Il gigante di Boston

If anybody needs persuading that stars and directors can make a substantial difference to a movie then I suggest they watch this movie and then immediately view Errol Flynn in Gentleman Jim under the direction of Raoul Walsh.Both are biographical movies about world heavyweight champions but the Flynn movie works so much better because of the casting and the direction of a man who specialised in rugged macho movie making rather than the all purpose blandness of the direction by Frank Tuttle in this picture The John L of the title is John L Sullivan ,the Boston Strong Man .who became world champ at the turn of the last century.The movie traces his rise and fall .In between bouts with opponents in the ring and booze out of it he falls in love with and marries a musical comedy star ,played by Linda Darnell .On losing the title he plunges ever deeper into the gutter before striving to get his life back on track.

The period atmosphere is good and the supporting performances are sound but Greg McClure is inadequate as John L .Comapre his performance to Errol Flyn in Gemtleman Jim and you will see the difference between one who looks the part(McClure)and one who inhabits it (Flynn).I have already alluded to the flaccid direction which fails to anchor the movie firmly enough .Bing Crosby produced the movie and may be responsible for its high schmaltz quotient Its okay but would have been better with a stronger lead performance

As a 66 year old man, I saw this movie in the early to mid fifties and thought it was great...I would like to see it again. I thought the acting was great and have always thought that Linda Darnell was a pretty and good actress. Being a retired professional photographer I still enjoy the lighting of the good old "greats" in black and white. The movie photographers of yesteryear were artist of their times. The great 3 dimensional look due to the highlights and shadows were magnificent. A remake of this type of movie would be great with some of the good actors of today. Andy Garcia would fit the part since he is such a great actor and nice looking. Along this type of movie would be "It Happened Tomorrow" and I Married a Witch with Fredric March and Veronica Lake.

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.

I saw this movie many long years ago, and recall the character given in your cast as Tom Thumb, uncredited. In the film his name, as I recall, was Admiral Dott, and he sang the song, Sweet Sixteen , at a gathering of Sullivan's cronies the night before his fight with Corbett.

John L. was rather upset by this and told him that he had cost him his title, as this song always brought him bad luck. (Sullivan was very superstitious). He did indeed lose to Corbett the next day, because Corbett was a superior boxer, and nothing to do with Dott singing the song.

I certainly enjoyed the film, and often wish I could see it again, but it seems to have disappeared without trace, and no longer available in any source or form!

Norrie Paton. (Campbeltown).

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>