RaphaelSemmes As a self-confessed sports junkie, I enjoy sports films. To me authenticity is a vital component in sports movies, particularly when a film involves an individual of Jim Thorpe's stature. I don't think that it's sufficient, or worthy, to merely issue a general disclaimer professing that characters and events may be different than those portrayed in the film. It's my belief that the true greatness of a person's accomplishments are obscured when accuracy is not maintained. Thorpe's football accomplishments at Carlisle Indian Industrial School are legendary. A number of sequences in the movie deviate a bit from events that actually transpired. The movie chronicles a big game in the 1908 season between Carlisle and Penn. While it is accurate that Carlisle played Penn that season, the actual score was a 6-6 tie not the 13-13 tie asserted in the movie. In the film, Thorpe kicks a 50 yard field goal with 25 seconds remaining to tie the score. In actuality, Thorpe missed three field goals that day. The film contrives a rivalry between Penn's Tom Ashenbrunner and Thorpe. Problem is that there was no Ashenbrunner that played for Penn. In actuality, the Penn running back (star) was All-American Bill Hollenback. He was the Penn player who faced Thorpe that fateful October afternoon in 1908. In real life, Thorpe claimed that Hollenback was his toughest and fiercest rival. Pop Warner, Carlisle's coach, advises Thorpe that Allegheny College is searching for a coach, and that the school has narrowed the search to Ashenbrunner and Thorpe. Presumably, how they perform in the big game will determine who gets the Allegheny coaching gig. In reality, Bill Hollenback was hired by Penn State in 1909 to coach their team, not Allegheny. In retrospect, one must wonder if permission was denied by Hollenback to use his actual name in the film. Given the crowd shots, it could be implied that the Penn game was (seemingly) played at Carlisle and not Franklin Field. That implication is simply inaccurate. Carlisle routinely played road games against smaller, closer opponents (e.g. Muhlenberg College). Do any of these inconsistencies diminish Thorpe's achievements? I would claim they don't, but they certainly test the veracity of the film. If Ashenbrunner is fictitious, did Jim Thorpe actually set a particular record or complete in a certain Olympic event? As correctly indicated by various reviewers, Jim Thorpe was married three times, but only one wife is depicted in the film. The one son that we are introduced to in the movie, who tragically passes away, was actually one of eight children fathered by Thorpe and his three wives. Of course liberties must be taken so that a storyline has continuity and the audience is engaged. But omitting and altering facts is very disconcerting. Instinctively, I enjoyed Jim Thorpe All American. It's a likeable movie about an American hero. Burt Lancaster is a great actor, and his portrayal of Jim Thorpe is captivating. And Charles Bickford is a terrific coach/mentor Glenn S. "Pop" Warner. However, no matter how good Lancaster acted in his role of Thorpe, there will always be incessant issue of authenticity. That persistent foible of integrity was never overcome in this classic film.

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.

Dalbert Pringle Yep. With 1951's "Jim Thorpe - All-American", Hollywood, once again, gives one of its nation's most beloved sports heroes the royal, Tinseltown treatment. And, naturally, when Hollywood produces a bio-film of this sort, they're bound to colour fact with their own special brand of fiction.Anyway - Jim Thorpe (who was of both Native & European ancestry) is considered (even today) to be one of the most versatile athletes of modern-day sport. And, taking into account Thorpe's mixed ancestry (along with the severe racial inequality in the USA at the onset of the last century), it's quite surprising that this dude actually achieved what he did in the ever-competitive arena of sport.Even though I thought this sports/bio picture was fairly entertaining, for the most part, it only achieved an "average" rating of 5 stars in my books. This was mainly due to the miscasting of actor Burt Lancaster as the title character.Not only was Lancaster (38 at the time) way too old to be playing the part of the 20-year-old Thorpe - But his blue-eyed, Irish, good looks were hardly enough to convince me that his character had even an ounce of Indian blood running through his veins.

tfrizzell Emotional and heartfelt story of athlete Jim Thorpe (superbly portrayed by Burt Lancaster), a multi-faceted individual who dominated several sports of the early-20th Century. The film follows the title character from his youth at his reservation (Thorpe was a Native American) and proceeds through his college, professional and Olympic careers. Tragedy strikes on more than one occasion though as the super-star goes into a tail-spin, feeling that his nation and even God have turned their backs on him (due to his Olympic medals being stripped and the death of his young son). Through it all the film is told in wonderful flashbacks by Coach "Pop" Warner (the always outstanding Charles Bickford). Definitely worth a look. An under-rated and somewhat ignored gem from the director of "Casablanca" (Michael Curtiz). 4.5 out of 5 stars.