I understand Burt Lancaster was a trapeze performer before he made a successful try at Hollywood, and the advantages of his conditioning for performance on the trapeze plus his overall natural athleticism and very direct method of acting is very much in evidence in this film. He had an innate grace of movement in any film he starred in, whether he was jumping hurdles in this one, or climbing the periscope shears of the USS Nerka to rescue the ship's cook accidentally left topside during a dive in "Run Silent, Run Deep." A keenly controlled, well-directed compactness of precisely-directed effort. It telegraphs tension but control and focus as well.
I realize Hollywood could not cover every detail of the story in this film but the lapse of judgment on Thorpe's (Lancaster's) part in playing for money for a few weeks in that minor league team should have been dealt with by the coach prior to break. It's a dead-level cinch most if not all the athletes portrayed in the film hadn't been briefed on what would make them a "professional" in their chosen sport. I still feel his coach and the school let him down by not advising a young athlete with his obvious potential about the pitfalls of playing ANY sport during summer break unless it was for fun and for free.
I realize Hollywood could not cover every detail of the story in this film but the lapse of judgment on Thorpe's (Lancaster's) part in playing for money for a few weeks in that minor league team should have been dealt with by the coach prior to break. It's a dead-level cinch most if not all the athletes portrayed in the film hadn't been briefed on what would make them a "professional" in their chosen sport. I still feel his coach and the school let him down by not advising a young athlete with his obvious potential about the pitfalls of playing ANY sport during summer break unless it was for fun and for free.