In NYC during the 1950's this movie was constantly shown on television including CH.9"s "Million Dollar Movie". As kids our two favorite movies were "The Great John L" and "Yankee Doodle Dandy". Our whole group watched both movies over and over.
Remember it as much better than "Gentleman Jim" which became more famous due to it's all-star cast including Errol Flynn. Always regarded "The Great John L" as the better story and movie.
The actors, except for Linda Darnell, had little star quality but were perfectly cast. The story line was well written and contained a perfect mix of lightheartedness and tragedy. Sort of the Greek tragic hero play. Too bad the movie has not been transferred to DVD or VHS. Sometimes the better movie and story loses to the heavily loaded one ( Gentleman Jim ) with star power but not much else.
Remember it as much better than "Gentleman Jim" which became more famous due to it's all-star cast including Errol Flynn. Always regarded "The Great John L" as the better story and movie.
The actors, except for Linda Darnell, had little star quality but were perfectly cast. The story line was well written and contained a perfect mix of lightheartedness and tragedy. Sort of the Greek tragic hero play. Too bad the movie has not been transferred to DVD or VHS. Sometimes the better movie and story loses to the heavily loaded one ( Gentleman Jim ) with star power but not much else.