The Great White Hope (1970)

 

Release date: October 16, 1970

Director: Martin Witt

Writer: Howard Sackler

Starring: James Eal Jones, Jane Alexander

Estimated budget: $6 million

 

Jack Jefferson (James Earl Jones) is the boxing heavyweight champion of early 1910s America. But as a black man, he's not only fighting other boxers, but discrimination and prejudice as well. The boxing fans and press resent the idea of a black champion and are actively searching for a "great white hope" that can defeat him. But it's Jefferson's activities outside the ring, primarily involving the white Eleanor Bachman (Jane Alexander), that may prove to be his downfall.