Jim Jacobs Movies
- 1914
Although better known as Charlie Chaplin's 17th appearance in a Keystone comedy, The Knockout is really a Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle film. The big event in Fatty's town is a prizefight in which champ Cyclone Flynn will meet all comers. Fatty is tricked into accepting the fight by two hobos who are making book on the fight. Through a note ostensibly from Flynn, they offer Fatty a split if he throws the fight, but Fatty, thinking one of the hobos is Flynn, refuses. The real Flynn arrives and dispatches the impostors. The match proceeds with heavy betting going on and Fatty's girlfriend dressed as a boy in order to gain entrance to the arena. Charlie is the referee who is constantly being knocked down by the fighters because he keeps getting in between them. Angered by losing after a short count, Fatty grabs two six-guns from a gambler at ringside and begins firing in all directions. Cyclone takes to his heels and a classic rooftop Keystone chase ensues, with the Keystone Kops in pursuit of Fatty, in pursuit of Cyclone. When the Kops lasso Fatty, he drags six of them along the ground by the rope until he leaps off a pier taking them all with him. With everyone treading water, the Kops surround Fatty as the film ends. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Minta Durfee, (more)
- 1970
- Add Muhammad Ali a.k.a. Cassius Clay to QueueAdd Muhammad Ali a.k.a. Cassius Clay to top of Queue
This documentary combines black-and-white with color photography to tell the story of heavyweight boxing champion Mohammed Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay before his religious conversion to the Black Muslims. Richard Kiley narrates, and personal accounts from Joe Louis and Ali himself firmly puts Ali in an elite group of boxers that is second only to Louis in the sport's popularity and stature. Fights from director Jim Jacobs film library show Ali against Henry Cooper, Floyd Patterson, Jerry Quarry and the controversial knockdown of Sonny Liston. Ali proclaims himself to be both the greatest and the prettiest fighter ever to enter a boxing ring. Legendary trainer Cus D'Amato is on hand to keep his prizefighter focused and takes his boxer's self-promoting flamboyance in perspective. The late Malcolm X gives his opinion about Ali, and the champ meets one of his childhood heroes from Hollywood, comedian Stepin Fetchit, whom Ali credits with providing him with a knockout punch lifted from the actor's screen antics. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1977
This sports documentary screens film clips of boxing matches from 1909 until 1976. Among the great matches which get some coverage: Jack Johnson vs. Stanley Ketchel in 1909, Jack Dempsy vs. Jess Willard in Toledo in 1919, Primo Carnera vs. Max Baer in 1934, the 1974 Ali-Frazier match and others. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
"Grease," said the poster and the Barry Gibb song, "is the word." Transferring its setting from Chicago to sunny California, and adding a dash of disco to the ersatz '50s score, producer Allan Carr and director Randal Kleiser turned this long-running Jim Jacobs - Warren Casey Broadway smash into the biggest blockbuster of 1978. 1950s teens Danny (John Travolta) and Australian transfer Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) spend their "Summer Nights" falling in love, but once fall comes, it's back to Rydell High and its cliques. As one of the bad boy T-Birds, Danny has to act cool for best pal Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) and their leather-clad mates Sonny (Michael Tucci) and Doody (Barry Pearl, in the role Travolta played on stage). Despite befriending Frenchy (Didi Conn), one of the rebel Pink Ladies, virginal Sandy is "too pure to be Pink," as the Ladies' leader Rizzo (Stockard Channing) acidly observes. Declaring their devotion in such ballads as "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Sandy," Sandy and Danny split, reconcile, and split again amidst a pep rally, dances, drive-ins, and a drag race, before deciding "You're the One That I Want" at the climactic carnival. With Travolta white-hot from Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease soundtrack singles climbed the charts and summer movie crowds poured in. With the presence of Joan Blondell, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Frankie Avalon appealing to grown-up memories, Grease became the highest grossing film of 1978, the highest grossing movie musical ever, and the third most popular film of the new blockbuster '70s after Star Wars (1977) and Jaws (1975). Its sequel, Grease 2, did not exactly set the world on fire in 1982. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, (more)
- 1984
This excellent documentary on the American boxing champion
Joe Louis reveals little-publicized facts about the end of his extraordinary career. Using still photos and newsreels, director Peter Tatum recalls the many fights won by the "Brown Bomber" against fighters like Primo Carnera and one of his three losses, in a comeback fight against Rocky Marciano. Marciano wept when he knocked out Louis, someone he idolized (Marciano was 28 at the time of the fight, and Louis 37). Joe Louis himself won the heavyweight championship at the age of 23 and defended it a record 25 times, yet his most politically celebrated victory was the 1938 rematch fight against Max Schmelling, who represented Nazi Germany in the ring. Louis donated his winnings from two championship fights at the beginning of World War II to the Navy and Army relief funds -- yet this money was still taxed by the IRS -- a new piece of information that director Tatum and scripter Budd Schulberg argue is one indication of IRS discrimination against the black fighter. After working to recruit soldiers and raise the morale of U.S. troops with speeches, Louis ended the war period owing $1,000,000 to the IRS, and had to sign up for fights he should not have taken to pay off the debt. He also became a wrestler for awhile, out of financial necessity. He ended up as a host at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The first black heavyweight champion (68 victories, 3 defeats) to hold the title for as long as 12 years, the youngest to gain the title, Louis had earned over $4 million in his career but had little to show for it at the end of his life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Joe Louis reveals little-publicized facts about the end of his extraordinary career. Using still photos and newsreels, director Peter Tatum recalls the many fights won by the "Brown Bomber" against fighters like Primo Carnera and one of his three losses, in a comeback fight against Rocky Marciano. Marciano wept when he knocked out Louis, someone he idolized (Marciano was 28 at the time of the fight, and Louis 37). Joe Louis himself won the heavyweight championship at the age of 23 and defended it a record 25 times, yet his most politically celebrated victory was the 1938 rematch fight against Max Schmelling, who represented Nazi Germany in the ring. Louis donated his winnings from two championship fights at the beginning of World War II to the Navy and Army relief funds -- yet this money was still taxed by the IRS -- a new piece of information that director Tatum and scripter Budd Schulberg argue is one indication of IRS discrimination against the black fighter. After working to recruit soldiers and raise the morale of U.S. troops with speeches, Louis ended the war period owing $1,000,000 to the IRS, and had to sign up for fights he should not have taken to pay off the debt. He also became a wrestler for awhile, out of financial necessity. He ended up as a host at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The first black heavyweight champion (68 victories, 3 defeats) to hold the title for as long as 12 years, the youngest to gain the title, Louis had earned over $4 million in his career but had little to show for it at the end of his life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- 2007
This NBC reality-competition series was inspired by the BBC's How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, in which a revival of "The Sound of Music" was cast by public opinion rather than through the traditional process. The American version revolved around a big-scale revival of the long-running musical "Grease", with that show's cocreator David Ian joining forces with producer David Ian and director Kathleen Marshall to select the perfect "Danny" and "Sandy" to headline the show. The competition was held along the lines of American Idol, with the finalists strutting their stuff before the three above-mentioned judges (in case you're wondering, David Ian functioned as the resident "Simon Cowell" with his withering glares and caustic comments). The audition process began in LA and Chicago, with the finalists attending "Grease Academy" in preparation of the Big Moment in which the field narrowed down to two performers. Hosted by Billy Bush of Access Hollywood, Grease: You're the One That I Want! debuted January 7, 2007 with a 90-minute special, and thereafter was seen on a weekly, 60-minute basis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Bush, Denise Van Outen, (more)
