This elaborate, but zesty Raoul Walsh production about the first modern boxing champ gave Errol Flynn his best non-swashbuckling role. As Jim Corbett, Flynn is in fighting trim, even for Flynn, which is saying a lot! And he seems to deeply understand the cocky, but striving Irish-American ethos of the late 1800s. Alexis Smith may not bring out any of the shadows Flynn showed with Olivia De Havilland, but she’s wonderfully tall & glamorous as a sophisticated gal who’s really only one generational step up from Corbett. The Irish family stuff is laid on with a trowel (even John Ford might have winced) and Ward Bond goes all Victor McLaglen as John L. Sullivan, but it’s first-rate period stuff with fight scenes that convince. The editing is unusually modern. With Jim Corbett's talk, flash, fancy footwork and lean build, you have to wonder if Muhammad Ali took a couple of long looks at this pic during his formative days.
No comments:
Post a Comment