Customer Reviews

Gentleman Jim

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gentleman Jim features what I think may be the most relaxed performance I have seen Errol Flynn give in a movie. He's seems very comfortable and at home in this somewhat fictious account of the life of boxer James Corbett. Flynn is cocky and charming as usual in this story of how Corbett rose from being a bank teller to world champion. A beautiful and sassy Alexis Smith is along as the love interest, while Alan Hale is his very Irish father, William Frawley his manager, Jack Carson his best buddy, and Ward Bond his biggest rival. Everyone is very good and appears to be having a great time. The boxing sequences are well staged by director Raoul Walsh, and generous doses of humour are found throughout. It teeters on corny at times, but it is all played with such energy and obvious enjoyment, the corny moments can be overlooked. As usual for most Warner Bros biopics, I'm sure it takes many liberties with the truth, but it doesn't matter. The film is very entertaining in its presentation of his life and how boxing evolved.

Errol Flynn is largely forgotten today by the average movie goer which is a shame since he was a genuine superstar of his time. His dazzling good looks and charm combined with a rakish off screen behavior catipulted him to quick success and gave fuel to detractors who claimed there was little talent behind the perfectly chisled facade.
In reality, Flynn was a largely underrated actor shackled to many less than stellar productions by the studio's type casting. His talent for light comedy shows through brilliantly in Gentleman Jim this early forties biopic of Heavyweight Champion James J. Corbett. The movie is factual fluff when it comes to Corbett's personal life, but largely true to history concering his pugilistic efforts. Corbett did fight on barges and in rich sporting clubs to circumvent the public ban on the sport at the end of the nineteenth century.
Flynn's considerable atheticism adds further creedence to his excellent portrayl of the turn of the century fighter. An accomplished amateur boxer in his youth, Fylnn was widely regarded as the best tennis player in Hollywood and his fluid ring movmenents are a welcome relief to the bumbling screen fight efforts of Gable, Tracy and Cagney.
The beautifully understated post fight meeting of the defeated Sullivan, well played by Ward Bond, complimented by a restrained Flynn as his conquerer, is quite touching and serves as further evidence of Flynn's acting skills.
Watching Gentleman Jim is great and entertaining fun and can only make one wish Flynn was given more oppurtunities to display a largely untapped talent.

Despite several departures from historical accuracy this biography of world heavyweight champion Gentleman Jim Corbett is enjoyable and colourful entertainment with a performance from Errol Flynn that ranks alongside the liveliest he ever gave.
He is ideally cast as Corbett ,a San Francisco bank clerk ,who defeated John L Sullivan in 1892 ,in New Orleans ,to become world heavyweight champion.Success ,we are told .brought a swollen head ,an over indulgence in liquour and a tendency to braggadocio.This is plain wrong-Corbett was a modest and self effacing man throughout his life ,and it was this which earned him the soubriquet "Gentleman Jim "

Raoul Walsh -a splendid action director-directs with typical vigour and keeps thinks moving briskly with the fight scenes in particular being fine,although ,for my taste the scenes of comic relif are too broad and unsubtle.Neither does the love interst tacked on to the movie ,with Alexis Smith's society woman who becomes entangled with Corbett, work too well.The actual Corbett-Sullivan bout is well staged and Flynn accurately catches the man's revolutionary ,scientific pugilistic style.

Ignore its departures from the facts and this is enjoyable big studio film making from the golden era of the studio system with a charismatic performance from the star and some solid period detail.

The boxing scenes in this excursion from 1942 are well done and excitingly staged; Flynn was the perfect choice to play Corbett, and the actor apparently approached his subject seriously (which wasn't always the case with Flynn!). James J. Corbett was of Irish parentage, twice expelled from school for boyish pranks, married an actress at 19, (later divorced) he was a quick-thinking, bright, brash, confident man with a "gentlemen's demeanor"; Flynn sustained and made believable his characterisation. Ward Bond is first rate as John L. Sullivan and Bill Frawley is great in his role as Billy Delaney. Unfortunately, this film is annoyingly uneven. The writers invented a wholly fictitious and rather unbelievable love interest (how unusual for 1940's Hollywood!) But it doesn't stop there. There are incidents in the film which wander far from authenticity; Corbett's charactured Irish family is accompanied by painful attempts at humour - which, unfortunately, - tend to mar the film. However, despite it's negative aspects, this is a favourite film among Flynn devotees and it was one of Flynn's own personal favourites among his own films.

In real life, Errol Flynn was no pushover. Despite devastating good looks and a wickedly easygoing charm, he could hold his own in either a one-on-one fightfight or a barroom brawl. He was, in fact, one of the most feared fighters in Hollywood.

"Gentleman Jim," the story of 19th century boxer James J. Corbett, gave Warner Brothers a chance to put their bad boy on display at his physical best -- exhibiting a lean, mean physique and an undeniable flair for ring work. His toothy grin, devil-may-care charm and boyish glee in a good fight all combined to make "Gentleman Jim" one of the 1940s' most compelling films, and one of Warner Brothers' biggest hits.

It is interesting to note that during the filming of "Gentleman Jim," Flynn collapsed and was carted off to the hospital. He was diagnosed, at the ripe old age of 32, of having had a mild heart attack. His co-star in the film, Alexis Smith, visited him and begged him to slow down his destructive lifestyle. Flynn, she later said, flashed that beautiful smile of his and shook his head.

"I enjoy this side of life," he told her, "and don't care to see the other side." END

This is one Errol Flynns best movies and probably his most overlooked. He gives one of his best preformances in this film and never looked better. He played Jim Corbett with a wink and a smile and seemed to really be enjoying himself in this role.
Truly one of his best!

In my bold opinion, Errol Flynn's portrayal of Gentleman Jim Corbett was one of his finest performances. I have been an Flynn fan since the age of 10, I am now 74. My grandfather introduced me to this marvelous actor and for that I will be forever grateful.

I am replacing my VHS tapes with the DVDs as they are released. This film MUST be released on DVD for all of the Errol Flynn fans around the world.

Final note: Like Errol Flynn, I too have a Standard Schnauzer and guess what I named him: You are correct: Corbett!

Paul

Well, I am delighted to hear a rumor that this may finally be issued on DVD in 2006, In my humble opinion, this is Errol Flynn's most entertaining film, especially when "Gentleman Jim" Corbett's ring career begins in the film. Then it goes from a good film to a great one.

Few people could play arrogant men and still come off as a likeable good guy as well as Flynn could and this film is a perfect example of that. Reportedly, this was Flynn's favorite role and I believe that. You can just sense how much fun he was having here. Ward Bond also looks like he was really enjoying his role playing the famous John L. Sullivan. Bond, too, was never better.

There is just the right amount of action boxing scenes in here and they are pretty well done, too. Corbett's family is fun to watch, too, as they carry on in the stands during Jim's matches. Out of the arena, Corbett's family's constant arguments and yelling can get a little too loud and annoying but they set the stage for a fitting conclusion.

And speaking of the conclusion, Sullivan's speech to Corbett after the big fight is very touching and the highlight of the film. Some mean-spirited critics (Variety, for example) didn't like that ending nor the fact that much of the film is fictionalized but - duh - most films are fictionalized, like it or not. And, in this case, it made for a nice story and nice ending. (In real life, Corbett was a very soft-spoken true gentleman, not anything like Flynn's portrayal, but Flynn still make him a good guy.)

This is one of the more entertaining classic films I have ever watched.

This movie was recommended to me by my father and I must say it was a good boxing movie. It is hard to find a good boxing movie but this delivers especially if you are a fan of Errol Flynn, which I am. I don't understand why this is not on DVD. It needs to be because it is a classic movie. The boxing shown was actually very good for it's time. The story could've been a little more in depth but hey it is still worth watching if you are a fan of boxing or Errol Flynn. You won't be disappointed so don't miss out.

Errol Flynn takes Ward Bond for the heavyweight championship. The amazing thing is how the character of Errol Flynn wins our sympathy little by little, despite his huge ego and conceit. The same way he finally wins the rich girl. Great characterizations, wonderful direction by Raoul Walsh (one of his best films), fantastic sets. There's not a dull moment in its 2 hours of film. Ward Bond does a great performance too as the final rival for the title. It has all the ingredients of a truly great classic. But best of all is the role of Corbett (Flynn), it just suits him perfect. One more masterpiece for the collection.