Gentleman Jim

Gentleman Jim is a 1942 American comedy-drama about James J. Corbett, the bank clerk who dreams of a career as a prize fighter. Set in San Francisco, the film follows Corbett as he talks his way into an exclusive athletic club and starts his climb through the boxing world, where the old bare-knuckle era is giving way to the Queensberry rules, padded gloves and a more technical style of fighting. His brash confidence and his inventive footwork carry him upward, but they also bring him into conflict with those around him, including the wealthy Victoria Ware, while his former idol, heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan, waits at the top.

Raoul Walsh directed; the screenplay was written by Vincent Lawrence and Horace McCoy, and Robert Buckner produced. The eighth of the twenty-three films Walsh directed in chronological order, it followed Manpower and preceded Desperate Journey. Errol Flynn plays Corbett, with Alexis Smith as Victoria Ware, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, John Loder and William Frawley among the principal players.

The film holds a rating of 7.5 out of 10 on IMDb from around 4,500 votes, and a rating of 7.2 out of 10 on TMDB from a much smaller number of votes, while a critics' rating stands at 7.5 out of 10 from 26 reviews.