been out of print since then.

Perhaps a write-in campaign to Criterion might get it considered for a DVD.

For an obscure film, there seems to be some momentum building to bring it back.

Has it been shown on Turner Classic Movies in the past couple of years?

Does their Web site allow viewers to request films?

My uncle mentioned THE GREAT JOHN L to me in January and I've been tasked to find it for him in some fashion. First it was going to be a 65th birthday gift - now I'm aiming for the holidays... If not by then, hopefully for next year's birthday!

In NYC during the 1950's this movie was constantly shown on television including CH.9"s "Million Dollar Movie". As kids our two favorite movies were "The Great John L" and "Yankee Doodle Dandy". Our whole group watched both movies over and over.

Remember it as much better than "Gentleman Jim" which became more famous due to it's all-star cast including Errol Flynn. Always regarded "The Great John L" as the better story and movie.

The actors, except for Linda Darnell, had little star quality but were perfectly cast. The story line was well written and contained a perfect mix of lightheartedness and tragedy. Sort of the Greek tragic hero play. Too bad the movie has not been transferred to DVD or VHS. Sometimes the better movie and story loses to the heavily loaded one ( Gentleman Jim ) with star power but not much else.

Been searching for it for many many years and can't find it. Have seen many who want this movie. It must be a great movie, but they want a minimum of twenty lines. But we only want to get a hold of the movie. Don't understand why this is being made so hard to do when just a single line might be more likely to be read. Don't have a lot to say other than that I have come across many people during the past fifty or so years that want to see this movie. I have many others that have seen it and thought it was truly GREAT. So where can a person find this wonderful movie. I have seen Gentleman Jim many times but have always wanted to see this move. But it doesn't seem to be anywhere. Does anyone have any ideas about where it could be purchased>

Bing Crosby's first venture into the production end of the film business was with this independent production The Great John L. about the life and times of John L. Sullivan. Of course any resemblance to the real Sullivan is coincidental here. It's pretty typical of Hollywood biographical films back in the day.

Of course the legend is well taken care of. The poor Irish kid from Boston handy with his fists who made good almost every time his boast of 'I Can Lick Any Man In The House'. It eventually took him to the heavyweight championship of the world defeating Paddy Ryan in 1882 and retaining it until 1892 when Jim Corbett dethroned him.

Sullivan's spendthrift ways and prodigious drinking are shown as well. Another boast was that he could drink any man under the table and too often did.

His romantic entanglements with the girl next door Barbara Britton and entertainer Linda Darnell are a complete work of fiction however. But they might have been acceptable but for the casting of the workmanlike, but distinctly non-charismatic Greg McClure. It's no wonder we didn't hear from this man again.

Bing certainly did what he could to help this film. Frank Tuttle who directed him in a couple of features at Paramount did the direction, he's best known for directing Alan Ladd in This Gun For Hire. Barbara Britton who was under contract at Paramount was no doubt obtained for this film for favors at Paramount. They usually granted Crosby anything they wanted. Bing's favorite songwriters Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke did two songs for the film, A Perfect Gentleman and A Friend Of Your's.

Bing also recorded A Friend Of Your's and so did Frank Sinatra and I'm sure that one was a favor as well. I have a bootleg recording of a radio commercial that Crosby did with Sinatra and Bob Hope promoting The Great John L. with Crosby and Sinatra stepping into the ring with Hope refereeing. That was far better than the film.

I about was about 14 yrs old when I saw this movie for the first time. not old enough to be a real critic I suppose. It was however a fascinating story about the "Boston Strong Boy" John L. Sullivan who was the last of the bare knuckle fighters to win the heavy weight title in the United States to my knowledge. This movie was not just a fight movie but also an early depiction of the struggles of a man with pride and love and alcohol. Greg McClure was perfectly cast for this role as he had all the physical attributes to make the part he played believable It seems to my memory that every actor and actress fit exactly into the roll they played. So much of this movie remains so vivid in my mind that I cannot but think that this movie should be hailed as an American Classic. If the film is somewhere intact it should be revived from it's hiding place and reprinted so this generation of movie goers have an opportunity to view it. If you have any information that would make it possible for myself and others to see this great movie once again please let me know. My e-mail address is, aphesis@charter.net My sincere thanks for any help you can be.