The Great White Hope

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.

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.

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.

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.

Concluding reviewing African-Americans in film in chronological order for Black History Month, we're at the near end of 1970 when James Earl Jones reprises his Tony-winning role as boxer Jack Jefferson in film version of The Great White Hope which got him an Oscar nomination. Since this takes place in the early part of the 20th century, he's not very much liked by the majority white public of America at the time certainly whenever he's seen with his Caucasian female partner Eleanor Backman (Jane Alexander, also Academy nominated). His former girlfriend Clara (Marlene Warfield) certainly resents Eleanor for usurping her power over Jack who has no use for her. Good thing he has his manager Goldie (Lou Gilbert) as well as his trainer Tick (Joel Fluellen) on his side so they all go to Europe where they don't have to worry about jail time. I'll just stop there and just say that the staginess is quite evident in many scenes. Still, both Jones and Ms. Alexander are effective whenever they're together whether intimate or arguing. And Fluellen has his biggest role here and makes the most of it. In addition, it was such a treat, after playing husband-and-wife in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, to see Beah Richards-as Jack's mother-and Roy Glenn-as a pastor at her house-in the same scene again. And seeing Bill Walker-so memorable as Reverend Sykes in To Kill a Mockingbird-playing a deacon in an early scene was also pleasurable to me. One more thing, Hal Holbrook has a memorable turn as an attorney interviewing Ms. Alexander. So on that note, The Great White Hope is highly recommended. Oh, and while this is the official last entry for BHM, there are a few movies I wanted to review in the time alloted that I'm viewing in the next few days (or weeks, depending on my mood) so if you are reading this under my username, watch this space for those reviews...