The Great White Hope
"He could beat any white man in the world. He just couldn't beat all of them."
A black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive while the white boxing establishment looks for ways to knock him down.
Top Cast
-
James Earl Jones
Jack Jefferson
-
Jane Alexander
Eleanor
-
Lou Gilbert
Goldie
-
Joel Fluellen
Tick
-
Chester Morris
Pop Weaver
-
Robert Webber
Dixon
-
Marlene Warfield
Clara
-
Hal Holbrook
Cameron
-
Beah Richards
Mama Tiny
Overview
A black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive while the white boxing establishment looks for ways to knock him down.
Rating
6.3
/ 10
36 Reviews 1 Popular
1 Reviews
-
CinemaSerf7 Jul 5, 2025Well you can’t fault James Earl Jones for tackling just about every issue on the books in this drama about a heavyweight boxer. “Jefferson” is the champion of the world and is making short shrift of his opponents. Needless to say, this is narking many of his (mainly white) brethren so when he and his fiancée “Eleanor” (Jane Alexander) fall foul of rules banning mixed couples from inter-state travel they capitalise on this and have him arrested. Thanks to an outrageously pink shirt and a bit of legerdemain, he manages to escape to Europe where he finds things only marginally better. That’s not so much because of his colour, although that is a factor, it’s more because those vested interests in the UK and France don’t want to see their own champions pummelled into the canvas. Finally, a bit like the real Jack Johnson, he ends up in Cuba with a fight that could change everything, but by this point he and his gal are on different paths and even some amongst his own community are turning against him. JEJ is on lively and entertaining form throughout this critique on bigotry and boxing and his performance is well complemented by an Alexander whose characterisation of a woman increasingly struggling with his excesses is quite potent and plausibly delivered. The boxing action is not nearly so convincing, though. The use of long-shot photography shows up some of the basic editing and there isn’t really that much actual action throughout this drama which can leave it perilously close to soap at times. Still, it’s another film that illustrates just how hard people were prepared to work to escape an economic grind that offered working African American men very little by way of opportunity.
Trailers & Clips
Recommendations
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.
Jawbone
6.2 2017
Stanley manages his boxer brother Lion but when a devastating loss in the ring leaves the pair in debt, an opportunity to recoup the cash leads to a series of misadventures that threaten to break the bond between them.
Jungleland
6.4 2020
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Hands of Stone
6.6 2016
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Beast
6.3 2026
When a battered boxer past his prime finds his dreams and his relationships on the ropes, he falls back in with a dangerous crowd and has to take the biggest swing of his life to reclaim his hope and his family.
Salvable
6.3 2025
14-year-old basketball phenom Terron Forte has to navigate the under-the-table world of amateur athletics when he is recruited to an elite NCAA prep school.
Amateur
6.4 2018
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
Battle of the Year
6.8 2013
At the turn of the 19th century, Pugilism was the sport of kings and a gifted young boxer fought his way to becoming champion of England.
Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher
6.2 2022
A retired boxer intends to return to the ring for one last shot at the title, but first he must make the weight. Holed up in a room in Las Vegas with an unscrupulous trainer, he embarks on an intensive and illegal weight-cutting program.
The Cut
6.0 2025
Jackie Justice is a mixed martial arts fighter who leaves the sport in disgrace. Down on her luck and simmering with rage and regret years after the fight, she's coaxed into a brutal underground fight by her manager and boyfriend Desi and grabs the attention of a fight league promoter who promises Jackie a life back in the Octagon. But the road to redemption becomes unexpectedly personal when Manny - the son she gave up as an infant - shows up at her doorstep. A triumphant story of a fighter who reclaims her power, in and out of the ring, when everyone has counted her out
Bruised
6.8 2021