Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

utgard14 Another of those great old biopics they did so well back in Hollywood's heyday. This one's from Warner Bros. and is directed by Michael Curtiz. It stars Burt Lancaster as Jim Thorpe, a Native American athlete who excelled in many sports in the first half of the Twentieth Century. He even won two gold medals at the 1912 Olympics, only to have them taken away from him on a technicality. As is the case with most biopics, then and now, liberties are taken with the facts of Thorpe's life for the purpose of telling the story in a more condensed and dramatic way. This is always a point of contention for many. As I've said in the reviews for numerous biopics before, it really doesn't bother me. I find that biographical pictures today are just as 'wrong' as then and for worse reasons. The main difference seems to be back then they glossed things up and tried to focus on the positive parts of a notable person's life story, whereas today the negatives are focused on and, in many cases, rumors and innuendo are passed off as fact. However you feel about the authenticity of these kinds of movies, it's hard to deny they were often very well-done dramas with great acting and top production values. Here we have a fine performance from Lancaster, as well as Charles Bickford as Thorpe's coach, Pop Warner. A solid supporting cast is another plus. The sports scenes are all fun and manage to incorporate old footage with the new nicely. Overall, it's not my favorite classic Hollywood biopic, or even in my top ten, but it's an entertaining one about an important figure in American sports. Definitely worth a look if you don't have a bug up your rear about the historical accuracy of biographical movies.

A_Different_Drummer Today we would recognize this as a biopic but in 1951 Hollywood was just coming off its heyday (the 30s and 40s), musicals were disappearing, consumerism was coming in, and styles were changing. First this is a 50s film with 40s sensibilities. That's important because, as any cinephile will tell you, the 50s -- when Hollywood "discovered" teenagers, and wasted its time catering mainly to that market -- is the closest thing to a lost decade in film history that we have. It is an OK film but not a great one. What is astonishing is Lancaster. I have reviewed several of his films on IMDb and, before this exercise is over, I may just review a few more. The versatility of the actor is still the stuff of legend, and rightly so. In 1951 Burt was was in his late 30s but HERE HE IS PLAYING A WORLD CLASS ATHLETE IN HIS 20s and, typical of Lancaster he pulls it off. Five years later, in his 40s, Lancaster in his 40s did Trapeze, another role that showcased his athletic prowess. And 10 years after this film, he did Judgement at Nuremberg, one of the best portrayals of his career, playing a much older judge with "second thoughts" on morality. Bottom line: for Lancaster fans only.

Robert J. Maxwell The movie itself isn't outstanding in any way. Michael Curtiz, the director, keeps the bodies in motion and wastes no time on pretentious touches. Burt Lancaster is solid without rising above the rather banal script, in which Jim Thorpe, a Sac and Fox Indian, starts out an impoverished kid on the reservation, rises to athletic stardom at Carlisle Indian School, goes on to win a bunch of hard-earned medals at the 1912 Olympics (in which George C. Patton was a member of the boxing team), marries the girl he's always loved, has a child on whom he dotes as the reincarnation of his self, and then -- one by one -- loses it all.One can hardly blame him for his downward slide. His Olympic (or Olympian) feats are nullified because he played baseball for money during a summer vacation from Carlisle. Along with them goes the coaching job he's been hoping for. His beloved son dies later. His bitterness drives away his wife -- for good. He soldiers on, playing professional football, but for less prestigious teams and lower salaries. Like the rest of us, as he grows older he loses his stamina until he can't find any work in sports. He plays host at a marathon dance in the 1930s dressed as a cigar-store Indian. He alienates his few remaining friends, including his college coach, Pop Warner (Charles Bickford), who gave him his start.Finally, he drives a truck over a football belonging to a gang of kids, gives them a new football and teaches them the elements of the sport. "Gee, thanks, Coach," says one of the kids. A broad smile spreads across Lancaster's face when he's so addressed and he -- in the words of Pop Warner -- "finds himself." The final scene has him being honored at a vast reception, looking gray at the temples, neatly dressed, grateful and distinguished. The applause deafens the listener.It's something of a cop out, that ending. Not just because the real Thorpe never managed to climb out of one of the lower socioeconomic classes, but because it panders to an audience that wants a typical Hollywood happy ending, or at least an ending ambiguous enough to suggest ultimate redemption, like "Young Man With a Horn," about a Bix Beiderbeck character. Hardly any mention is made of alcohol.The ending makes no sense. How does an individual "find himself." What does it MEAN? It's like saying that someone "got in touch with his feelings." And after having been a winner in grueling competitions like the Pentathlon and the Decathlon and having become world famous, meeting with the King of Sweden, and relishing it, are you really saved if a handful of raggedy slum kids call you "Coach" and run away after you kick their new football in their direction? Thorpe became a big, shambling wreck and picked up a few bit parts in Hollywood movies. If you want to see what he was like in the late 1940s, watch the scene in John Ford's "Wagonmaster" in which the LDS members dance in a circle with the Indians, and Ward Bond looks up with awe at the giant next to him.The soft landing notwithstanding, it's an exciting movie, and an exhilarating one. Great to see Burt Lancaster in the track and field events. (He didn't play football and wasn't much at baseball.) Lancaster was as fit as a fiddle. He kept himself in shape through regular exercise and practice. He never lifted weights so he was sinuous rather than muscle-bound like some screen narcissists.Being a hero is a tough row to hoe, or at least I would imagine. Not only is it tough being an athlete, but it raises the question of what you do for an encore. Like ex-presidents, ex-athletes must have a difficult time dealing with the discrepancy between what they once were and what they now are. Perhaps wisely, this movie focuses mainly on what Jim Thorpe was, and gives us a foolish ending so that we can walk away from the film feeling all warm inside. To treat Thorpe's later career seriously would involve a very different kind of movie.

ccthemovieman-1 This was an enjoyable, interesting biography and another instance of Burt Lancaster giving an intense acting performance.Sure, this is revisionist history here but it did show both the good and bad sides of Thorpe, one of America's all-time greatest athletes who excelled almost a century ago. Some still think he is the best athlete ever in the history of the United States.Lancaster was in great shape to play Thorpe which helped make him look convincing as a top athlete. Charles Bickford was very good as "Pop Warner," Thorpe's dedicated coach and a famous sports figure in his own right. Phyllis Thaxter was wholesomely attractive as Jim's wife. None of the leading actors who were Native Americans, as Thorpe was, are played by actual Indians but that's classic Hollywood. It takes away from some of the realism of the film. The movie features a good mix of melodrama and sports and interesting characters. It's good entertainment.