Jim Thorpe -- All-American

1951
Approved
1h 47m

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

2.4K

YOUR RATING

Burt Lancaster and Phyllis Thaxter in Jim Thorpe -- All-American (1951)

The triumph and tragedy of Native American Jim Thorpe, who, after winning both the pentathlon and decathlon in the same Olympics, is stripped of his medals on a technicality.

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Biography Drama Family Sport

The triumph and tragedy of Native American Jim Thorpe, who, after winning both the pentathlon and decathlon in the same Olympics, is stripped of his medals on a technicality.The triumph and tragedy of Native American Jim Thorpe, who, after winning both the pentathlon and decathlon in the same Olympics, is stripped of his medals on a technicality.The triumph and tragedy of Native American Jim Thorpe, who, after winning both the pentathlon and decathlon in the same Olympics, is stripped of his medals on a technicality.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

2.4K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Wally Denny
(as Suni Warcloud)

Al Mejia

Louis Tewanema

Hubie Kerns

Tom Ashenbrunner

George Barrows

Football Player
(uncredited)

Jack Baston

King Gustav
(uncredited)

Hal Baylor

Player
(uncredited)

John Close

Canton Bulldogs Teammate
(uncredited)

James Conaty

Attendee at Sports Dinner
(uncredited)

Charles Curtis

Charles Curtis - Vice President
(archive footage)
(uncredited)

Ken DuMain

Spectator
(uncredited)

Lew Fay

Young Boy
(uncredited)

Charles Finney

Young Boy
(uncredited)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The film depicts Jim Thorpe as being married once, and having had one child who died young. In fact, he was married a total of three times and had seven other surviving children.

Goofs
The Opening Ceremonies of the 1912 Olympics did not include the raising of the Olympic flag (started in 1928) or the lighting of the Olympic flame (started in 1936).

Quotes
Jim Thorpe: Which one of you guys is Lacey?
Ed Lacey, Sportswriter Punched by Thorpe: I'm Lacey.
Jim Thorpe: Well I'm Thorpe!
[punches Lacey]

Connections
Featured in Sports on the Silver Screen (1997)

Soundtracks
O Carlisle
(uncredited)
Sung and played during the college scenes to the tune of "O Tannenbaum" (tradtional tune)

User reviews34

Review

Featured review

High-Class Cinema.

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.