apologies if this is a bit of an amateur question from me. but i'm guessing this isnt the real fight....and its a re-enactment like they used to do for crowds in those days. can any of you more learned types educate me on this ? [YT]ZZh--rmNfxk[/YT]
It is a re-enactment, it was done by both the originals ,and by actors. Unfortunately this is the latter version.
This is a terrific book that details all about the origin of film in boxing including the reenactment period which you see a version above .. http://www.amazon.com/Fight-Pictures-History-Boxing-Cinema/dp/B0071UO36O
These aren't even good actors. Saloon fights I've seem from B westerns with actors like Tex Ritter and Bob Steele going against bad guy actors like Charley King and Harry Woods from the 1930's look a ton more realistic. Also, folks paid money for this? I would think the crowd would riot. What a rip-off. The Fitz guy doesn't look all that much like him. As a matter of fact, neither does the Jeff guy. *also, it is sad and a bit hard to explain why this uninteresting video has survived the years intact while Jeff's real fights with Sharkey and Ruhlin and Monroe have disintegrated.
actually i look at it another way.....while that would be understandable in more modern times.....them days they had nothing in way of media apart from newspaper reports and maybe drawings or very primitive grainy monochrome photos of the boxers, that was it.....i expect if i was around then, with no access to anything regarding the fight and not much knowledge of the styles of either boxer, i think i'd pay and be happy enough with that.....bad as they look you have to compare it to the alternative at the time...nothing.....there was nothing to reference it against, like a video of the proper fight......as a boxing fan listening to the build up and being fascinated about the fight, i'd take that when i had no access to anything else. if i have worded that to make any sense.
There were a lot of 're-enactment' films at that time, and not just for boxing subjects. They were the cinematic equivalents of sketches appearing in news papers and periodicals in support of the story.
