ada the leading man is my tpye

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

vincentlynch-moonoi What do you want out of this film? This is the question you have to ask before you can discuss how good a film it is.If you want biographical accuracy, you might better read Wikipedia. For example, in the film Thorpe had 1 wife and 1 son; in reality he had 3 wives and 8 children. In the film he pulled himself up by the bootstraps after his fall from stardom; in reality, after his fall from grave he took jobs such as construction worker, doorman, bouncer, and ditch digger; he also joined the U.S. Merchant Marines and was a chronic alcoholic late in life...none of which is mentioned in the film. When being treated for skin caner in the 1950s he was admitted to a hospital as a charity case.On the other hand, if you want to watch a well-made relatively fictitious biopic that is quite entertaining, step right up. In that respect, it's a very good film.And, if you want to see Burt Lancaster is a great performance, also, step right up. He's terrific and does much of his own sports work here. And I give that praise for an actor I was never really very enamored with.Other primary actors here include Billy Gray ("Father Knows Best", Bud) as the young boy Jim Thorpe, Charles Bickford as "Pop" Warner (a fine performance as Thorpe's mentor), and Phyllis Thaxter as his only wife in the film.It would be interesting to see this film remade in today's political climate. How would a filmmaker today treat the Carlisle Indian School, for example? While this is an absorbing film, I walked away from it not impressed with the totality Jim Thorpe the man...even without all the failure that accompanied his later years.

bkoganbing In a recent biography of Burt Lancaster I read that Lancaster had to learn the sport of football in order to play Jim Thorpe. It wasn't something he played growing up on the streets of East Harlem back in the Teens and Twenties. Of course Burt's natural athleticism stood him in good stead in this part. He got a better biographical treatment than Babe Ruth did who was the runner up in the competition for greatest male athlete of the century.Both Thorpe and Ruth certainly abused their bodies, the difference being that Thorpe did it primarily after his active sports career was over. Both films of their lives have the presence of Charles Bickford in it, playing the real life mentors both men had. In the Babe Ruth Story, Bickford played the real life Brother Matthias who was one of the Catholic brothers that ran St. Mary's School in Baltimore where Ruth grew up. Here in this film, Bickford played legendary football coach Pop Warner, whose own career as a pioneer in the sport began with his discovery of Thorpe while coaching at the Carlisle Indian school.I did a review of We Are Marshall when that film came out and in it remarked about how the NCAA relaxed its arcane rules when the tragedy involving the Marshall varsity football squad happened in order that the team compete the following year. Where was this crowd when Jim Thorpe needed them? Thorpe came from a poverty stricken background and between semesters at Carlisle, he had to do real physical manual labor just to put food on the table and pay his rent. He took an offer to play semi-professional baseball one summer, thereby causing unforeseen consequences down the road.Those consequences were while as a track and field star and winner of several medals in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Thorpe was stripped of his medals and trophies and his records stricken from the books. Of course it was all reinstated 70 years later in 1982 after intense lobbying of the NCAA. New and somewhat human beings were in charge then. The episode damaged his soul for the rest of his life. It was like Sir Cedric Hardwicke ordering the name Moses stricken from all public records in Egypt.The film ends after Thorpe attends the 1932 Olympics and Pop Warner notes that the guy opening the Olympics held in Los Angeles that year was Vice President Charles Curtis. To date Curtis is the only man to be either President or Vice President to be not completely Caucasian, he was American Indian on his mother's side. It's about the only distinction Curtis had in office as Herbert Hoover's Vice President.The film ends around 1932 and the rest of Thorpe's life after the action in the story is his attempts to make ends meet. Money went through his hands like water, he did a lot of bit roles in films, playing Indians of course in westerns of varying quality. He died in debt in 1953, living off the income that he got from Warner Brothers selling his life story to them. I'm sure he wished his life had come out the way the film did.Still Jim Thorpe -- All American is a nice tribute to our greatest athlete ever.

tfrizzell Emotional and heartfelt story of athlete Jim Thorpe (superbly portrayed by Burt Lancaster), a multi-faceted individual who dominated several sports of the early-20th Century. The film follows the title character from his youth at his reservation (Thorpe was a Native American) and proceeds through his college, professional and Olympic careers. Tragedy strikes on more than one occasion though as the super-star goes into a tail-spin, feeling that his nation and even God have turned their backs on him (due to his Olympic medals being stripped and the death of his young son). Through it all the film is told in wonderful flashbacks by Coach "Pop" Warner (the always outstanding Charles Bickford). Definitely worth a look. An under-rated and somewhat ignored gem from the director of "Casablanca" (Michael Curtiz). 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Michael O'Keefe This is a powerful story of the trials and tribulations of Jim Thorpe, a hero in the true sense of the word. Burt Lancaster plays the extremely talented Native American Indian. We see the football heroics at Carlisle College; being stripped of his coveted Olympic medals, and the sinking into an alcoholic oblivion.Charles Bickford plays Pop Warner, Thorpe's coach at Carlisle. Phyliss Thaxter is the patient and concerned sweetheart. Also in the cast are Suni Warcloud, Jack Big Head and Al Mejia. The legendary Michael Curtiz directs. Lancaster is excellent as the multi-talented Thorpe, from the hills of Oklahoma.Parts of this movie were filmed at Bacone College and Indian Bowl in Muskogee, Oklahoma.