The Greatest (1977 film)
| The Greatest | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by |
Tom Gries Monte Hellman |
| Produced by | John Marshall |
| Written by |
Muhammad Ali (short) Herbert Muhammad & Richard Durham (book) Ring Lardner, Jr. |
| Starring | Muhammad Ali, Ernest Borgnine, James Earl Jones, Robert Duvall |
| Music by |
Lee Holdridge Linda Creed Gerry Goffin Michael Masser |
| Cinematography | Harry Stradling, Jr. |
| Edited by | Byron Brandt |
Production company | |
Release dates | May 19, 1977 |
Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country |
United States United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Greatest is a 1977 film about the life of boxer Muhammad Ali, in which Ali plays himself.[1] It was directed by Tom Gries and Monte Hellman.[1] The film follows Ali's life from the 1960 Olympics to his regaining the heavyweight crown from George Foreman in their famous "Rumble in the Jungle" fight in 1974. The footage of the boxing matches themselves are largely the actual footage from the time involved.
The song "The Greatest Love of All" was written for this film and sung by George Benson; it was later remade by Whitney Houston as "Greatest Love of All".
The movie is based on a book written by Muhammad Ali, Herbert Muhammad and Richard Durham.
Cast
- Muhammad Ali as himself
- Ernest Borgnine as Angelo Dundee
- Arthur Adams as Cassius Clay Snr
- Dorothy Meyer as Odessa Clay
- Drew Bundini Brown as himself
- Roger E. Mosley as Sonny Liston
- Richard Venture as Colonel Cedrich
- Stack Pierce as Johnson
- William Youngblood as young Mohammed
- Ben Medina as Ronnie
- Paul Mantee as Carrara
- Skip Homeier as the Major
- George Cooper as Ali's lawyer
- Ernie Wheelwright as Bossman Jones
- David Clennon as the Captain
- George Carro as Mr Curtis
- Don Dunphy as the commentator
- Ray Holland as a reporter
- Alberto Martin as the doctor
- Nai Bonet as Suzie Gomez
- Richard Gullage as the Commission doctor
- Sally Gries as the sponsor's wife
- Toni Crabtree as the hooker
- James Earl Jones is uncredited in the film in his role as Malcolm X
- Robert Duvall is uncredited as a Miami promoter trying to get Ali to abandon the Muslim faith
Rahaman Ali, Howard Bingham, Harold Conrad, Lloyd Wells, Pat Patterson, and Gene Kilroy appear as themselves.
There are many uncredited roles in the film including some major characters such as Ruby Sanderson his girlfriend, Belinda Board who became his wife and Herbert Mohammed son of Elijah Muhammad and his manager at one point.
Soundtrack
All music composed and produced by Michael Masser, and arranged by Masser and Lee Holdridge.
| Side 1 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "The Greatest Love of All" (George Benson) | Linda Creed | 5:32 | |||||||
| 2. | "I Always Knew I Had It in Me" (Benson; version 1) | Gerry Goffin | 7:14 | |||||||
| 3. | "Ali's Theme" (Masser) | — | 5:18 | |||||||
| Side 2 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Ali Bombaye (Zaire Chant) I" (Masser and Mandrill) | — | 3:42 | |||||||
| 2. | "Ali Bombaye (Zaire Chant) II" (Masser and Mandrill) | — | 3:00 | |||||||
| 3. | "The Greatest Love of All" (Masser) | — | 3:14 | |||||||
| 4. | "Variations on Theme" (Masser) | — | 2:34 | |||||||
| 5. | "I Always Knew I Had It in Me" (Benson; version 2) | Goffin | 5:21 | |||||||
References
External links
- The Greatest at the Internet Movie Database
- The Greatest at the TCM Movie Database
- The Greatest at AllMovie
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