L'Insurgé

James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander were phenomenal in their respective roles. It was a very difficult film to watch because of the racism that was portrayed. It's too bad that Jack Johnson ran into so much racism and difficulty as a fighter because man could he fight. This is a great film and worth the time to see.

James Earl Jones has certainly done fine in his career; if he ever feels his talent has been overlooked, I'm sure that, after supplying the voice of Darth Vader and CNN, he's crying all the way to the bank.

Still, I regret that he hasn't left us a greater body of work on film that is worthy of his talent. Much of his best work has been performed on stage. (For instance, right now he's performing with Cicely Tyson on Broadway in a hit revival of *The Gin Game* -- go see it if you can!)

But in films? After *The Great White Hope*, you'd think Jones would have been deluged with offers for Oscar-caliber roles in Oscar-caliber films; instead, we saw him (performing admirably) in a series of mediocre films and a short-lived TV series. Like many actors, he was probably glad to be working at all -- a gig's a gig, as they say. But he deserved better. No wonder he seems to prefer the theater.

So I treasure *The Great White Hope*, not only because it's a great, great movie,but also because it is the single shining gem in the film career of a great actor -- who deserved more recognition from Hollywood than he got.

(And to be fair to this magnificent film, I must also acknowledge the other actors, all superb.)

A well-remembered film from my youth and one I've been keen to re-watch since recently reading a biography of Jack Johnson on whose life this thinly-veiled movie is based. I'm also a lover of boxing movies although truth to tell, his climactic fight with "The Kid" (read Jess Willard) apart, there isn't a whole lot of fight action in the movie.

In this and other ways, it rather betrays its theatrical origins, like the obvious act-closing scene when Jefferson (read Johnson) bays "I'll be here" at the moon and other slightly overheated scenes, especially the intimate scenes between the champ and his white girlfriend, not to mention other over-dramatised incidents particularly the "Rocky"-esque final rounds of the last fight and the Ophelia-like demise of Eleanor just before it.

The film also perhaps too obviously reflects its own times as it too blatantly looks to reach out from the screen to chime in with the Civil Rights arguments of the then present-day rather than of Johnson's own time. I might also argue against the downbeat ending as presented here and personally think the film could have easily just concentrated on his historic fight with the Brady (read Jim Jeffries) character as a more upbeat finish even as I appreciate that this would have omitted the tragedy of what followed as the FBI, press and the white-controlled boxing hierarchy all combined to strip Jack of his hard-won title. Here, you see almost nothing of the fight action in Reno between the two combatants, far less Johnson's final knock-out of the returning ex-champ, himself out to recapture the title belt for the white race.

It wouldn't be the first time of course that either Broadway or especially Hollywood would rewrite history for its own ends and maybe I'm being somewhat revisionist myself in my feelings today about the film. It still manages to pack a punch in many ways especially Jack's clever escape from the police with the help of the local black baseball team or the staging of the last fight, with the crowd scene around the ring vividly resembling the actual footage of it in Cuba back in the day.

What's not in doubt either are the excellent lead performances from James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander or the recreation of the era by director Ritt.

This really is a movie, good as it is, that I think could benefit from a modern-day adaptation less devoted to the original play and in so doing give Johnson back his real name and slightly less histrionically tell his remarkable story to a new generation.

That, at least, is the great (white) hope of mine I take way from this still worthy movie.

In the early 20th century, boxer James Earl Jones (as Jack Jefferson) fights his main battles outside of the ring. He becomes the first "black" heavyweight champion of the world, but Mr. Jones finds the going gets tough after shacking up with "white" woman Jane Alexander (as Eleanor Backman). Back then, most people did not cotton to race mixing. Eventually, the battle infects Jones' relationship with Ms. Alexander. This film doesn't do justice to Howard Sackler's award-winning play, but it is worthwhile in several respects. Highlights include Irene Sharaff's crisp costumes, the later locations and several notable performances - especially Jones' charismatic and powerful lead.

******* The Great White Hope (10/11/70) Martin Ritt ~ James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander, Chester Morris, Hal Holbrook

I continue to read comments about how this film is about Jack Johnson. That's not true. It's a story inspired by Jack Johnson, who was much more articulate and sophisticated than Jack JEFFERSON, who is the character James Earl Jones plays. Granted, every obstacle put in his path because of the severe level of blatant racism was true to Johnson's life. However, I just want to point out that the real man, in spite of his era, was a more intelligent and cultured individual than the Jefferson character. In spite of this complaint, the performances in this film are absolutely sublime! It deserves to be seen for the dramatic efforts of each performer, especially James Earl Jones. EXCELLENT acting, but not an accurate representation of the man himself.