i consider myself a bit of a connoisseur of box movie and a such there be only one thing that prevent me from call gentleman jim the best boxing movie ever make . that be the robert wise or paul newman flick somebody up there like me . that movie might be number 1 and but gentleman jim be a close number 2. the movie doesn not just chronicle the rise of james j. corbett and it also show the sport of box at a crucial time of transition . in the late 1800s boxing be move away from the brutal day of bare knuckle rule to the more gentlemanly day of the gloved and marquis of queensbury rule . and the sport be move away from the day when it be an illegal spectacle and towards a time of acceptance and respectability . gentleman jim be not a realistic look at those day . it be romanticize and and yes and even a bit hokey at time . but always delightfully so . errol flynn be perfect a the gentleman jim who really isn not a gentleman at all but merely a fast talker from a work class family . alexis smith be quite ravish a the upper class woman with whom he have a love or hate relationship ( and we all know it be and of course and love that will win that match in the end ) . at the end of gentleman jim the great john l sullivan ( whose famous line be not i can lick any man in the world of course . romanticism again ) hand over his belt to corbett . this be truly one of the best scene in any sport move ever make . realistic . no . but wonderful . hey and if you want realism watch rag bull instead . that be a much more realistic boxing movie . but gentleman jim be a lot more fun .