It's a biopic of Native American athlete Jim Thorpe (Burt Lancaster). This is well before my time. I know a little bit of his story. I've heard of legendary football coach Pop Warner (Charles Bickford), but I don't actually know anything about his career. As for accuracy, I would rely on others.
Burt Lancaster has the physicality of this character if not the racial makeup. The bigger problem is that he is closer to forty than as a teenager or twentysomething athlete. It is interesting to see how this 50's movie deal with the issue of racism. It speaks to the 50's as much as early 20th century. A modern movie would try to dig into Jim's anger issues. This movie puts it down to his personality. Burt is a great actor. He gives this character sympathy and depth. He makes this better than a run-of-a-mill biopic.
Burt Lancaster has the physicality of this character if not the racial makeup. The bigger problem is that he is closer to forty than as a teenager or twentysomething athlete. It is interesting to see how this 50's movie deal with the issue of racism. It speaks to the 50's as much as early 20th century. A modern movie would try to dig into Jim's anger issues. This movie puts it down to his personality. Burt is a great actor. He gives this character sympathy and depth. He makes this better than a run-of-a-mill biopic.