Gentleman Jim (1942)

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Vincent Lawrence (screenplay) and
Horace McCoy (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 November 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

The grandest story of the Naughty "Nineties" becomes the gayest picture of the Fighting "Forties!"

Plot:

As bareknuckled boxing enters the modern era, brash extrovert Jim Corbett uses new rules and dazzlingly innovative footwork to rise to the top of the top of the boxing world.

Plot Keywords:

Boxing | Irish American | Childhood Idol | Benefactor | Extrovert

Cast

Errol Flynn	...	James J. Corbett / Gentleman Jim
Alexis Smith	...	Victoria Ware
Jack Carson	...	Walter Lowrie
Alan Hale	...	Pat Corbett
John Loder	...	Carlton De Witt
William Frawley	...	Billy Delaney
Minor Watson	...	Buck Ware
Ward Bond	...	John L. Sullivan
Madeleine Lebeau	...	Anna Held
Rhys Williams	...	Harry Watson
Arthur Shields	...	Father Burke
Dorothy Vaughan	...	Ma Corbett

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (No. 8440) | Norway:A (1950) | Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Baldwin Estate, Santa Ana, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The sailing ship used during the dock-side fight was the same one used during filming of The Sea Hawk (1940).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the bank the day after the first fight (and their arrest with the bank director for attending it), Corbett (Flynn) and Lowrie (Carson) decide they should resign preemptively, rather than wait to be fired. However, Corbett gets a raise instead and returns from his boss's office to tell his pal Lowrie about it. As he talks, he's counting a stack of "money" of which only the top and bottom sheets appear genuine. The other "notes" are all blank sheets of paper.

Quotes:

Victoria Ware: ...you know there really aren't two sides of the tracks to San Francisco. There's only the lucky and the unlucky, those that happened to grab the right moment and those that didn't, and don't you let this Nob Hill crowd deceive you either. After all, we all started out with the same wooden washtubs.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Summer of '42 (1971)

Soundtrack:

Dear Old Donegal

Knockout (...sorry)

Gentleman Jim not really a boxing film. It is a vehicle for Errol Flynn as Jim Corbett. But having said that, the boxing scenes are a real eye-opener to the modern viewer. There are no 12 round, points decisions here.

Errol Flynn plays the Irish bank clerk who gets a shot at the heavyweight world title. Flynn is well suited to the role of suave but unpredictable Corbett. His opponent John Sullivan is still better however, a bruiser of the old school played by Ward Bond.

The theme of the film is a man pushing for his big chance. Corbett leaves his mundane life behind and builds a new persona as Gentleman Jim. Jim is a chancer who can adapt to any social environment. He is a liar and an egotist. Sullivan the heavyweight boxing champion is portrayed as a simple brute but his honesty and sportsmanship gives a certain contrast to the main character.

There is action and excitement aplenty and a wonderful ending with the requisite redemption for all. And Errol Flynn gets the girl.