Gentleman Jim (1942)

Gentleman Jim - 1942

Coming up next is 1942's "Gentleman Jim", starring Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith.  A banker in 1890s San Francisco becomes a boxer of a new caliber, a gentleman.  Jim Corbett must learn to navigate this new world and bring the banned sport of boxing to the center of the world stage.

The film's supporting cast includes Jack Carson, Alan Hale, John Loder, William Frawley, Minor Watson, and Ward Bond.

The film opens on an undercover fight in San Francisco.  Banker Jim Corbett (Flynn) and his friend Walter (Carson) attend and stand next to a member of the board of the bank where they work.  As they watch the fight, the place gets raided by the police.  After they're arrested, Corbett does some fast talking to get the three of them released without penalty.  The bank board member, who happens to be a judge, wants a new caliber of fight: a gentleman instead of a roughneck.  Corbett is very interested in what he has to say.

When socialite Victoria Ware (Smith) comes to their bank, he does her a favor by escorting her (and a large sum of money) to the Olympic Club.  She shows him around the place, and he is very impressed.

When she takes him to the gymnasium, he watches a pair of boxers with great interest.  One of these men happens to be the man who trained the Prince of Wales. The other happens to be the judge whom he helped out of a tight spot.

When the trainer asks him to spar with him, he dumps all of his belonging on Victoria, who is a little perturbed.

Corbett does extremely well, and he impresses the trainer.  He gains admittance to the club on the strength of Victoria and her father's recommendation.  He makes a general nuisance of himself: having himself paged at every opportunity and playing harmless practical jokes on other members.  They conspire to teach him a lesson.

A British heavyweight champion is in town and they ask him to help bring Corbett down a peg.  He readily agrees, and a special exhibition and dance is arranged.

At the appointed time, the contenders come together for the special exhibition.  The gym of the Olympic Club is packed full.

A little put off by Jim's ego, Victoria is secretly hoping that he'll lose.  In fact, her father has bet heavily against him.

During the match, Jim displays particular prowess in the area of fancy footwork, and he dances around his opponent with ease.  In no time at all, he's knocked him out.

At the dance afterwards, Victoria kids him about his ego and what a huge head he'll probably get as a result of his victory.

When he follows her outside, Jim kisses her, to which Victoria takes great offence.  She can't believe his audacity and hurries away from him after the two verbally spar on the terrace.

After a night of heavy celebrating, Jim and his pal Walter wake up in an unfamiliar place.  They discover they're in a hotel, flat broke, and also in Salt Lake City, Utah.

It's also revealed that Jim got himself a manager the night before in a bar.  In fact, the manager has already got him a fight.  Just when it looks like Jim is going to lose, he makes a surprise comeback and knocks out his opponent.  He decides he wants to take up boxing professionally.

Back in San Francisco, Jim has dreams of fighting legendary boxer John L. Sullivan.  He also meets up with Victoria Ware again.  Although initially glad to see each other, the meeting quickly deteriorates as the two can't quite seem to see eye to eye on anything.

Another boxing match is set up with a serious contender.  The place is packed.  When the police try to intervene, the crowd pick them up and throw them in the water.

Of course, Victoria is in the crowd, heavily betting against Jim and hoping that he'll be taught a lesson.

Once again, Jim knocks out his opponent, and the crowd erupts with excitement.

Jim even finds time to act in a stage play about himself.  Victoria, of course, is in the crowd, hoping for a flop and wondering how on earth he could even be part of something like this.

John L. Sullivan also does a play based on himself as well.  When Jim goes to see it, he also goes backstage to meet Sullivan.  Sullivan doesn't want to fight Jim, but Jim needles him to the point where he's practically begging for a fight.  The only thing is: he insists on a $10,000 side bet to ensure that Jim will show up.  But Jim doesn't have the money.

After a bit of a separation, Victoria and Jim meet once again.  But, as ever, their conversation turns hostile as they start to trade barbs at each other.  He invites her to go out to a new play that evening, but she refuses to go with him, claiming another invitation.

When Victoria's father notices them, he tells them they're picking up their conversation right where they left off.  When Jim leaves, Victoria's father mentions to her that Jim needs $10,000, for the Sullivan fight.  If he doesn't get it, the fight will be canceled.

Secretly, Victoria meets with Jim's manager and, on condition that he doesn't say where he got it, she loans him the money.

At the play that evening, all eyes turn to the box where Jim is sitting.  He's got quite the famous guest with him: actress Anna Held.  As she observes them, Victoria inexplicably finds herself a little bit jealous of Anna, and angry when her father tells her that it's rumored that Anna put up the money for Jim's fight.  Victoria knows it was herself and not Anna, but she is still a bit jealous.

The day of the Corbett-Sullivan fight comes.  Jim successfully outwits Sullivan into getting into the ring first.  Sullivan didn't want to go first, being superstitious.  Just to rattle him, Jim tricks him into it.

At the sound of the bell, both fighters come out swinging with Sullivan going at Corbett furiously.  Jim, however, manages to evade most of the blows with his quick footwork.

Victoria's in the audience, booing Jim, and hoping against hope that he'll lose, and that his ego will be brought down.

The fight stretches on for 21 rounds.  Both fighters are tired, but Jim starts to gain the upper hand.

He knocks Sullivan out and is proclaimed Heavyweight Champion of the World.

At the hotel celebration later that night, Jim has to go out onto the balcony to acknowledge a very enthusiastic crowd.

And inside, Victoria presents him with a present: a huge hat to accompany the big head he's bound to get from his victory.

The party goes silent when the unexpected happens.  John L. Sullivan, himself, enters and walks up to Jim.

He tells Jim he's got something he wanted to present himself.  It's the championship belt that was first presented to him.  Jim is very touched by the gift and the two men part in warm friendship.  (In my opinion, this is probably the best scene in the film.)

Victoria watches as Jim graciously accepts the award and watches how he treats Sullivan with dignity.  As she watches, she begins to have a change of heart towards Jim.

When she follows him into the garden later, the two have one final spat before admitting their feelings for each other and embracing.

Cast rundown:

   Errol Flynn................................Jim Corbett

   Alexis Smith..............................Victoria Ware

   Jack Carson...............................Walter Lowrie

   Alan Hale...................................Pat Corbett

   John Loder.................................Carlton De Witt

   William Frawley..........................Billy Delaney

   Minor Watson.............................Buck Ware

   Ward Bond.................................John L. Sullivan

And that's all for Gentleman Jim.  Errol Flynn did all of his own boxing stuntwork in this film.  He actually suffered a heart attack during the filming, which caused production to shut down for a while.  He came back and finished the film without ever using a stunt double.

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