Gentleman Jim

Gentleman Jim (1942)

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

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

Date of release
1942-11-14
TMDB
7.2 / 10 (72)
Runtime
1h 44m
Genres
Drama, Comedy
Director
Raoul Walsh

Casting

Interesting facts

Gentleman Jim is a 1942 sports drama film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn as heavyweight boxing champion James J. Corbett (1866–1933). The supporting cast includes Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, William Frawley, and Ward Bond as John L. Sullivan. The movie was based upon Corbett's 1894 autobiography, The Roar of the Crowd. The role was one of Flynn's favorites.

Production

In July 1941 it was announced that Warner Bros had purchased the rights to make a film of Corbett's life from his widow, Vera. Errol Flynn was intended to star. Aeneas MacKenzie and Wally Kline were signed to write the screenplay. Ann Sheridan was announced as female co-star.

Director Raoul Walsh had met Corbett when he was a young boy.

Filming was to start in January 1942, after which Flynn was to make The Sea Devil, a remake of The Sea Beast (Warner's version of Moby Dick). Bill Morrow and Ed Beloin, gag writers for Jack Benny, did some work on the script. Phil Silvers was announced in the support cast.

Flynn was very keen to make the movie and undertook extensive boxing training, working with Buster Wiles and Mushy Callahan.

However, when the US officially entered World War II it was decided to postpone the movie so Flynn could be rushed into Desperate Journey. While he did this Horace McCoy rewrote the script. Vincent Lawrence then wrote some drafts and Robert Buckner was assigned to produce. There was some doubt the film would be made if Flynn enlisted in the army, but his application was rejected on the grounds of ill-health. Filming began in May 1942.

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