Race

Chief Chick Comments

Wow what a movie. I am amazed that no one has showcased this compelling story before on the big screen. Stephan James is fantastic as Jesse Owens with a stellar performance from Jason Sudeikis as his coach at Ohio State University where Owens was known as the Buckeye Bullet. Sudeikis plays Larry Snyder who should have gone to the 1924 Olympics in Paris except for a quirk of fate. In the 1930's, it comes as no surprise that Owens and his black teammates suffered discrimination at every turn. When he set 3 world records and tied a fourth within 45 minutes in Big Ten Competition, it was proclaimed as the greatest 45 minutes in sport. Under pressure from the NAACP and other groups to forgo the Berlin Olympics, he never-the-less attended after much soul searching. He feared that losing would strengthen Hitler's claim of Aryan supremacy, but, of course, his performance in Berlin proved just the opposite. Of note, Ralph Metcalf, later a US Congressman, was a black and winner of two medals at these Olympics. Avery Brundage of the US Olympic Committee is played ably by Jeremy Irons. We can applaud his demand to the Nazis that the games be open to Jews and Blacks from all countries, but cringe at his later missteps. These I did not know about although Brundage, later chair of the International Olympic Committee, is an alum of my University. Leni Riefenstahl, who filmed the Olympics for Hitler, comes across as a "honest" woman most interested in her art. She is shown filming Owens jump after the close of the Olympics in order to have footage of him in the air on his way to the Broad Jump Gold Medal. Recently, A man I know who was a porter at a large hotel told me that years later when Jesse Owens and family checked in, he was given a substandard room. The porter went to the manager and told him who had just checked in, and we can guess the reaction. Owens' 3 daughters had script approval for this film. It is wonderful and I can only hope is remembered at the end of the year when most Oscar worthy movies are released

Flock Comments