For those not familiar with Thorpe and his athletic accomplishments, the first hour of the movie adequately covers the basics; for those unaware of his troubled personal life, the last 45 minutes conveys the spirit of his off-the-field difficulties if not an accurate historical account. Even though he appeared in nearly 60 films, primarily as an uncredited extra and frequently as an Indian (Native American), Thorpe's Hollywood career is completely ignored.
Burt Lancaster plays Thorpe energetically, and credibly given his physical talents, Charles Bickford plays the legendary 'Pop' Warner, Thorpe's first coach (at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania) and mentor, and Phyllis Thaxter plays Thorpe's first wife Margaret (Iva in real life); Thorpe's other wives and children other than the fated Jim Jr. are never mentioned.
Though he hadn't played organized sports before attending Carlisle, Thorpe was a natural who excelled at every one he tried including track and field, football and baseball. After leading his college football team to a championship, he went on to win both the pentathlon and the decathlon at the 1912 Summer Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden though he was later stripped of these titles and had to return his medals after it was learned that he'd played baseball for money during one summer while at Carlisle (70 years later, these honors were reinstated).
No longer an amateur, Thorpe played professional baseball before, as its star player, he helped to establish what is now known the National Football League.
The film was directed by Michael Curtiz and written (and/or adapted from Thorpe's biography with Russell Birdwell) by its producer Everett Freeman, Frank Davis and Douglas Morrow, among others. Steve Cochran plays a rival come friend of Thorpe's and Nestor Paiva appears uncredited as Thorpe's father in the opening sequences on the Oklahoma reservation where Jim was raised.
Burt Lancaster plays Thorpe energetically, and credibly given his physical talents, Charles Bickford plays the legendary 'Pop' Warner, Thorpe's first coach (at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania) and mentor, and Phyllis Thaxter plays Thorpe's first wife Margaret (Iva in real life); Thorpe's other wives and children other than the fated Jim Jr. are never mentioned.
Though he hadn't played organized sports before attending Carlisle, Thorpe was a natural who excelled at every one he tried including track and field, football and baseball. After leading his college football team to a championship, he went on to win both the pentathlon and the decathlon at the 1912 Summer Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden though he was later stripped of these titles and had to return his medals after it was learned that he'd played baseball for money during one summer while at Carlisle (70 years later, these honors were reinstated).
No longer an amateur, Thorpe played professional baseball before, as its star player, he helped to establish what is now known the National Football League.
The film was directed by Michael Curtiz and written (and/or adapted from Thorpe's biography with Russell Birdwell) by its producer Everett Freeman, Frank Davis and Douglas Morrow, among others. Steve Cochran plays a rival come friend of Thorpe's and Nestor Paiva appears uncredited as Thorpe's father in the opening sequences on the Oklahoma reservation where Jim was raised.