Jack Johnson. You'd end up with a slow pan through a rapt crowd gathered at the circus Johnson is performing at once retired. He remains absolutely still as the camera pans up to his seat on the makeshift stage and then he turns to camera and addresses us directly, that weird little monologue. Then he starts to tell a story. Could be him jumping freight age twelve getting his ass kicked, but I think we should start with Choynski kicking his ass and the lessons in jail. The two men get out and Johnson's run to immortality begin. Imagine it: meeting with Burns in Australia; the scandal, the women, the...gauze. Then Jeffries - out-witting the vile Corbett who hurls racial abuse at him from ringside even as he handles Jeffries in the clinches. The single black man on the top of the bleachers. The resultant race-riots. The pitous Jeffries. Then a confrontation with Sam Langford before he takes off for Europe. Maybe just a hint that Johnson is ducking him and off he goes to Europe, dragging his trunks of clothes through artillery fire as he gets a little to approximate with WWI. His French cafe. The suicide of his wife. The deal to return to the USA. The Willard debicle. The circus. It's impossibly beautiful that film.
Raging Bull killed it, you`re not goig to get another DeNiro or a Scorsese plus the source material and era were perfect.
The english speaking scenes with Manny would not be interesting and who the hell could play a flipino?
There has to be at least one English speaking Filipino who could play Manny. If not, Kevin "6 degrees of separation" Bacon or Samuel "what movie didn't I appear in?" Jackson could probably do it.
Archie Moore NEEDS a Netflix documentary Start with his time in juvenile justice system To working during the depression out west being a lumberjack. To traveling the world like a hobo going town to town wanting to fight their best to make a name for himself. His getting paid zero dollars when he finally recieved a title shot in Argentina. To his shot against Marciano which he pushed for. Then loss to Patterson then career hanging in the balance against Durelle. Acting career. Then the after life of ABC charity and training Ali then Foreman.
Darren Barker all day long. Brother died in an accident, crippling hip injury, stopping a fight on a night out to then get assaulted, and then gained a world championship, even the way he won the world title was screen worthy. Good fighter and more importantly good bloke. On the other hand I wouldn’t mind seeing an Aaron Prior or Ken Buchanan film, for totally different reasons.
Stallone obtained the rights to a Jack Johnson film at the time Trump pardoned him posthumously for the unjust charge he did a year in Leavenworth for. I think his life is too crammed for a regular film. It would require a long form 10 parter, Netflix are good at. Meanwhile, watch Ken Burns 3 hour outstanding documentary, “Unforgivable Blackness.” How about Stanley Ketchel, an amazing subject, for an eventful, compact tale of a mad abbreviated life!
Critic Vincent Canby referred to the film as "One of those liberal, well-meaning, fervently uncontroversial works that pretend to tackle contemporary problems by finding analogies at a safe remove in history". Critic Emanuel Levy wrote "The movie is too theatrical and every idea is spelled out for the audience." On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 43% based on reviews from 7 critics. On Metacritic the film has a score of 53% based on reviews from 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Box Office According to Fox records, the film required $16,075,000 in rentals to break even. By December 11, 1970, it had earned $9,325,000 in rentals, thus the studio made a loss on the film.