BoxRec

Does anyone know if there has ever been made a movie about John L. Sullivan? If so, what is it called, whcih year is it from and who starrs in it, etc.?
Many thanks!

Alister

The Great John L was made in the late 1940s by Bing Crosby's production company. Can't recall who played sullivan -- try imdb.com -- but I am pretty sure Linda Darnel played the love interest.

Thanks!
I found this list of boxing movies. It is absolutley littered with errors about actual facts (you'll see), but it may serve well as a list of avaiable boxing movies.

http://www.sandlotshrink.com/movieboxing.htm

Alister

A very good list of boxing movies, however I found an error where it was stated that Jake LaMotta was the only one to K.O. Ray Robinson. Joey Maxim has this distinction, Sugar Ray not being counted out, but retiring due to physical exhaustion, Also mentioned was "Tennessee Champ" in which Charles Buchinsky, later known as Charles Bronson, character called "Sixty Jubel" gave a very realistic performance as a fighter, showing he had some genuine ring experience in the past.

According to Imdb.com
The film The Great john L was made in 1945, with Greg McClure (no relation to Doug), playing the lead.
in 1942 in the film Gentleman Jim, about James J Corbett, Ward Bond played John L.

greg mcclure was an unknown when he was cast as john l. and he remained so after the movie. stiff performance.

for a much better depiction see the aforementioned ward bond in gentleman jim. has just a couple of scenes but steals everyone he was in. he was terrific in recreating the gusto and braggadocio of the boston strong boy.

back to the john l movie. this could set up a great boxing trivia question: what actor portrayed a real life boxer in movie and had the same name as a real life boxer in a slightly later era?

too hard to phrase the question clearly, so here's the answer. actor rory calhoun played jim corbet in the john l, movie, and in the fifties there was a middleweight contender named...rory calhoun. for a while their careers overlapped.

A new film is in production now about James Braddock. It may actually be in post production. Quite an interesting story. Russel Crowe is starring.
It should be very good from what I have heard.

Boxerdog wrote:A new film is in production now about James Braddock. It may actually be in post production. Quite an interesting story. Russel Crowe is starring.
It should be very good from what I have heard.

The movie is (tentatively) named Cinderella Man, it'll be directed by Ron Howard, and is scheduled to begin shooting in early 2004. Click on the highlighetd movie name for more details from IMDB. Oh, looks like Renee' Zellweger will play the love interest. Renee' seems to just have the kind of face that is stereotypically associated with glam dolls from the 20s and 30s, you know, before modern times, when scrawny chicks became the vogue. ;)

Isn't crowe a bit beefy to play Jim Corbett, not to mention short, and Australian?

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Isn't crowe a bit beefy to play Jim Corbett, not to mention short, and Australian?

I hear he's hired James Toney as his nutrition counselor for the film.

Most aussie actors (Crowe is actually a New Zealander, but what's the diff, really, accent-wise) learn to speak sans the accent pretty early on.

And yes, Crowe (at 5' 11 1/2") is 3 inches shorter than Braddock was (you said Corbett, but that's a different James ;)), but in a movie, as long as the guys playing your opponents are f the right relative height, no problem.

Whoops I was thinking about the Corbett movie from years ago and got muddled.

I didn't know Crowe was that tall, he doesn't look it!

ACTUALLY, CINDERELLA MAN IS SCHEDULED TO SHOOT IN VANCOUVER LATE THIS YEAR. MIKE DE LISA, HANK KAPLAN AND YOURS TRULY ARE THE BOXING RESEARCHERS-CONSULTANTS FOR THE FILM.

enrique wrote:ACTUALLY, CINDERELLA MAN IS SCHEDULED TO SHOOT IN VANCOUVER LATE THIS YEAR. MIKE DE LISA, HANK KAPLAN AND YOURS TRULY ARE THE BOXING RESEARCHERS-CONSULTANTS FOR THE FILM.

Thanks, Enrique - sounds like a nice gig for you! Keep us posted on what it's like consulting for a big-budget Hollywood movie. Are you going to be on-site at all during the shoot?

IF ANYONE GOES ON SITE IT WILL BE MIKE. A FEW MONTHS AGO DE LISA CAME TO MIAMI AND WE WERE FILMED AT HANK KAPLAN'S HOME, GOING THROUGH SEVERAL POUNDS OF CLIPPINGS AND PHOTOS.... FOR THE "MAKING OF..." AND I MEAN, THEY FILMED US FOR SEVERAL HOURS AS WE CAME UP WITH ANECDOTES ETC ON BRADDOCK..

That's funny because they're actually filming it in Toronto as we speak.