Topic summary
The Great White Hope (film)
The Great White Hope is a 1970 American biographicalromanticdrama film written and adapted from the 1967 Howard Sacklerplay of the same name.
The film was directed by Martin Ritt, starring James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander, Chester Morris, Hal Holbrook, Beah Richards and Moses Gunn. Jones and Alexander, who also appeared in the same roles in the stage versions, received Best Actor and ActressAcademy Award nominations for their performances.
The film and play is based on the true story of boxer Jack Johnson and his first wife, Etta Terry Duryea; the controversy over their marriage; and Duryea's death by suicide in 1912.