Growing up, my brother and I loved a movie called “Gentleman Jim”. The 1942 Errol Flynn vehicle, directed by Raoul Walsh is the fanciful biography of Jim Corbett, the first prizefighter to use strategy and skill to defeat the ham-fisted bruisers of a bygone era.
There are a lot of reasons to turn your nose up at the film
today. It romanticizes boxing, which I reluctantly admit is a brutal blood
sport. The script runs from overblown to mawkish. There are ethnic shortcuts,
like that of the brawling Irish, that should not pass muster in the current
society. Flynn himself is probably better known now for his checkered past than
his acting, (although I defy anyone to name a better screen Robin Hood). But
the movie is funny, fast paced and charming. It captures Flynn at the height of
his powers as a full-fledged movie star.
What the movie also has, along with its it rough and ready
charm, is a fulsome heart. The film centers around a heavily touted fight
between challenger Corbett and the Greatest Champ of All, Boston’s own John L
Sullivan (played with power by the great character actor Ward Bond). Corbett is
the underdog, of course, but Sullivan is a step too old and a tad too lax in
his training. He cannot contend with the spirited young sprite who fills every
corner of the ring. Despite Sullivan’s prefight shows of bravado and
braggadocio, Corbett is the inevitable victor.
Our favorite scene comes near the end, when Corbett is
having a huge swanky party to celebrate his victory. Amid the white-tie revelry,
the door opens and a sad, weary and lonely John L walks in, hat in hand. The
two men share words of respect and admiration as Sullivan talks in prophecy about
the new direction of the sport to something clean and healthy. He shakes hands
with the new champion, dons his hat and walks out of the party, his head held
high.
There are a lot of ideals that folks think of typically
American. Some are unpalatable and even toxic: the “Me Against the World”
attitude, the spirit of vigilantism, the idea that a good gun can win all
battles. Somehow these have been preserved and lionized. But the simpler and
kinder morals that were once equal hallmarks of our society, like being a Good
Loser, seem to have been left by the wayside.
If the Strongest Man In the World, the unbeatable champ, can
face defeat with grace and honor, then shouldn’t we all?
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