The Great White Hope

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

THE GREAT WHITE HOPE is a successful play by Howard Sackler first, premiered in 1967 and both Jones and Alexander won Tony Awards for it. Then this film adaptation sticks with the two leads and is directed by Martin Ritt, whose works are generically significant in requiring dramatic acting predisposition (THE LONG, HOT SUMMER 1958, 6/10; MURPHY'S ROMANCE 1986, 7/10).

The scenario is about the black boxer Jack Jefferson (Jones), whose real-life archetype is Jack Johnson, the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion (1908-1915), his up-and-down life orbit and the relationship with his white financé Eleanor (Alexander). And the title signifies his opponents' urgent solicitation for any white boxer who can reclaim the golden belt from him.

To be expected, the first half is a prolonged battle against the racist's bias inside the US nation, Jack's gregarious and often jokey public image is his weapon to counteract the provincial prejudice, but when he faces his own kinds, he takes umbrage at their equally biased minds, which shows how in-your-face and sapient is Sackler's script, external hostility is disrespectful, to be sure, but it is the internal rift that hurts the most (usually due to jealousy). Fortunately, their unconditional love is the remedy for this part, Jack wins the champion title but soon to be deliberately persecuted by authority figure sand has to sneak away from homeland and go into exile in Europe, with a daring scheme to get away under the police's eyes after receiving his mother's blessing, Jack escapes with Eleanor, his agent Goldie (Gilbert) and loyal trainer Tick (Fluellen).

The second part of the film is an extensive hubris study, from a national champion to a down-and-out exile, Jack and Eleanor's affinity is under severe strains, from Great Britain, France to Hungary, Jack persistently refuses to go back for a lose-it-all match in exchange of getting his charges revoked, he dismisses Goldie and they relocate in Mexico, it all goes down to Jones and Alexander's heartbreaking bickering scenes which is unsparingly painful to watch, and at the cusp of the tension, a tragedy would unexpectedly ensue, and finally Jack caves in, fights for a match he is doomed to lose. The spectacular performance is the bona-fide highlight of this theatrical piece, both Jones and Alexander are remarkably scintillating and intensely heart-rending, they were worthily Oscar-nominated that year, as her screen debut, Alexander has a borderline leading role but her plaintive mien and inviolable finesse proves that acting is her vocation. Jones, before he would become the universally beloved voice of Darth Vader, clearly goes all out in a hard-earned leading role for a black actor at then, he scopes out both the charisma and the weakness of his character quite remarkably, although physically he doesn't bear a convincing resemblance of a brawny boxer.

If you are a sport fan and into boxing matches, the film would let you down mercilessly, by modern standard the final showdown is conspicuously fake, all the jabbing and punching are laughably posed, but it would be a different matter for theatrical connoisseurs, for me, I didn't see the ending coming as it is enacted in the film, a nice conceit indeed, he doesn't fake to lose the game, purely he is not that champion any more, he is a man destroyed by this unjust world, a tragedy of his time and a tale of woe resounds profoundly.

Before I fully begin, let me make one thing clear: The emphasis in this film is not boxing, but the life of a boxer (Jack Johnson) played by James Earl Jones (Darth Vader).

In telling the tale of Johnson's life this movie depicts the racial boundaries going on in America in the early 20th century. Unlike many films which tell a tale of racial injustice, this film manages to do it:

a) Without sugar coating anything. b) Without being over-dramatic.

I saw it today on television and I didn't know what to expect before it started. I was interested to see it because I've heard references made to it in the past and was curious. I can say for certain that giving this film a chance, and watching it beginning to end, is the best movie-related decision I've made in a long time (at least ten-thousand times better than deciding to rent Resident Evil 2).

In watching this I got a deep sense of reality. A big reason for this is a simply phenomenal performance by James Earl Jones, as well as solid acting on the part of Jane Alexander and many of the supporting cast members.

I couldn't believe that IMDb only has 8 reviews of this movie (at least at the time of me writing this), and due to some folks totally missing the point of it, it has a somewhat sad rating.

SEE this film if you are into compelling stories about interesting people which are well written and acted.

DON'T see this film if you expect Rocky III.

There are a lot of good movies out there and I enjoy all manner of cinema, but I can say without a doubt in my mind that The Great White Hope has made it into the realm of my favorites.

10 out of 10

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.)

It's criminal that this movie doesn't get the type of attention or respect it deserves. Great White Hope chronicles the life of Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion, and his bouts with the racism of the 1900s. Before this movie, I never understood where James Earl Jones got his reputation from. Clearly it's from this. He commands all of the scenes he's shot in, demonstrating a mastery of his craft that I've rarely with any other actor. Jones rages and roars through the movie, conveying a mixture of pride and frailty that is simply not to be missed.

At the risk of being redundant: don't sleep on this movie. It's James Earl Jones at his best.