The Greatest is a 1977 biographical sports film about the life of boxer Muhammad Ali, in which Ali plays himself. It was directed by Tom Gries. The film follows Ali's life from the 1960 Summer Olympics to his regaining the heavyweight crown from George Foreman in their famous "Rumble in the Jungle" fight in 1974. The film consists largely of archival footage of Ali's boxing matches used in the screenplay.
The film is based on the book The Greatest: My Own Story written by Muhammad Ali and Richard Durham and edited by Toni Morrison.
The song "The Greatest Love of All" was written for this film by Michael Masser (music) and Linda Creed (lyrics), and sung by George Benson; it was later covered and made a Billboard Hot 100 #1 single by Whitney Houston.
Contents
Plot
The story of Cassius Clay, who became heavyweight champion as Muhammad Ali. Tracing his rise from his Olympic gold medal as a light-heavyweight at Rome in 1960, his conversion to Islam, his refusal to serve in the Vietnam war, to his return to the ring. The film concludes with him regaining the title by knocking out George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle".
Cast
Muhammad Ali as Himself
Chip McAllister as Young Cassius Clay / Muhammad Ali
Ernest Borgnine as Angelo Dundee
John Marley as Dr. Ferdie Pacheco
Lloyd Haynes as Jabir Herbert Muhammad
Robert Duvall as Bill McDonald
David Huddleston as Cruikshank
Ben Johnson as Hollis
James Earl Jones as Malcolm X
Dina Merrill as "Velvet" Green
Roger E. Mosley as Sonny Liston
Paul Winfield as Mr. Eskridge
Annazette Chase as Belinda Boyd Ali
Mira Waters as Ruby Sanderson
Drew Bundini Brown as Himself
Malachi Throne as Payton Jory
Richard Venture as Colonel Cedrich
Arthur Adams as Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr.
Stack Pierce as Rahaman
Paul Mantee as Carrara
Skip Homeier as Major Canlan
David Clennon as Captain
Nai Bonet as Suzie Gomez
Soundtrack
All music composed and produced by Michael Masser, and arranged by Masser and Lee Holdridge.
Production
The film was made with finance from Britain's EMI Films.
Reception
Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "a charming curio of a sort Hollywood doesn't seem to make much anymore." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called the film "potent pop biography, lively and entertaining, in which the irrepressible world's heavyweight boxing champion projects exactly the image he wants us to have." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4 and wrote, "As a diverting entertainment, 'The Greatest' is more than satisfactory." Arthur D. Murphy of Variety wrote that Ali brought the film "an authority and a presence that lift John Marshall's production above some of the limitations inherent in any film bio." David Badder of The Monthly Film Bulletin stated, "The Greatest delivers exactly what one would expect: a hagiographical account of Ali's best-known exploits, giving full rein to the inimitable, volatile personality but in the process applying liberal coats of whitewash."
During its first week in release, The Greatest successfully topped the U.S. box office chart, earning $1,361,800 in rentals. By the end of the year, it earned $3.8 million in US rentals. It grossed a total of $8.36 million in the US from an estimated 3,782,000 ticket sales.
