Legendary athlete Jim Thorpe (Burt Lancaster) is profiled in Warner Bros'. 1951 Hollywood biopic, Jim Thorpe - All American. Charles Bickford and Steve Cochran co-star.

Native American athlete Jim Thorpe (1888-1953) was not only an acclaimed Olympian, but a professional football and baseball player as well. In 1951, director Michael Curtiz brought Thorpe's fascinating saga to the big screen in Jim Thorpe - All American, with the athletic Burt Lancaster starring in the title role.

Based on the Book and Story

Jim Thorpe - All American was based on the autobiography of the same name by James Francis Thorpe and Russell J. Birdwell. The movie was also adapted from the story "Bright Path" by Douglas Morrow and Vincent X. Flaherty.

Warner Bros. paid Thorpe $25,000 for the movie rights to his life story. In addition, he was also hired as a technical advisor on the picture.

Hardly a Hollywood neophyte, Thorpe had already worked as an extra in a number of movies, including King Kong (1933). In one famous incident away from the cameras, the burly Thorpe had decked a rowdy Errol Flynn during a confrontation at a bar.

Jim Thorpe died of a heart attack at age 64 at his home in Lomita, California, on March 28, 1953. By his side was his third wife, Patricia.

Screenplay and Director

Writing the screenplay were Douglas Morrow, Everett Freeman and Frank Davis. Directing the action was Michael Curtiz, who had won a Best Director Oscar for 1943's Casablanca.

The Cast

Heading the cast as Jim Thorpe was Burt Lancaster (1913-1994), a former trapeze artist whose natural athleticism lent the film an air of authenticity. Appearing in principal support were Charles Bickford (1891-1967) as Glenn S. "Pop" Warner, Steve Cochran (1917-1965) as Peter Allendine, Phyllis Thaxter (born 11/20/21) as Margaret Miller, Dick Wesson (1922-1996) as Ed Guyac, Jack Big Head (1930-1993) as Little Boy Who Walk Like Bear and Sonny Chore (1914-1987) as Wally Denny.

Playing young Jim Thorpe was Billy Gray (born 1/13/38), who later found fame as Bud Anderson on TV's Father Knows Best (1954-62).

Archival Footage Used

Production on Jim Thorpe - All American began in the summer of 1949. Archival footage from both the 1912 and 1932 Summer Olympic Games, as well as several long shots of the actual Jim Thorpe in action, were effectively incorporated into the picture.

Narrated by Charles Bickford

Narrated by Charles Bickford, Jim Thorpe - All American opens at a dinner in Oklahoma where Thorpe is being honored for his athletic achievements. In flashback form, we now see a young Jim Thorpe being driven to school by his father (Nestor Paiva). Jim doesn't like school, and runs 12 miles back to his home on the reservation, arriving before his father.

Now a young man, Thorpe enrolls at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. Here, under the tutelage of fabled coach Glenn S. "Pop" Warner, Thorpe becomes a standout college athlete in both track and football. In his senior year, All American Thorpe and his Carlisle Indians engage in a titanic gridiron battle with Penn and its All American, Tom Ashenbrunner (Hubie Kerns).

Sir, You Are the Greatest Athlete in the World

Embittered that he didn't receive a coveted coaching job following the Penn game, Thorpe sets out to make a name for himself at the 1912 Summer Olympic Games in Stockholm. After winning gold medals for both the pentathlon and the decathlon, Thorpe is heralded on the victory stand by King Gustav V of Sweden, who declares: "Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world."

One year later, Thorpe is stripped of his Olympic medals when it is learned that he had violated his amateur status by playing semipro baseball. Thorpe now becomes a professional athlete, playing both football and baseball.

When his young son dies, Thorpe begins drinking heavily, eventually resulting in the breakup of his marriage to his college sweetheart. Redemption, however, comes later when Thorpe meets up with his old mentor, Pop Warner, at the opening ceremonies of the 1932 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Release, Reviews, DVD

Jim Thorpe - All American hit movie theaters on August 21, 1951. The film was later released abroad as Man of Bronze -- an ironic title since Thorpe had won gold at the Olympics.

A.H. Weiler of The New York Times (8/25/51) called the picture "a disturbingly standard history...recognizable from former film performances and not from the unique Thorpe's life."

Jim Thorpe - All American -- rife with the usual Hollywood embellishments and outright fictions -- was released on DVD in 2007 by Warner Home Video. Burt Lancaster would later spread his wings in another Hollywood biopic, Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), playing inmate Robert Stroud.