The Great White Hope – 1970
Director: Martin Ritt (Hud, The Front, Sounder)
Writer: Howard Sackler (The Great White Hope, The Andersonville Trial)
Release Date: October 16, 1970
Domestic Box Office: $16.5 million
Top 5 Cast:
- James Earl Jones as Jack Jefferson (Dr. Strangelove, Field of Dreams)
- Jane Alexander as Eleanor Bachman (Kramer vs. Kramer, All the President’s Men)
- Chester Morris as Pop Scanlon (The Big Sleep, The Wild One)
- Hal Holbrook as Al Lewis (All the President’s Men, The Sting)
- Beah Richards as Aunt Molly (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Sounder)
Critical Reviews:
- Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars, calling it “a powerful and moving film that is both entertaining and educational.”
- Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film “a triumph of craftsmanship and intelligence” and praised Jones’ performance as “one of the great screen performances of our time.”
- Pauline Kael of The New Yorker called the film “a stirring and important film” and said that it “is a triumph of the human spirit.”
- Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three out of four stars, calling it “a well-made and engrossing film” but said that it “is not without its flaws.”
- John Simon of The New York Magazine called the film “a powerful and moving film” and praised Jones’ performance as “magnificent.”
Cinematic Importance: The Great White Hope is a landmark film that helped to change the way that African Americans were portrayed in Hollywood films. The film’s powerful and moving story of Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion of the world, helped to break down racial stereotypes and inspire a new generation of African American filmmakers.
This is part of the Top 25 Movies 1970 to Today Series.
Read How Movies Changed in the 1970s to understand why we made this list.
To see a full list of the movies, click here.
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