''Gentleman Jim'' is a 1942 film directed by

Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. He wa ...

and starring

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, freque ...

as heavyweight boxing champion

James J. Corbett James John "Jim" Corbett (September 1, 1866 – February 18, 1933) was an American professional boxer and a World Heavyweight Champion, best known as the only man who ever defeated the great John L. Sullivan (hence the " man who beat the man" c ...

(1866–1933). The supporting cast includes

Alexis Smith Margaret Alexis Fitzsimmons-Smith (June 8, 1921 – June 9, 1993) was a Canadian-born American actress and singer. She appeared in several major Hollywood films in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Awar ...

Jack Carson John Elmer Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963) was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including ''The Strawberry Blonde'' (1941) with James Cagney and ...

, Alan Hale,

William Frawley William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy ser ...

, and

Ward Bond Wardell Edwin Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series ''Wagon Train'' from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Be ...

John L. Sullivan John Lawrence Sullivan (October 15, 1858 – February 2, 1918), known simply as John L. among his admirers, and dubbed the "Boston Strong Boy" by the press, was an American boxer recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing, ...

. The movie was based upon Corbett's 1894

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''The Roar of the Crowd''. The role was one of Flynn's favorites.Tony Thomas, Rudy Behlmer * Clifford McCarty, ''The Films of Errol Flynn'', Citadel Press, 1969 p 116-117

Plot

In 1887

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, boxing is illegal. James J. Corbett (

), a brash young bank teller, attends a match with his friend Walter Lowrie (

). When a police raid nets Judge Geary, a member of the board of directors of Corbett's bank, Corbett's fast talking gets his superior out of trouble. The judge is looking to improve the image of boxing by recruiting men from more respectable backgrounds and having them fight under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules. He has even imported British coach Harry Watson ( Rhys Williams) to evaluate prospects. Watson finds that Corbett, raised in a combative Irish immigrant family headed by Pat Corbett ( Alan Hale), has excellent fighting skills; Geary likes his protégé's seemingly-polished manner. However, Corbett's arrogance irritates many of the upper class, particularly Victoria Ware (

). They clash frequently, but Corbett is attracted to her, and his limitless self-confidence and charm eventually overcome her distaste for him. Meanwhile, Corbett becomes a professional prizefighter. He acquires a manager, Billy Delaney (

), and introduces a new, more sophisticated style of boxing, emphasizing footwork over the unscientific brawling epitomized by world champion

(

). After winning several matches, Corbett finally gets the opportunity to take on the great man. Corbett's method of boxing baffles Sullivan, and Corbett wins not only the title, but also Victoria. Corbett is crowned as the new heavyweight champion. His victory party is unexpectedly interrupted by the defeated Sullivan, who has come to personally present the championship belt to Corbett.

Cast

as Victoria Ware *

as Walter Lowrie * Alan Hale as Pat Corbett * John Loder as Carlton De Witt *

as Bill Delaney *

Minor Watson Minor Watson (December 22, 1889 – July 28, 1965) was a prominent character actor. He appeared in 111 movies made between 1913 and 1956. His credits included '' Boys Town'' (1938), ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942), '' Kings Row'' (1942), '' Guad ...

as Buck Ware *

* Madeleine Lebeau as Anna Held * Rhys Williams as Harry Watson *

Arthur Shields Arthur Shields (15 February 1896 – 27 April 1970) was an Irish actor on television, stage and film. Early years Born into an Irish Protestant family in Portobello, Dublin, Shields started acting in the Abbey Theatre when he was 17 years old ...

as Father Burke *

Dorothy Vaughan Dorothy Jean Johnson Vaughan (September 20, 1910 – November 10, 2008) was an American mathematician and human computer who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA, at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virg ...

as Ma Corbett * Harry Crocker as

Charles Crocker Charles Crocker (September 16, 1822 – August 14, 1888) was an American railroad executive who was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the westernmost portion of the first transcontinental railroad, and took ...

(uncredited) * Art Foster as Jack Burke (uncredited) * Pat Flaherty as

Harry Corbett Harry Corbett OBE (28 January 1918 – 17 August 1989) was an English magician, puppeteer and television presenter. He was best known as the creator of the glove puppet character Sooty in 1952. Biography Corbett was born in Bradford, Wes ...

(uncredited) *

Frank Mayo Frank Mayo may refer to: * Frank M. Mayo (1839–1896), American actor and comedian * Frank Mayo (actor) Frank Lorimer Mayo (June 28, 1889 – July 9, 1963) was an American actor. He appeared in 310 films between 1911 and 1949. Biograp ...

Gov. Stanford ''Gov. Stanford'' is a 4-4-0 steam locomotive originally built in 1862 by Norris Locomotive Works. Following construction, it was disassembled and hauled by the ship '' Herald of the Morning'' around Cape Horn to California, then up the river ...

(uncredited) * Henry O'Hara as

Collis Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested i ...

* George Lloyd as Harrigan (uncredited) *

Mike Mazurki Mike Mazurki (December 25, 1907 – December 9, 1990) was a Ukrainian-American actor and professional wrestler who appeared in more than 142 films. His 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) presence and face had him typecast as often brainless athletes ...

as Jake Kilrain (uncredited) * Sammy Stein as

Joe Choynski Joseph Bartlett Choynski (; November 8, 1868 – January 24, 1943) was an American boxer who fought professionally from 1888 to 1904. Boxing career "Chrysanthemum Joe", the son of a Jewish Polish immigrant who settled in California in 1867, wei ...

(uncredited)

Production

Development

In July 1941 it was announced that Warner Bros had purchased the rights to make a film of Corbett's life from his widow, Vera.

was intended to star. Aeneas MacKenzie and Wally Kline were signed to write the screenplay.

Ann Sheridan Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967) was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films ''San Quentin'' (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938) with James Cagney ...

was announced as female co-star. Director Raoul Walsh had met Corbett when he was a young boy. Filming was to start in January 1942, after which Flynn was to make ''The Sea Devil'', a remake of '' The Sea Beast'' (Warner's version of ''

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...

''). Bill Morrow and Ed Beloin, gag writers for

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century wit ...

, did some work on the script.

Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly sixty years. Silvers achieved major popu ...

was announced in the support cast. Flynn was very keen to make the movie and undertook extensive boxing training, working with Buster Wiles and Mushy Callahan. However, when the US officially entered World War II it was decided to postpone the movie so Flynn could be rushed into '' Desperate Journey''. While he did this

Horace McCoy Horace Stanley McCoy (April 14, 1897 – December 15, 1955) was an American writer whose mostly hardboiled stories took place during the Great Depression. His best-known novel is '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' (1935), which was made into a ...

rewrote the script.

Vincent Lawrence Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer''). People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor *Vincent van Gogh ...

then wrote some drafts and

Robert Buckner Robert Buckner (May 28, 1906 – August 18, 1989) was an American film screenwriter, producer and short story writer. Biography Buckner studied at the University of Virginia and the University of Edinburgh. He began his professional writing ca ...

was assigned to produce. There was some doubt the film would even be made if Flynn enlisted in the army but they rejected his application on the grounds of ill-health. Filming began in May 1942.

Shooting

In his somewhat unreliable 1959 'autobiography' ''

My Wicked, Wicked Ways ''My Wicked, Wicked Ways'' is an autobiography written by Australian-born American actor Errol Flynn with the aid of ghostwriter Earl Conrad. It was released posthumously in 1959 and became immensely popular for its cynical tone and candid depic ...

'', Flynn details how he suffered a mild heart attack while making this movie. He collapsed on set on 15 July 1942, while filming a boxing scene with Ward Bond. Filming had to be shut down while he recovered; he returned a week later. Flynn took the role seriously, and was rarely doubled during the boxing sequences. Alexis Smith recounted in the biography ''The Two Lives of Errol Flynn'' by Michael Freedland how she took the star aside and told him, "'It's so silly, working all day and then playing all night and dissipating yourself. Don't you want to live a long life?' Errol was his usually apparently unconcerned self: 'I'm only interested in this half,' he told her. 'I don't care for the future.'"

Reception

Box office

This was the third Errol Flynn movie to gross at least $2 million for Warner Bros. in 1942, according to ''Variety''.Glancy, H. Mark. "Warner Bros film grosses, 1921–51." ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television''. March 1995 According to Warners records, the film earned $1,775,000 domestically and $2,067,000 foreign.

Critical response

''Filmink'' magazine called the film "terrific fun and Flynn is splendid – he rarely acted with such infectious enjoyment and is obviously having the time of his life in the title role, a part which obviously was close to his real life personality: big headed, cocky, a bit of a prat, the sort of person who has himself paged all the time at a gym just for the thrill of hearing his name spoken out loud, but with a likeable sheen."

References

External links

* * * * * {{Raoul Walsh 1942 films 1940s biographical drama films 1940s sports drama films American biographical drama films American sports drama films Biographical films about sportspeople American black-and-white films American boxing films 1940s English-language films Films based on biographies Films directed by Raoul Walsh Films set in San Francisco Films set in the 1890s Warner Bros. films Films scored by Heinz Roemheld Cultural depictions of boxers Cultural depictions of American men 1940s historical drama films American historical drama films 1940s American films