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78-481: Cinderella Man is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by Ron Howard . The film stars Russell Crowe , Renée Zellweger and Paul Giamatti . It tells the true story of heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock , who was dubbed "The Cinderella Man" by journalist Damon Runyon . The film marked the second collaboration for Howard and Crowe, succeeding A Beautiful Mind (2001). Universal Pictures and Miramax Films released Cinderella Man in

156-447: A speech impediment and spoke very little until about the age of six. Munroe Barrow was committed to a mental institution in 1916 and, as a result, Joe knew very little of his biological father. Around 1920, Louis's mother married Pat Brooks, a local construction contractor, having received word that Munroe Barrow had died while institutionalized (in reality, Munroe Barrow lived until 1938, unaware of his son's fame). In 1926, shaken by

234-548: A Braddock–Louis matchup for months. Schmeling's victory gave Gould tremendous leverage, however. If he were to offer Schmeling the title chance instead of Louis, there was a very real possibility that Nazi authorities would never allow Louis a shot at the title. Gould's demands were therefore onerous: Jacobs would have to pay 10% of all future boxing promotion profits (including any future profits from Louis's future bouts) for ten years. Braddock and Gould would eventually receive more than $ 150,000 from this arrangement. Well before

312-588: A Fairytale (2006), and Howard Stern in Private Parts (1997). In 2018, the musical biopic Bohemian Rhapsody , based on the life of Queen singer Freddie Mercury , became the highest-grossing biopic in history at the time. In 2023, it was surpassed by Oppenheimer , based on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb in World War II. Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981)

390-406: A black contender was that in the mid-1930s boxing desperately needed a marketable hero. Since the retirement of Jack Dempsey in 1929, the sport had devolved into a sordid mixture of poor athletes, gambling, fixed fights, thrown matches, and control of the sport by organized crime. New York Times Columnist Edward Van Ness wrote, "Louis ... is a boon to boxing. Just as Dempsey led the sport out of

468-410: A crowd of approximately 32,000. Louis fought one of the hardest battles of his life. The bout was closely contested and went the entire 15 rounds, with Louis being unable to knock Farr down. Referee Arthur Donovan was even seen shaking Farr's hand after the bout, in apparent congratulation. Nevertheless, after the score was announced, Louis had won a controversial unanimous decision. Time described

546-615: A few notable black champions, such as Tiger Flowers . Louis and his handlers would counter the legacy of Johnson by emphasizing the Brown Bomber's modesty and sportsmanship. Biographer Gerald Astor stated that "Joe Louis' early boxing career was stalked by the specter of Jack Johnson". If Louis were to rise to national prominence among such cultural attitudes, a change in management would be necessary. In 1935, boxing promoter Mike Jacobs sought out Louis's handlers. After Louis's narrow defeat of Natie Brown on March 29, 1935, Jacobs and

624-399: A few seconds only to dash them to the ground ... That's the last time my emotions will get the better of me in a prize fight! There was much booing at the announced result, but, as I say it, it was all emotional. I gave Tommy two rounds and one even—and both his winning rounds were close. Speaking over the radio after the fight, Louis admitted that he had been hurt twice. In preparation for

702-436: A fight against Lee Ramage, Louis noticed a young female secretary for the black newspaper at the gym. After Ramage was defeated, the secretary, Marva Trotter, was invited to the celebration party at Chicago's Grand Hotel. Trotter later became Louis's first wife in 1935. During this time, Louis also met Truman Gibson , the man who would become his personal lawyer. As a young associate at a law firm hired by Julian Black, Gibson

780-622: A gang of white men in the Ku Klux Klan , Louis's family moved to Detroit , Michigan , forming part of the post- World War I Great Migration . Joe's brother worked for Ford Motor Company (where Joe would himself work for a time at the River Rouge Plant ) and the family settled into a home at 2700 Catherine (now Madison) Street in Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood. Louis attended Bronson Vocational School for

858-503: A house, where they spent the rest of their lives. During filming in Toronto , several areas were redressed to resemble 1930s New York. The Richmond Street side of The Bay 's Queen Street store was redressed as Madison Square Garden , complete with fake store fronts and period stop lights. A stretch of Queen Street East between Broadview and Carlaw was also made up to appear to be from the 1930s and dozens of period cars were parked along

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936-625: A lawsuit by MSG to halt the Braddock–Louis fight. A federal court in Newark, New Jersey , eventually ruled that Braddock's contractual obligation to stage his title defense at MSG was unenforceable for lack of mutual consideration. The stage was set for Louis's title shot. On the night of the fight, June 22, 1937, Braddock was able to knock Louis down in round one, but afterward could accomplish little. After inflicting constant punishment, Louis defeated Braddock in round eight, knocking him out cold with

1014-626: A number of props he owned which were used by him in his various films, including a jockstrap, pair of shorts and robe which were worn by Crowe in Cinderella Man . The items from the film as well as the other items on auction were bought by the HBO television show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , with the jockstrap having sold for $ 7,000. The items purchased were then donated to the last operating Blockbuster Video store in Alaska . The jockstrap

1092-440: A series of swift attacks, forcing him against the ropes and giving him a paralyzing body blow (Schmeling afterward claimed it was an illegal kidney punch). Schmeling was knocked down three times and only managed to throw two punches in the entire bout. On the third knockdown, Schmeling's trainer threw in the towel and referee Arthur Donovan stopped the fight. Well-established as one of the most significant boxing matches in history,

1170-406: A shot at the heavyweight championship held by Max Baer a possibility, Braddock continues to win. Out of a sense of pride, he uses a portion of his prize money to pay back money to the government given to him while unemployed. When his rags to riches story gets out, the sportswriter Damon Runyon dubs him "The Cinderella Man", and before long Braddock comes to represent the hopes and aspirations of

1248-528: A sponsor's exemption in a PGA event in 1952. Born on May 13, 1914, in rural Chambers County, Alabama —in a ramshackle dwelling on Bell Chapel Road, located about 1 mile (2 kilometres) off State Route 50 and roughly 6 miles (10 kilometres) from LaFayette —Louis was the seventh of eight children of Munroe Barrow and Lillie (Reese) Barrow. He weighed 11 pounds (5 kg) at birth. Both of his parents were children of former slaves, alternating between sharecropping and rental farming. Louis suffered from

1326-496: A strategy (in limited markets) for the 1988 release of Mystic Pizza , while 20th Century Fox had unsuccessfully tried a similar ploy for its 1994 remake of Miracle on 34th Street . Cinderella Man earned $ 61.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $ 46.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $ 108.5 million. In the United States and Canada, Cinderella Man opened alongside The Sisterhood of

1404-514: A strong right hand that busted James' teeth through his gum shield and lip and sent him to the ground for a few minutes. It was the first and only time that Braddock was knocked out (the one other stoppage of Braddock's career was a TKO due to a cut). Louis's ascent to the world heavyweight championship was complete. Louis's victory was a seminal moment in African American history. Thousands of African Americans stayed up all night across

1482-470: A technicality when Jack Sharkey was disqualified after giving Schmeling a low blow in 1930. Schmeling was also 30 years old at the time of the Louis bout and allegedly past his prime. Louis's training retreat was located at Lakewood, New Jersey , where he was first able to practice the game of golf , later to become a lifelong passion. Noted entertainer Ed Sullivan had initially sparked Louis's interest in

1560-494: A time to learn cabinet-making. The Great Depression severely affected the Barrow family, but Joe still made time to work out at a local youth recreation center at 637 Brewster Street in Detroit. His mother attempted to get him interested in playing the violin. He is rumoured to have tried to hide his pugilistic ambitions from his mother by carrying his boxing gloves inside his violin case. Louis made his debut in early 1932 at

1638-531: A unique disadvantage in the fight: earlier that evening, Louis had married Marva Trotter at a friend's apartment and was eager to end the fight in order to consummate the relationship. Later that year, Louis also knocked out Paulino Uzcudun , who had never been knocked down before. By this time, Louis was ranked as the No. 1 contender in the heavyweight division and had won the Associated Press' "Athlete of

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1716-585: Is equivalent to $ 1,148.60 in 2020 dollars. Louis won all 12 of his professional fights that year, 10 by knockout. In September 1934, while promoting a Detroit-area "coming home" bout for Louis against Canadian Alex Borchuk, Roxborough was pressured by members of the Michigan State Boxing Commission to have Louis sign with white management. Roxborough refused and continued advancing Louis's career with bouts against heavyweight contenders Art Sykes and Stanley Poreda. While training for

1794-641: Is often a balance between similarity in looks and ability to portray the characteristics of the person. Anthony Hopkins felt that he should not have played Richard Nixon in Nixon because of a lack of resemblance between the two. The casting of John Wayne as Genghis Khan in The Conqueror was objected to because of the American Wayne being cast as the Mongol warlord. Egyptian critics criticized

1872-418: Is one of the finest motion pictures of the year! We believe so strongly that you'll enjoy Cinderella Man we're offering a Money Back Guarantee." The promotion moderately increased box office revenue for a short period, while at least 50 patrons demanded refunds. Following suit, Cinemark Theatres also offered a money-back guarantee in 25 markets that did not compete with AMC Theatres. AMC had last employed such

1950-451: The historic rematch of the two , in one of the world's most famous sporting events. After defeating Louis, Schmeling expected a title shot against James J. Braddock , who had unexpectedly defeated Max Baer for the heavyweight title the previous June. Madison Square Garden (MSG) had a contract with Braddock for the title defense and also sought a Braddock–Schmeling title bout. But Jacobs and Braddock's manager Joe Gould had been planning

2028-453: The "mistake" that may have led to this confusion. He wrote: As Tommy walked back to his corner after shaking Louis' hand, I followed him and seized his glove. "Tommy, a wonderful perform—" I began ... Then I dropped his hand like a red-hot coal! He had started to raise his arm. He thought I had given him the fight and the world championship! I literally ran away, shaking my head and shouting. "No! No! No!" realising how I had raised his hopes for

2106-554: The American public struggling with the Depression. After wins against John Henry Lewis and Art Lasky , a title fight against Baer comes his way. Braddock is a 10-to-1 underdog . Baer is so destructive that the fight's promoter, James Johnston, forces both Braddock and Gould to watch a film of Baer in action, just so he can maintain later that he warned them what Braddock was up against, as Baer had reportedly killed 2 men in

2184-616: The Chicago Tournament of Champions against Joe Bauer. However, a hand injury forced Louis to miss the New York/Chicago Champions' cross-town bout for the ultimate Golden Gloves championship. In April 1934, he followed up his Chicago performance by winning the light heavyweight United States Amateur Champion National AAU tournament in St. Louis , Missouri . By the end of his amateur career, Louis's record

2262-562: The Louis team met at the Frog Club, a black nightclub, and negotiated a three-year exclusive boxing promotion deal. The contract, however, did not keep Roxborough and Black from attempting to cash in as Louis's managers; when Louis turned 21 on May 13, 1935, Roxborough and Black each signed Louis to an onerous long-term contract that collectively dedicated half of Louis's future income to the pair. Black and Roxborough continued to carefully and deliberately shape Louis's media image. Mindful of

2340-794: The Moon (1999), Downey as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin (1992) and as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer (2023), Foxx as Ray Charles in Ray (2004), Thompson and Hanks as P. L. Travers and Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014), and Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer (2023). Some biopics purposely stretch

2418-515: The Traveling Pants and Lords of Dogtown , and ranked fourth for the weekend with $ 18.3 million, a gross that was lower than expected. In its second weekend, the film dropped 46.9% to sixth, grossing $ 9.7 million. In its third weekend, the film dropped another 42.7% to seventh, taking in $ 5.6 million. The film's second biggest market was Japan, where it grossed $ 2.5 million in its opening weekend and ranked fifth. The film ended its run in

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2496-481: The United States enters the Great Depression , Braddock does manual labor as a longshoreman to support his family, even with his injured hand. Unfortunately, he cannot get work every day. Thanks to a last-minute cancellation by another boxer, Braddock's longtime manager and friend, Joe Gould , offers him a chance to fill in for just one night and earn cash. The fight is against the number-two contender in

2574-454: The United States has ever had such an effect on Negro emotions—or on mine. I marched and cheered and yelled and cried, too. Despite his championship, Louis was haunted by the earlier defeat to Schmeling. Shortly after winning the title, he was quoted as saying, "I don't want to be called champ until I whip Max Schmeling". Louis's manager Mike Jacobs attempted to arrange a rematch in 1937, but negotiations broke down when Schmeling demanded 30% of

2652-500: The United States on June 3, 2005. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $ 108 million worldwide. Cinderella Man received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actor for Giamatti. Crowe and Giamatti both received Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for their performances, and Giamatti won a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actor . Retrospective critical reviews have named Cinderella Man as one of

2730-450: The Year" award for 1935. What was considered to be a final tune-up bout before an eventual title shot was scheduled for June 1936 against Max Schmeling . Although a former world heavyweight champion, Schmeling, who had been knocked out by the same Max Baer Louis had handily beaten, was not considered a threat to Louis, then with a professional record of 27–0. Schmeling had won his title on

2808-648: The actual fight, Jacobs and Gould publicly announced that their fighters would fight for the heavyweight title on June 22, 1937. Figuring that the New York State Athletic Commission would not sanction the fight in deference to MSG and Schmeling, Jacobs scheduled the fight for Chicago. Each of the parties involved worked to facilitate the controversial Braddock–Louis matchup. Louis did his part by knocking out former champion Jack Sharkey on August 18, 1936. Meanwhile, Gould trumped up anti-Nazi sentiment against Schmeling, and Jacobs defended

2886-435: The age of 17. Legend has it that before the fight, the barely literate Louis wrote his name so large that there was no room for his last name, and thus became known as "Joe Louis" for the remainder of his boxing career (more likely, Louis simply omitted his last name to keep his boxing a secret from his mother). After this debut—a loss to future Olympian Johnny Miler —Louis compiled numerous amateur victories, eventually winning

2964-458: The casting of Louis Gossett Jr. , an African American actor, as Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in the 1983 TV miniseries Sadat . Also, some objected to the casting of Jennifer Lopez in Selena because she is a New York City native of Puerto Rican descent while Selena was Mexican American . Because the figures portrayed are actual people, whose actions and characteristics are known to

3042-709: The club championship of his Brewster Street recreation center, the home of many aspiring Golden Gloves fighters. In 1933, Louis won the Detroit-area Golden Gloves Novice Division championship against Joe Biskey for the light heavyweight classification. He later lost in the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions. The next year, competing in the Golden Gloves' Open Division, he won the light heavyweight classification, this time also winning

3120-562: The collective nickname "Bum of the Month Club". Notables of this lambasted pantheon include: Despite its derogatory nickname, most of the group were top-ten heavyweights. Of the 12 fighters Louis faced during this period, five were rated by The Ring as top-10 heavyweights in the year they fought Louis: Galento (overall #2 heavyweight in 1939), Bob Pastor (#3, 1939), Godoy (#3, 1940), Simon (#6, 1941) and Baer (#8, 1941). Four others (Musto, Dorazio, Burman and Johnny Paychek ) were ranked in

3198-524: The country in celebration. Noted author and member of the Harlem Renaissance Langston Hughes described Louis's effect in these terms: Each time Joe Louis won a fight in those depression years, even before he became champion, thousands of black Americans on relief or W.P.A. , and poor, would throng out into the streets all across the land to march and cheer and yell and cry because of Joe's one-man triumphs. No one else in

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3276-538: The country with a $ 10.1 million gross. Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 80% based on 215 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "With grittiness and an evocative sense of time and place, Cinderella Man is a powerful underdog story. And Ron Howard and Russell Crowe prove to be a solid combination." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave

3354-570: The doldrums ... so is Louis leading the boxing game out of a slump". Likewise, biographer Bill Libby asserted that "The sports world was hungry for a great champion when Louis arrived in New York in 1935". While the mainstream press was beginning to embrace Louis, many still opposed the prospect of another black heavyweight champion. In September 1935, on the eve of Louis's fight with former titleholder Max Baer , Washington Post sportswriter Shirley Povich wrote about some Americans' hopes for

3432-503: The fight has been widely regarded as among the most important or historic sports events of all time. It was the first time that many white Americans openly cheered for a black man against a white opponent. In the 29 months from January 1939 through May 1941, Louis defended his title thirteen times, a frequency unmatched by any heavyweight champion since the end of the bare-knuckle era. The pace of his title defenses, combined with his convincing wins, earned Louis's opponents from this era

3510-591: The film a rare average grade of "A+". Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars. He wrote that while Cinderella Man was effecting as a boxing movie, its true genius was in Giamatti's "home run" portrayal of Gould and Crowe's against type performance as a "level-headed, sweet-tempered" family man: "You'd have to go back to actors like James Stewart and Spencer Tracy to find such goodness and gentleness". In April 2018, Crowe auctioned off as part of his "divorce auction"

3588-407: The first black heavyweight champion. Johnson's flamboyant lifestyle and marriage to a white woman engendered an enormous backlash that greatly limited opportunities of black fighters in the heavyweight division. Black boxers were denied championship bouts, and there were few heavyweight black contenders at the time, though there were African Americans who fought for titles in other weight divisions, and

3666-513: The gate. When Schmeling instead attempted to arrange for a fight against British Empire champion Tommy Farr , known as the "Tonypandy Terror"—ostensibly for a world championship to rival the claims of American boxing authorities—Jacobs outmaneuvered him, offering Farr a guaranteed $ 60,000 to fight Louis instead. The offer was too lucrative for Farr to turn down. On August 30, 1937, after a postponement of four days due to rain, Louis and Farr finally touched gloves at New York's Yankee Stadium before

3744-463: The gender norms that underlie the biopic in his article, "Taking Hollywood Back" in the 2009 issue of Cinema Journal . Roger Ebert defended The Hurricane and distortions in biographical films in general, stating "those who seek the truth about a man from the film of his life might as well seek it from his loving grandmother. ... The Hurricane is not a documentary but a parable ." Casting can be controversial for biographical films. Casting

3822-483: The genre as having died with the Hollywood studio era , and in particular, Darryl F. Zanuck . On the other hand, Bingham's 2010 study Whose Lives Are They Anyway? The Biopic as Contemporary Film Genre shows how it perpetuates as a codified genre using many of the same tropes used in the studio era that has followed a similar trajectory as that shown by Rick Altman in his study, Film/Genre . Bingham also addresses

3900-421: The greatest boxing films of all time. James J. Braddock is an Irish-American boxer from New Jersey , formerly a light heavyweight contender, who is forced to give up boxing after breaking his hand in the ring. This is both a relief and a burden to his wife, Mae. She cannot bring herself to watch the violence of his chosen profession, yet she knows they will not have enough income without his boxing. As

3978-519: The heavyweight division. After becoming part of the management team, Black hired fellow Chicago native Jack "Chappy" Blackburn as Louis's trainer. Louis's initial professional fights were all in the Chicago area, his professional debut coming on July 4, 1934, against Jack Kracken in the Bacon Casino on Chicago's south side. Louis earned $ 59 for knocking out Kracken in the first round. $ 59 in 1934

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4056-471: The inevitable rematch with Schmeling, Louis tuned up with bouts against Nathan Mann and Harry Thomas . The rematch between Louis and Schmeling would become one of the most famous boxing matches of all time and is remembered as one of the major sports events of the 20th century. Following his defeat of Louis in 1936, Schmeling had become a national hero in Germany. Schmeling's victory over an African American

4134-512: The interest of professional promoters, and he was soon represented by a black Detroit-area bookmaker named John Roxborough . As Louis explained in his autobiography, Roxborough convinced the young fighter that white managers would have no real interest in seeing a black boxer work his way up to title contention: [Roxborough] told me about the fate of most black fighters, ones with white managers, who wound up burned-out and broke before they reached their prime. The white managers were not interested in

4212-419: The male biopic and the female biopic as distinct genres from each other, the former generally dealing with great accomplishments, the latter generally dealing with female victimization. Ellen Cheshire's Bio-Pics: a life in pictures (2014) examines UK/US films from the 1990s and 2000s. Each chapter reviews key films linked by profession and concludes with further viewing list. Christopher Robé has also written on

4290-585: The media spotlight occurred on June 25, when Louis knocked out 6'6", 265-pound former world heavyweight champion Primo Carnera in six rounds. Foreshadowing the Louis–Schmeling rivalry to come, the Carnera bout featured a political dimension. Louis's victory over Carnera, who symbolized Benito Mussolini 's regime in the popular eye, was seen as a victory for the international community, particularly among African Americans, who were sympathetic to Ethiopia , which

4368-461: The men they were handling but in the money they could make from them. They didn't take the proper time to see that their fighters had a proper training, that they lived comfortably, or ate well, or had some pocket change. Mr. Roxborough was talking about Black Power before it became popular. Roxborough knew a Chicago area boxing promoter named Julian Black who already had a stable of mediocre boxers against which Louis could hone his craft, this time in

4446-558: The nearby Halton County Radial Railway were used for the filming, travelling on Toronto's existing streetcar tracks. In a campaign to boost ticket sales after the film's low opening, AMC Theatres advertised on June 24, 2005, that in 30 markets (about 150 theaters nationwide), it would offer a refund to any ticket-buyer dissatisfied with the film. The advertisement, published in The New York Times and other papers and on internet film sites, read, "AMC believes Cinderella Man

4524-664: The night of June 22, 1938, Louis and Schmeling met for the second time in the boxing ring. The fight was held in Yankee Stadium before a crowd of 70,043. It was broadcast by radio to millions of listeners throughout the world (including 58% of radio-equipped U.S. households ), with radio announcers reporting on the fight in English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Before the bout, Schmeling weighed in at 193 pounds; Louis weighed in at 198¾ pounds. The fight lasted two minutes and four seconds. Louis battered Schmeling with

4602-819: The public (or at least historically documented), biopic roles are considered some of the most demanding of actors and actresses. Warren Beatty , Faye Dunaway , Ben Kingsley , Johnny Depp , Jim Carrey , Jamie Foxx , Robert Downey Jr. , Brad Pitt , Emma Thompson , Tom Hanks , Eddie Redmayne , and Cillian Murphy all gained new-found respect as dramatic actors after starring in biopics: Beatty and Dunaway as Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhi (1982), Depp as Ed Wood in Ed Wood (1994), Carrey as Andy Kaufman in Man on

4680-493: The ring. Braddock demonstrates no fear. The arrogant Baer attempts to intimidate him, even taunting Mae in public that her man might not survive. When he says this, she becomes so angry that she throws a drink at him. She is unable to attend the fight at the Madison Square Garden Bowl or even to listen to it on the radio. On June 13, 1935, in one of the greatest upsets in boxing history, Braddock defeats

4758-601: The road. Maple Leaf Gardens was used for all the fight scenes, and many scenes were filmed in the Distillery District . Filming also took place in Hamilton, Ontario at the harbour for the dock workers' scene. The main apartment was shot north of St. Clair Avenue on Lauder Avenue on the west side. An awning was put up for a dress shop, later turned into a real coffee shop. The Toronto Transit Commission 's historic Peter Witt streetcar and two more cars from

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4836-407: The scene thus: "After collecting the judges' votes, referee Arthur Donovan announced that Louis had won the fight on points. The crowd of 50,000 ... amazed that Farr had not been knocked out or even knocked down, booed the decision". It seems the crowd believed that referee Arthur Donovan Sr. had raised Farr's glove in victory. Seven years later, in his published account of the fight, Donovan spoke of

4914-489: The seemingly invincible Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world. An epilogue reveals that Braddock would lose his title to Joe Louis (who would later call Braddock "the most courageous man I ever fought") and later worked on the building of the Verrazzano Bridge , owning and operating heavy machinery on the docks where he worked during the Depression, and that he and Mae used his boxing income to buy

4992-498: The sport by giving an instructional book to Joe's wife Marva. Louis spent significant time on the golf course rather than training for the match. Conversely, Schmeling prepared intently for the bout. He had thoroughly studied Louis's style and believed he had found a weakness. By exploiting Louis's habit of dropping his left hand after a jab, Schmeling handed Louis his first professional loss by knocking him out in round 12 at Yankee Stadium on June 19, 1936. The event would lead to

5070-569: The top 10 in a different year. Louis's string of lightly regarded competition ended with his bout against Billy Conn , the light heavyweight champion and a highly regarded contender. The fighters met on June 18, 1941, in front of a crowd of 54,487 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York City. The fight turned out to be what is commonly considered one of the greatest heavyweight boxing fights of all time. Conn would not gain weight for

5148-447: The tremendous public backlash Johnson had suffered for his unapologetic attitude and flamboyant lifestyle, they drafted "Seven Commandments" for Louis's personal conduct. These included: As a result, Louis was generally portrayed in the white media as a modest, clean-living person, which facilitated his burgeoning celebrity status. With the backing of a major promotion, Louis fought thirteen times in 1935. The bout that helped put him in

5226-474: The truth. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was based on game show host Chuck Barris ' widely debunked yet popular memoir of the same name, in which he claimed to be a CIA agent. Kafka incorporated both the life of author Franz Kafka and the surreal aspects of his fiction. The Errol Flynn film They Died with Their Boots On tells the story of Custer but is highly romanticized. The Oliver Stone film The Doors , mainly about Jim Morrison ,

5304-440: The white contender, "They say Baer will surpass himself in the knowledge that he is the lone white hope for the defense of Nordic superiority in the prize ring". However, the hopes of white supremacists would soon be dashed. Although Baer had been knocked down only once before in his professional career (by Frankie Campbell ), Louis dominated the former champion, knocking him out in the fourth round. Unknowingly, Baer suffered from

5382-522: The whole damned country was depending on me". When Schmeling arrived in New York City in June 1938 for the rematch, he was accompanied by a Nazi party publicist who issued statements that a black man could not defeat Schmeling and that when Schmeling won, his prize money would be used to build tanks in Germany. Schmeling's hotel was picketed by anti-Nazi protesters in the days before the fight. On

5460-512: The world, Corn Griffin . Braddock stuns the boxing experts and fans with a third-round knockout of his formidable opponent. He believes that while his right hand was broken, he became more proficient with his left hand, improving his in-ring ability. Despite Mae's objections, Braddock takes up Gould's offer to return to the ring. Mae resents this attempt by Gould to profit from her husband's dangerous livelihood, until she discovers that Gould and his wife also have been devastated by hard times. With

5538-413: Was 50–4, with 43 knockouts. Joe Louis had only three losses in his 69 professional fights. He tallied 52 knockouts and held the championship from 1937 to 1949, the longest span of any heavyweight titleholder. After returning from retirement, Louis failed to regain the championship in 1950, and his career ended after he was knocked out by Rocky Marciano in 1951. Louis's amateur performances attracted

5616-471: Was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed " the Brown Bomber ", Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 until his temporary retirement in 1949. He was victorious in 25 consecutive title defenses, a record for all weight classes. Louis has the longest single reign as champion of any boxer in history. Louis's cultural impact

5694-405: Was attempting to maintain its independence by fending off an invasion by fascist Italy . America's white press began promoting Louis's image in the context of the era's racism; nicknames they created included the "Mahogany Mauler", "Chocolate Chopper", "Coffee-Colored KO King", "Safari Sandman", and one that stuck: "The Brown Bomber". Helping the white press to overcome its reluctance to feature

5772-422: Was charged with personally entertaining Louis during the pendency of business deals. Although Louis's management was finding him bouts against legitimate heavyweight contenders, no path to the title was forthcoming. While professional boxing was not officially segregated, many white Americans did not like the prospect of a black champion. In 1908, during an era of severe anti-black repression, Jack Johnson became

5850-498: Was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first African-American to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II because of his historic rematch with German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938. He was instrumental in integrating the game of golf, helping break the sport's color barrier in America by appearing under

5928-1103: Was highly praised for the similarities between Jim Morrison and actor Val Kilmer , look-wise and singing-wise, but fans and band members did not like the way Val Kilmer portrayed Jim Morrison, and a few of the scenes were even completely made up. In rare cases, sometimes called auto biopics , the subject of the film plays themself. Examples include Jackie Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), Muhammad Ali in The Greatest (1977), Audie Murphy in To Hell and Back (1955), Patty Duke in Call Me Anna (1990), Bob Mathias in The Bob Mathias Story (1954), Arlo Guthrie in Alice's Restaurant (1969), Fantasia in Life Is Not

6006-612: Was reported missing; however, in the final episode of season 5 of Last Week Tonight , John Oliver revealed that it had been taken back and showed a short heist parody filmed with it. Biographical film Biopic scholars include George F. Custen of the College of Staten Island and Dennis P. Bingham of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis . Custen, in Bio/Pics: How Hollywood Constructed Public History (1992), regards

6084-573: Was touted by Nazi officials as proof of their doctrine of Aryan superiority . When the rematch was scheduled, Louis retreated to his boxing camp in New Jersey and trained incessantly for the fight. A few weeks before the bout, Louis visited the White House, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt told him, "Joe, we need muscles like yours to beat Germany". Louis later admitted: "I knew I had to get Schmeling good. I had my own personal reasons and

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