Joe Louis Movies

Created by ESPN, Top 10 Heavyweights documents the careers of some of the most revered boxers in this history of the sport. This program profiles such former champs as Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, and Rocky Marciano. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

It appears to be a clear-cut case of brain damage when young boxer Luke Stokes (Rodney Hoston) collapses and dies right after a championship bout. But the boxer's widow (Lynne Moody) insists that her husband was drugged just before the match. Medical examiner Quincy investigates, only to find that his own life is in jeopardy if he makes the "wrong" diagnosis. Legendary heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis appears as himself in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Have you ever longed for the day when James Brown, Martha Raye, and Col. Harland Sanders would appear in a movie together? Well, that's barely the tip of the improbable casting iceberg in this bizarre cold-war spoof. The leaders of the American intelligence organization the S.S.A. ("Super Secret Agency") are becoming increasingly alarmed by the disappearance of a number of B-list celebrities, who are being spirited off to Communist Albania. Eager to bring the fading stars back to the Land of the Free, the S.S.A. come up with a simple plan: They'll find four typical guys in their mid-twenties, have them form a rock group, make them into international stars, and wait until they get invited to play a gig in Albania, which will allow them to find out what's become of Rudy Vallee, Butterfly McQueen, and Huntz Hall, among others. Unemployed philosopher Michael A. Miller, Native-American honor student Ray Chippeway, phys-ed major Dennis Larden, and male model Lonny Stevens are drafted by the S.S.A., and after some intensive training by experts (Trini Lopez shows them a few guitar chords, and Richard Pryor gives them a crash course in soul), they become an overnight sensation as The Phynx (yes, it's pronounced "Finks"). Their album sells 17 million copies on the strength of songs like "What Is Your Sign?," and their groupies have to be cleared away by forklift. But fun and games have to go to the back burner when Albanian ruler Markevitch (George Tobias) and his wife, Ruby (Joan Blondell), invite the Phynx to perform at the behest of their son. Pat O'Brien, Xavier Cugat, Patty Andrews, and Dick Clark are just a few of the other notables who make cameo appearances in The Phynx, which had a very brief theatrical release before being sold to television in the early '70s. Legendary songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller penned the songs performed by The Phynx (and Stoller composed the background score), though for some reason they're not covered nearly as often as "Jailhouse Rock," "Hound Dog," or "Yakkety Yak." ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The splashy, star-studded This is the Army is based on the Irving Berlin Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was a reworking of Berlin's WW1 "barracks musical" Yip Yip Yaphank. In both instances, the cast was largely comprised of genuine servicemen, many of them either recently returned from fighting or on the verge of heading off to war. The Hollywood-imposed storyline concerns Jerry Jones (George Murphy), a member of the original 1918 Yip Yip Yaphank cast. His showbiz career curtailed by a leg injury, Jerry becomes a producer during the postwar era. When the US enters WW2, Jerry gathers together several other cast members from the 1918 Berlin musical to help him stage a new all-serviceman show, titled (what else?) This is the Army. The show-within-a-show framework is able to accommodate a romantic subplot, involving Jerry's son Johnny (Ronald Reagan, later a political comrade-in-arms of George Murphy) and Eileen Dibble (Joan Leslie), the daughter of Yip Yip Yaphank alumnus Eddie Dibble (Charles Butterworth). Some of the best moments in This is the Army are from the Broadway production itself, though the lengthy Alfred Lunt-Lynn Fontanne imitation and incessant "gay" jokes may have been too smart for the room in 1943. Guest stars include boxer Joe Louis, Kate Smith (singing "God Bless America", naturally) and Irving Berlin himself, who steals the show with his plaintive rendition of "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning". All profits for the stage and film version of This is the Army went to the Army Emergency Relief Fund, which also controlled the rights to the film. Long withheld from TV distribution, the film finally hit the small screen when it lapsed into Public Domain in the mid-1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The title of this 21-minute sports documentary tells all. On June 28, 1939, heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis met contender "Two Ton" Tony Galento at Yankee Stadium (it would have been Madison Square Garden, but Louis ran into the brick wall of racial prejudice with the owners of that establishment). At first, Galento was favored, but when the smoke cleared in the fourth round Louis emerged triumphant. Less than one day after the fight, this 2-reel "highlight" film was prepared for theatrical release. It goes without saying that The Louis-Galento Fight was a moneyspinner wherever it played. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

On June 22, 1938 at Yankee Stadium, an African American boxer struck a blow against Aryan supremacy, and the force of that blow was heard 'round the world. "Brown Bomber" Joe Louis was world's heavyweight champion, but he wouldn't be satisfied until he'd conquered the only man who'd ever beaten him: German pugilist Max Schmeling. All of America anxiously waited by their radios to hear if Louis was indeed the fistic superior of the formidable Schmeling. Indeed he was: in a technical knockout, Louis defeated Schmeling in one round. Remarkably, the subsequent theatrical short-subject record of the bout, The Louis-Schmeling Fight, ran 17 minutes; among the many methods used to stretch out the running time, the producers replayed the fight in slow motion! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When Joe Louis faced Primo Carnera for the heavyweight championship title on June 25, 1935, the "smart money" was on the husky Carnera. After all, had not the "Wild Bull of the Pampas" made mincemeat of all his previous opponents? Ah, but there was a difference here -- this was an honest fight. Faced with a contender who actually returned his punches, Carnera folded like a lawn chair; after three knockdowns, he begged for mercy, and Louis emerged the winner. This 15-minute distillation of the Louis-Carnera fight (if indeed a slaughter can be called a fight) features brief appearances by Gene Tunney, Max Baer and Jack Johnson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi