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The Jesse Owens Story (1984) (TV) More at IMDbPro »
A Legend for a Buckeye, 24 May 2008
Author: dooleyville from Oregon, United States
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
I was wandering through a little discount store in Rainier, Oregon when I ran across a two tape (VCR). There are only two people who stand out in Ohio State Athletics aside from the Football and Basketball programs, Jesse Owens and Jack Nickolas, so, as an OSU Alumnus I had to purchase this tape, even though it was a VCR.
It wasn't hard to tell quickly that it was a "made for TV" movie, with all the actors who played characters from classic TV series such as Alice, Happy Days, Dallas/Northern Exposure, etc. Most of them were playing very different characters from what we've come to know them as, with Tom Bosley playing Jimmy Hoffa being probably the biggest departure from the character we've come to know him as, "Howard Cunningham" of Happy Days.
The movie is set up as a sort of loose frame narrative, as James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens' past is dug up by a court-appointed investigator and, is based on his 1966 tax evasion conviction. This is probably the biggest historical error of the movie, as a major part of the story line is the open contempt the court investigator, an African-American shows for Owens due to his "Uncle Tom" reputation resulting from the 1968 Olympics, where he was asked to mediate after the Tommie Smith and John Carlos "Black Power" protest.
As an alumnus of the Ohio State University, the movie left me with mixed feelings, as it should have. Li stinging to the soundtrack cut of the Ohio State Glee Club sing "Carmen Ohio" in the background as Jesse Owens reads the letter from the administration informing him he was expelled due to poor grades was tough, especially the line "How firm thy Friendship". But, as they pointed out at the end, he was eventually given an Honorary Doctorate and he truly is given the full legend at Ohio State.
The movie is definitely worth owning for anyone connected to tOSU for the campus scenes and the history, even if it is a little out of sequence.
An American Legend Revealed, 26 April 2001
Author: Joshua Jon Johnson from Moorhead, Minnesota
Jesse Owens, the Olympic gold-medalist, was the black athlete who overcame many hardships to rise above in the 1936 Berlin games. Today, Owens is revered as one of the finest track and field athletes of all times for his accomplishments in the sport, but should be remembered for everything else he did as a human being as well.
1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
This is a real "It's a wonderful life"., 16 June 2000
Author: RONY-3 from Philippines
When I watched this movie it made me think that it's a real "It's a wonderful life". Cause like in the movie, Jesse Owens always tries his best but in the end he seems to be left with very little. And if anyone has a reason to be sore at the world it's him. But in the end when it seemed like he was up against the wall, all of his friends rallied to help him. Just as in "It's a wonderful life" no man is a failure who as friends and Jesse Owens had more than enough, when it counted.
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