Gentleman Jim

If you like Flynn, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, Alexis Smith, William Frawley and/or Ward Bond, then this is the film for you. This film is a biopic about the boxer, James "Gentleman Jim" J. Corbett, who was one of the first boxers to fight under the modern boxing rules. This film deals with his ascent to stardom, courtesy of his brash cockiness and natural talent as a boxer. Carson portrays his less attractive friend who enjoys the perks involved in being friends with a star. Hale is his Irish father who is hilarious.

Smith plays a woman whom Flynn courts throughout the entire film. She pretends to loathe him, mostly because of his arrogance, but throughout the film, you can tell that she's got the hots for him (and who wouldn't?) even though she tries to suppress it. Frawley is Flynn's boxing manager who tries to keep him a serious boxer, but struggles at times. Finally Bond plays John Sullivan, the reigning heavyweight boxing champion who Flynn ends up challenging. Their fight is the climax of the film. There's a very touching scene between Flynn and Bond at the end of the film. It's followed by a very funny scene involving Hale and Carson. Highly recommended. Even if you're not a boxing fan, you'll find this film enjoyable. Flynn so effortlessly makes his "cock of the walk" character utterly charming. In lesser hands the part of Jim Corbett could have easily become obnoxious, but Flynn's personality and charisma makes the audience root for his character.

It is sometimes odd to think how many historical figures who were the subjects of film biographies from 1927 to 1950 were actually still alive in the start of the talking film period. Marie Curie was - is there some long forgotten piece of newsreel film with her in it (from Pathe, naturally) where we see her in a laboratory, and she is talking in French or Polish or even English? George M. Cohan - he actually was in some silent films, but there were two sound films he starred in, one of which (THE PHANTOM PRESIDENT) is in tact, and is worth watching. It turned out the Yankee Doodle Boy could sing and act on celluloid. How about the subject of GENTLEMAN JIM, the great pugilist James J. Corbett?

Well, actually, there are some films with Corbett in them from the early sound period. People forget that he followed his boxing career with a fairly successful stage career (including the lead role in George Bernard Shaw's THE ADMIRABLE BASHFUL, a play about pugilism based on Shaw's novel CASHEL BYRON'S PROFESSION). This is barely touched on in GENTLEMAN JIM, except in one scene where Errol Flynn mentions Shaw's writings. Anyway, Corbett would remain in the vaudeville and legitimate theatre until he died in 1931. And he did appear in one or two early sound films [so did the first African-American heavyweight boxing champ, Jack Johnson].

Actually GENTLEMAN JIM wisely stuck to the rise of Corbett to the heavyweight championship. It also was able to make much humor out of his contentious family and his social pretensions (constantly punctured by Alexis Smith, as the socialite he would like to marry). Supported by an able cast, including William Frawley, Jack Carson, and Alan Hale Sr. the film goes along rapidly, and you never get bored. Raoul Walsh's direction is first rate here. And there are moments of great humor, such as the fat members of the Olympic Club exercising, or the way the Corbetts seem to be preparing for their next fight at the drop of a hat (to which Carson yells "THE CORBETTS ARE AT IT AGAIN!" each time). Some of Walsh's camera tricks are nice too - in a montage showing the rise of Corbett in a series of successful fights, Walsh uses photos of the boxers in a bar that are stills from the next scene of the fight the boxers lose or win.

Corbett was one of the first articulate and well-read men to achieve boxing fame. He also championed the Marquess of Queensberry rules, including boxing gloves. The latter had already achieved acceptance (begrudgingly) from Sullivan, whose defeat of Paddy Kilraine in 1889 was the last great bare-knuckle fight. But the final scene of Sullivan (Ward Bond, possibly in his finest moment on the screen) passing his heavyweight belt to Corbett, no matter how moving it really is, brings to mind one of the real problems of Corbett's victory in 1892. Sullivan, a large man with a heavy drinking problem, was not in tip-top shape when he fought Corbett, who was faster and younger. Bond says he does not know what would have been the result if they had met five years earlier, and Flynn agrees it would be hard to call. We'll never really know. Sullivan dominated the heavyweight fight game from 1881 to 1892. Corbett was champ from 1892 to 1897. One wonders which of the two champs was really the greater boxer.

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!

Errol Flynn and Ward Bond are perfect examples of how successful an actor can be without one second of acting school classes/workshops. Both were absolute naturals. Why was Flynn one of the biggest stars of his time? He had not only the physical ability to handle any role he undertook, he had the subtle skill to make the role totally believeable. As Gentleman Jim Corbett, heavyweight champion from Sept., 1892 until his startling loss to the inferior Bob Fitzsimmons, March, 1897, Flynn certainly had the physicality to make himself appear as a "real" heavyweight champion, albeit of the sport's prehistoric era. As well, the Flynn personality---very much evident in all of his film vehicles---brings color to his roles. Here, as Corbett, Flynn perfectly captures the rogueish, dapper, likeable former champion. And he is able to match the Corbett boxing style. As for Bond, he absolutely matches Flynn's portrayal. As the blustery but good-natured John L. Sullivan, Bond likewise brings both the physicality and personality that made "The Boston Strong Boy" the Babe Ruth of his sports period. In the climax of the film, after Corbett has taken his title via a 21st round knockout, Sullivan appears at Corbett's victory party. Instead of berating his ring conqueror, Bond's Sullivan warmly and sincerely congratulates him...earning everyone's admiration, on the screen and bringing moistness to the eyes of viewers. It is a tragedy that both Flynn and Bond died prematurely. "Gentleman Jim" is a must for all sports fans, not just those who enjoy boxing. It is a thoroughly enjoyable story, with a solid cast throughout. A bit of trivia about Corbett: in 1926, he was brought in to the training camp, as an advisor, to Gene Tunney before the first fight with Jack Dempsey. Though Corbett was almost 60, he actually sparred with the 28-year old Tunney. Gene later reported that even an elderly Corbett gave him more trouble than most of his actual opponents. In fact, Corbett---because of his success during the Tunney sparring sessions---actually considered a comeback but ultimately rejected the notion.

GENTLEMAN JIM, Errol Flynn's last film of 1942, the year that saw his tempestuous personal life become public, was one of his greatest successes, and his personal favorite, as well. In the story of the 'father' of modern boxing, James J. Corbett, loosely based on the boxer's autobiography, the actor a had a chance to display a favorite hobby (Flynn was quite good, and had an off-screen habit of goading bar patrons into fights, just to 'show off' his skills), as well as play a character closer to his own flamboyant personality than the heroic cavaliers he had been 'typed' as, for nearly a decade.

The 'favorite son' in a brawling blue-collar family (Alan Hale, his friend and frequent co-star, portrays his father), Corbett has aspirations far beyond his job as a lowly bank clerk, and 'uses' socialite Victoria Ware (Alexis Smith) to get into the prestigious 'Olympic Club'. The snobbish members of the club, offended by his enormous ego, talk him into a 'little boxing exhibition' with a European champion. Expecting to see the young man flattened, Victoria and the millionaires are stunned when, displaying fancy footwork and natural skills, Corbett knocks out the professional. A drunken brawl at a post-fight social event lands Corbett and friend Walter Lowrie (Jack Carson) in Salt Lake City, penniless. Boxing provides a means to buy train tickets home, and the realization that, through pugilism, he can 'break into' society. A legendary career is thus begun...

Boxing, at the turn of the century, was a far more brutal sport than today, with the fighters seldom wearing gloves, and the fights running 30 rounds, or more, yet Corbett scores victory after victory, without a scar on his handsome face. Becoming a celebrity, he even stars in a popular stage show, dressed in a top hat and tails, and quoting Shakespeare, taking advantage of his nickname, 'Gentleman Jim'. While Victoria professes hating his cockiness, she feels drawn to him, although he has a way of always saying the wrong thing!

Meanwhile, in another stage show, the World Boxing Champion, legendary John L. Sullivan (Ward Bond, in one of his greatest screen roles), jumps rope and displays his prodigious strength to his adoring fans. Corbett goads the older man, constantly, finally forcing the champ to meet him in the ring. In an epic bout that would test both men's endurance, Sullivan 'meets his match', and Corbett learns humility...

Director Raoul Walsh obviously enjoyed working with Flynn (this was their third of eight teamings), and the actor felt far more comfortable with him than Michael Curtiz, whom he despised, despite their star-making work together. GENTLEMAN JIM was the best collaboration between Walsh and Flynn, and the film accurately captures the 'feel' of the era, striking a perfect balance of humor and drama. It, unfortunately, also marked the last major 'peak' in Flynn's Warner Brothers career; despite good reviews and box office, the WB, anticipating a public backlash over Flynn's highly-publicized rape trial, would move him into a series of war films, gradually lowering the quality of his productions.

The halcyon years for Errol Flynn were, sadly, coming to an end, even as he savored his greatest personal triumph...