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starring: Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, John Loderdirected by: Raoul Walsh
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302682625
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
ISBN: 6302682622
Label: MGM
Manufacturer: MGM
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM
Release Date: December 07, 1994
Running Time: 104 minutes
Sales Rank: 14169
Studio: MGM
Theatrical Release Date: November 25, 1942
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Gentleman Jim is such a bountifully superlative movie that its neglect among Warner Bros. classics has been downright mystifying. It's a boisterously exhilarating and likable picture from a director who made a habit of such things, Raoul Walsh. The performances of Errol Flynn, as pugilist dandy James J. Corbett, and Ward Bond, as heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan, just might be personal bests. And the 1890s period atmosphere, the interpersonal dynamics when the working-class Corbett clan intersects with the swells of San Francisco society, and the sheer, exuberant drive of the storytelling exemplify the richness of studio filmmaking in Hollywood's golden age. As glorious entertainment and vibrant cinema, this is a masterpiece.
It's pure Raoul Walsh from the outset--a wordless sequence as, through the knowing eyes of a street cop, we watch the strata of Gay-'90s society coalesce one summer evening, everyone out to take in an illegal boxing match in the park. (Characteristic Walsh touch: Unmistakable among the traffic is an open carriage bearing a madam and her ladies-of-the-evening.) Upwardly aspiring bank teller Corbett gets a career boost by fast-talking a prominent judge out of the slammer after the cops have swept them up in a raid. From then on, seemingly nothing can stop the brash 'Gentleman Jim' as he muscles his way into the exclusive Olympic Club and, after a casual display of fisticuffs, breaks into the boxing game himself. Along the way he attracts the irreverent attention of a well-born young lady (Alexis Smith in a characterization of uncommon spirit and wit) who finds him preposterously egotistical... but not without a certain animal magnetism.
This is a joyously earthy movie--in critic Peter Hogue's phrase, 'a vision, imaginary or otherwise, of a time when personal wholeness and physical joy were much more accessible and more fully communal.' Flynn cheerfully accepts being the butt of much of the humor; Jack Carson and frequent Flynn sidekick Alan Hale are splendid as Corbett's best pal and father, respectively; and the montages depicting his rise as a contender--by Don Siegel and James Leicester--are every bit as dynamic as their contributions to their next assignment, Casablanca. --Richard T. Jameson
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - lighthearted good time
So great to have this to add to our collection of solidly entertaining movies that we can watch many times and not get tired of. We're Ward Bond fans. He beefed-up and buffed-up for his role of John L. Sullivan, with all that swagger and commanding Irish pride he does so masterfully. A blustering,larger-than-life, unforgetable character.
Errol Flynn is top-drawer- seems just an extension of himself. Lively and polished as he plays an over-confidant charmer that gets a lot of lucky breaks but ... Read More
Rating: - Oldie but goody
You don't need me to tell you about this movie. The did a good job on it.
Rating: - Gentlemen Jim - Fun, Charming, and Cunning.
When I was given this movie I did not know what to expect. As a fairly young guy I had never even heard of Errol Flynn let alone had any desire to watch the film itself.
As soon as I started watching though I instantly was drawn into the movie. Errol plays Gentlemen Jim Corbett, a fighter who turned boxing from its roots of brutish fights into an art. You watch as he grows in his career until the match with John L. Sullivan the toughest competition around.
The movie was exciting ... Read More
Rating:  - Fantastic! Errol Flynn at his best!
Great man's fight movie! Lots of action. But a good story for the women too! Something for everyone! Well made!
Rating: - "Shake the hand that shook the world".
Flynn seized upon his strongest attributes as a Hollywood icon and very quietly applied them to this role, It is one of my favorite films.
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