The Great White Hope **** (1970, James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander, Lou Gilbert, Hal Holbrook, R G Armstrong, Beah Richards, Chester Morris, Robert Webber, Moses Gunn) – Classic Movie Review 10,400

James Earl Jones gives a knockout performance as the world’s first black heavyweight boxing champion, in Martin Ritt’s 1970 drama film The Great White Hope.

Director Martin Ritt’s 1970 drama film The Great White Hope is an impeccable slice of liberal film-making from a man who came out of that corner fighting more often than most (Ritt), with a knockout performance (reprising his Tony Award-winning role in the New York stage hit play) by James Earl Jones as real-life Jack Johnson (or Jefferson as he is fictionalised here), the world’s first black heavyweight boxing champion (from 1908 to 1915).

He is humiliated by the whites and tormented for having a white fiancée, Eleanor (Jane Alexander) and, facing a prison sentence in America, escapes with Eleanor to Europe.

Human greed, prejudices and violence are exposed along with a contemporary message in the screenplay by Howard Sackler, based on his play. There is a sackful of emotion throughout and a disturbing finale in which Jefferson is forced to pretend that he is defeated by a white boxer. It is Alexander’s film début (she was in the Broadway show too). It was nominated for two Oscars: Best Actor and Best Actress. Jones won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.

Also in the cast are Lou Gilbert, Hal Holbrook, R G Armstrong, Beah Richards, Chester Morris, Robert Webber, Moses Gunn, Joel Fluellen, Lloyd Gough, George Ebeling, Larry Pennell, Marcel Dalio, Rodolfo Acosta, Bill Walker, Scatman Crothers and Basil Dignam.

The Great White Hope is directed by Martin Ritt, runs 102 minutes, is made by 20th Century Fox, is written by Howard Sackler, based on the play by Howard Sackler, is shot by Burnett Guffey, is produced by Lawrence Turman, is scored by Lionel Newman (music supervisor), and is designed by John DeCuir (Production Design) and Jack Martin Smith (Art Direction), with choreography by Donald McKayle

The Great White Hope is directed by Martin Ritt, runs 103 minutes, is made by Lawrence Turman Films, is released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Howard Sackler, based on the play by Howard Sackler, is shot in DeLuxe colour and Panavision by Burnett Guffey, is produced by Lawrence Turman, is scored by Lionel Newman (music supervisor), and is designed by John DeCuir (Production Design) and Jack Martin Smith (Art Direction), with choreography by Donald McKayle

Muhammad Ali visited the set and assisted unofficially on the boxing choreography. He reportedly said to James Earl Jones: ‘Hey! This play is about me! You just change the time, date and the details and it’s about me!’

Playwright Howard Sackler said that his play is about a man fighting society rather than being directly about racism: ‘What interested me was not the topicality but the combination of circumstances, the destiny of a man pitted against society. It’s a metaphor of struggle between man and the outside world.’

Though he is regarded as the one of greatest stage and screen actors, 50 years on The Great White Hope remained James Earl Jones’s only Oscar nominated performance, though he won an Honorary Academy Award in 2012. He turned 90 on 17 January 2021.

Jones’s Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer – Male was his only Golden Globe win.

James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024)

James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024).

James Earl Jones died at his home in Pawling (population 8,000), Dutchess County, New York, on September 9, 2024, at the age of 93.

The man famed for his voice role as Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise had a stutter since childhood, but said that poetry and acting helped him to overcome his disability. He said: ‘I was a stutterer. I couldn’t talk.’

He was mute from his first year of school, but at high school his English teacher discovered he had a gift for writing poetry and urged him to challenge his reluctance to speak through reading poetry aloud to the class.

Jones made his film debut in Dr Strangelove (1964), received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Claudine (1974), and became world famous as the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise, beginning with the 1977 Star Wars. Jones’ other notable films include Conan the Barbarian (1982), Matewan (1987), Coming to America (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), and The Lion King (1994).

Jones also worked on stage, winning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as a boxer in The Great White Hope (1968).

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,400

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