Gentleman Jim (Warner Bros.) (1942)

Still GJ 91*; Mat 209—30c It's the afternoon of the famous Corbett-Sullivan fight and Bill Delaney (William Frawley), manager of James J., greets the challenger’s family, headed by Alan Hale and Dorothy Vaughan. Jack Carson, who plays Corbett’s best friend, and Errol Flynn, cast as Corbett in “Gentleman Jim,” now at the Strand Theatre, are interested spectators. Build Corbeti Home For New Strand Film Not south, but north of the “slot” in San Francisco is a thoroughfare known as Hayes Street. It was there that James J. Corbett, heavyweight champion of the world, was born, and a section of & this street was & recreated on : Stage 1 at } Warner Bros. 3 studio in Burbank, Calif. It is one of the sets that have been built —under the government’s $5000 restriction for “Gentleman Jim,” the story of the ’Frisco bank clerk who became a world’s boxing champion. The film is at the Strand. It’s a dirt street, for they didn’t have pavements back in those days—those fabulous ’80’s and ’90’s. Pat Corbett, played by Alan Hale, who fathered Jim and the rest of the clan, was a livery stable keeper. Were he alive today—what with gas and tire rationing — Pat Corbett would be in the money. The Corbett house is on Hayes Street. A yellow, aged, two-story affair. Next to it is a vacant yard. Vacant, that is, of houses, but filled with carriages of all sorts. Hansoms, broughams, gigs, shays and surreys and a few hearses crowd the enclosure. Hearses because the Corbett stable carried the brave Mat 110—l5c ERROL FLYNN Still Service Stills available on most of the scene cuts on the publicity pages in _ this campaign plan. Price: 10c each. Order by still number indicated under each cut, from Campaign Plan Editor, 321 West 44 Street, New York City. If stili number is not given, photo is not available because the cut was made from a special retouch or a composite. (*Asterisk denotes still is available at local Vitagraph Exchanges.) sign, “Livery, Hacks and Fine Funerals.” The top price for a Corbett entourage on a funeral was $500, and Jim Corbett never got higher praise than when, after one victory, Pat Corbett announced, “Sure, ’twas as neat as one of my $500 jobs!” Adjoining the livery stable is the historic barn; historic because it was in this building that James J. Corbett first fought, first donned boxing gloves, and first learned the rudiments of the ring game. Well — that’s Hayes Street. Unlike baseball, which has a shrine in Cooperstown, N. Y., there is no Hall of Fame for boxing. If they had one, it might well be on Hayes Street in San Francisco. For that’s the home of Jim Corbett—the first world’s heavyweight champion under the modern Marquis of Queensberry rules. John Loder Proudest man in the “Gentleman Jim” cast is John Loder, handsome leading man, who has been appointed a Major in the California State Militia. In his new position, Loder is assigned to Brigade Headquarters under Col. H. B. K. Willis. Loder, who graduated from Sandhurst, England’s West Point, rose from Second Lieutenant to Captain in the last war, being the youngest British officer to see service in the first and second battles of the Somme. He also served at Cambrai, and saw action in the Dardenelles and in Lybia. Loder was wounded and captured in the second Somme battle, and was in a German prison camp for nine months. “Gentleman Jim,’ Warner Bros.’ picture about James J. Corbett, stars Errol Flynn in the central role with Alexis Smith teamed opposite him. Featured in the cast are Jack Carson, Alan Hale and Ward Bond as John L. Sullivan, who lost his heavyweight crown to Corbett in the classic bout on September 7, 1892. 3 3 *% William Frawley The first time William Frawley saw James J. Corbett, the world’s heavyweight boxing champion was playing baseball. “He was,” says Frawley, a connoisseur of things athletic, “a pretty hammy first-baseman.” Frawley is playing the role of Billy Delaney, Corbett’s first trainer and manager, in Warner Bros.’ film story of the San Francisco bank clerk who became the ring king, ‘‘Gentleman Jim,” now at the Strand. When casting executives selected Frawley for the part, they chose better than they knew. Frawley was an intimate, personal friend of “Gentleman Jim” for many years. “Corbett,” Frawley explained today, “always fancied himself as a pretty good ball player. In fact his brother, Joe, was good enough to play in the big leagues and the champ thought he was just about as good. “Hach summer he used to make a tour of cities in the minor leagues, playing first base for the home team for three or four innings and picking himself up a neat bit of change. He came to my home town of Burlington, Iowa, one summer, and my father, who knew him slightly, took me to see the game and to meet the champion. “He was a nice guy, but he was no Hal Chase around that first cushion.” Ward Bond Still GJ 563; Mat 111 —Il5c Ward Bond plays the role of John L. Sullivan in “Gentleman Jim,” the Warner Bros. picture opening Friday at the Strand Theatre. John L. Sullivan had about 15 pounds on Ward Bond, but if the latter hadn’t been train ing so strenuously for his part, their weight would have been almost equal. Bond, playing the role of the great Sullivan in Warner Bros.’ “Gentleman Jim,” now at the Strand Theatre, lost 12 pounds while training for the scenes he played with Errol Flynn as James J. Corbett. Bond’s weight is now 205. Sullivan, at the time of the Corbett fight, weighed 220. Bond is taller than Sullivan, who was stocky and_ broadbeamed. Otherwise, their physical appearance is not dissimilar. In fact, with the help of old photographs of Sullivan and the astuteness of the makeup department, Bond’s likeness to the former champion is startling. “It’s the elaborate mustache and the left-hand part that did it,” says Bond. Joseph North Discovered among the extra players in Warner Bros.’ “Gentleman Jim,” opening Friday at the Strand Theatre was one Joseph North. Joe North never fought any fights, but he has an amazing fistic background. He was the personal valet for three champions — for Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, and for James J. “Gentleman Jim” Corbett. North, an _ elderly, distinguished-looking fellow, recalled that he was Gentleman Jim’s valet 18 years ago when the former champion was appearing in a picture at Universal Studios called “The Midnight Angel.” * ak * Art Foster Art Foster, new Warner Bros. contract player, received his first fan letter before he had even appeared on _ the screen. The letter was from a woman in Asheville, North Carolina, Foster’s birthplace, and she wanted to know how he managed to jump from a lowly shipyard worker, forty years old, into a promising movie career. She had read about him in a news story. The answer, of course, is that he was well equipped for the demands of character roles. He had been for years a seaman and world traveler, a professional heavyweight prize fighter and an accomplished dialect story teller. When an actor was needed in “Gentleman Jim,’ Warner Bros.’ picture of the life of James J. Corbett, who could not only box expertly but speak like a Cockney, a search and gtryoui revealed Foster to be a natural for the part. i Burke, one-time English and” Australian boxing champion, — who goes through an exhibition bout with Corbett at the old San Francisco Olympic Club. Harry Crocker Harry Crocker, bon vivant, wit, columnist and now, actor, at last succumbed to Hollywood’s cameras. Crocker, scion of the famous San Francisco family, was persuaded by Warner Bros. to abandon his customary duties long enough to don greasepaint for “Gentleman Jim,” the new Warner Bros. picture which opens at the Strand Theatre. He plays his own illustrious great grandfather, Charles Crocker, in the picture. as eetetetet Golden Gate P olitician ceseascncones ALAN HALE — one of the most versatile character actors — as Pat Corbett, hack-driving father of the dapper and comely pugilist who won the heavyweight championship from John L. Sullivan, in Warners’ ''Gentleman Jim" in which Errol Flynn is starred. Others in the cast are Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, John Loder, Dorothy Vaughan, Minor Watson, William Frawley, Ward is shown above Gives His Bond and Rhys Wil Se! liams. Among the cinematic achievements of Alan Hale are the part of Little John in "Robin Hood," which he did with Douglas Fairbanks, senior, and fourteen years later with Errol Flynn. Another is the role of the philandering and bibulous father of James Cagney in ‘The Strawberry Blonde” and in innumerable roles as widely different as they were perfectly portrayed. ¢ Art and type available on mat. Order "GJ 501B”—75c-from Campaign Plan Editor, 321 W. 44 St., N. Y. C.