Editing The Great White Hope

{{Short description|Play written by Howard Sackler}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Other uses|Great White Hope (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox play
| name       = The Great White Hope 
| image      = GreatWhiteHopePlay.jpg
| caption    = Book cover of the play
| writer     = [[Howard Sackler]]
| characters = {{ubl|Jack Jefferson|Eleanor Bachman|Goldie|Tick|Pop Weaver|Dixon|Clara|Cap'n Dan|Al Cameron|Mama Tiny|Scipio}}
| setting    = years before and during WWI
| premiere   = 1967
| place      = [[Arena Stage]]<br>[[Washington, D.C.]]
| orig_lang  = [[English language|English]]
| subject    = [[Boxing|Pugilism]]; [[racism]]
| genre      = Drama
}}
'''''The Great White Hope''''' is a 1967 [[Play (theatre)|play]] written by [[Howard Sackler]], later adapted in 1970 for a [[The Great White Hope (film)|film of the same title]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/theater/76934977.pdf|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 4, 1968|author=Clive Barnes|author-link=Clive Barnes|title=Theater: Howard Sackler's 'Great White Hope'}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9804E5D91E3EE034BC4A52DFB667838B669EDE|date=October 12, 1970|title='Great White Hope' Brought to Screen|author=Vincent Canby|author-link=Vincent Canby|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

The play was first produced by [[Arena Stage]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], and debuted on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] at the [[Alvin Theatre]] in October 1968, directed by [[Edwin Sherin]] with [[James Earl Jones]] and [[Jane Alexander]] in the lead roles. The play won the 1969 [[Tony Award]] for Best Play and the 1969 [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]].  With the only singing role as [[Barbara Johnson Tucker]]. Subsequent touring companies of the play featured [[Brock Peters]] and [[Claudette Nevins]] in the lead roles.

The play is based on the true story of [[Jack Johnson (boxer)|Jack Johnson]] (fictionalized under the character name "Jack Jefferson") and his [[Jack Johnson vs. James J. Jeffries|fight against Jim Jeffries]], and also covers the controversy over his marriage to first wife, Etta Terry Duryea, and Duryea's death by suicide in 1912.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/unforgivableblackness/knockout/women.html Unforgivable Blackness] Retrieved May 11, 2016</ref>

==Background==
While the play is often described as being thematically about [[racism]], this is not how Sackler viewed his work. Though not denying the racist issues confronted in the play, Sackler once said in an interview, "What interested me was not the topicality but the combination of circumstances, the destiny of a man pitted against society. It's a metaphor of struggle between man and the outside world. Some people spoke of the play as if it were a cliché of white liberalism, but I kept to the line straight through, of showing that it wasn't a case of blacks being good and whites being bad. I was appalled at the first reaction."<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|first=Carol|last=Lawson|title=Howard Sackler, 52, Playwright Who Won Pulitzer Prize, Dead|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 15, 1982}}</ref>

In a comment, reflecting on both the racist theme dealt with in the play and Sackler's notion that the play is about a man fighting society, [[Muhammad Ali]], greatly impressed with [[James Earl Jones]]' performance in the play, reportedly commented to the actor, "Hey! This play is about me! Take out the interracial love stuff and Jack Johnson is the original me!"<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Hamill|first=Pete|date=October 25, 1968|title=Muhammad Ali: 'This is about Me'|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8VMEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22You+just+change+the+time%2C+date+and+the+details+and+it%27s+about+me%21%22%2C&pg=PA68|magazine=Life|pages=68}}</ref> He added, "You just change the time, date and the details and it's about me!"<ref>{{Cite news|last=Canby|first=Vincent|date=October 12, 1970|title='Great White Hope' Brought to Screen|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/10/12/archives/great-white-hope-brought-to-screen.html|access-date=June 13, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Ali was fighting being drafted into the Army at the time on grounds of being a [[conscientious objector]].<ref name=pbs>{{cite web|title=Ghost in the House: Jack Johnson's Legacy|url=https://www.pbs.org/unforgivableblackness/ghost|publisher=PBS|date=January 11, 2005|access-date=March 24, 2008}}</ref>

== Productions ==
''The Great White Hope'' premiered at the Arena Stage in December 1967.<ref>[http://www.arenastage.org/about/history/1960s/1960-1961 "Arena Stage History, see 1967-68"] arenastage.org, accessed September 15, 2015</ref><ref>"Great White Hope' Will Open On Oct. 3", ''The New York Times'', May 10, 1968, p.5</ref><ref>Barnes, Clive. "Theater: 'White Hope' Tale of Modern Othello, Opens in Capital: Howard Sackler's Play Given at Arena Stage Jack Johnson Depicted as a Tragic Hero", ''The New York Times'', December 14, 1967, {{ISSN|0362-4331}}, p.57</ref>

The initial production at Arena Stage, paid for in part by two grants from the [[National Endowment for the Arts]], was so well-received that the entire original cast, including [[James Earl Jones]] and [[Jane Alexander]], moved to Broadway.<ref>{{cite web|title=Arena Stage Takes a Risk on The Great White Hope|url=http://www.nea.gov/about/40th/greatwh.html|publisher=National Endowment for the Arts|date=February 2, 2007|access-date=March 24, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090711215450/http://www.nea.gov/about/40th/greatwh.html|archive-date=July 11, 2009}}</ref> It was the first time the cast of a regional theater production was brought to Broadway.<ref name=pbs/>  The play opened on Broadway on October 3, 1968, and closed on January 31, 1970, after 546 performances.<ref name=vault>[http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/886/The-Great-White-Hope "'The Great White Hope' Broadway"] playbillvault.com, accessed September 15, 2015</ref> Using proceeds from his screenwriting contract, Sackler substantially funded the Broadway production by investing a reported US$225,000.<ref name=nyt/> In addition to winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Jones won the 1969 [[Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play]] and Alexander won the 1969 [[Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play]], as well as the [[Drama Desk Award]] for each, for their respective portrayals of Jack Jefferson and Eleanor Bachman.<ref name=vault/><ref name=ibdb>{{cite web|title=The Great White Hope|url=http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3417|publisher=[[Internet Broadway Database]]|access-date=July 10, 2009}}</ref> A recording of the production was released by [[Tetragrammaton Records]].

[[Yaphet Kotto]] replaced Jones<ref>[http://www.playbillvault.com/Person/Detail/31556/Yaphet-Kotto "Yaphet Kotto Broadway"] playbillvault.com, accessed September 15, 2015</ref> and [[Maria Tucci]] replaced Alexander on September 8, 1969.<ref>[http://www.playbillvault.com/Person/Detail/43195/Maria-Tucci "Maria Tucci Broadway"] playbillvault.com, accessed September 15, 2015</ref>

In 2000, Arena Stage mounted a new production of ''The Great White Hope'' in honor of the theater's 50th season.<ref name=pbs/>

== Film adaptation ==
{{main article|The Great White Hope (film)}}

''The Great White Hope'' was adapted by Sackler for a film released in 1970, directed by [[Martin Ritt]], starring [[James Earl Jones]], [[Jane Alexander]], [[Chester Morris]], [[Hal Holbrook]], [[Beah Richards]] and [[Moses Gunn]]. Jones and Alexander, who both had starred in the theatrical version, each received best actor [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations for their performances. The Oscars for their categories were ultimately presented to [[George C. Scott]] for ''[[Patton (film)|Patton]]'', and [[Glenda Jackson]] for ''[[Women in Love (1969 film)|Women in Love]].''

In the movie, the role of "the Kid," or the "great white hope," was played by professional heavyweight boxer James J. Beattie (6'9", 240 pounds), the #10-ranked world heavyweight contender and an Ali sparring partner.

== "The Great White Hope" ==
The term, "the great white hope," reflects the racism and segregation of the era in which Jack Johnson fought. Johnson, the first [[African American]] to hold the World [[Heavyweight]] Championship title, was one of the best fighters of his generation. Yet, white reaction against Johnson's win and his very public relationships with white women was so strong that, in 1912, the [[United States Congress]], concerned that film scenes of Johnson pummeling white boxers would cause race riots, passed a law making it illegal to transport prizefight films across state lines.<ref name=time>{{cite magazine|title=Boxer's Triumph|url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,777399,00.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070310233033/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,777399,00.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= March 10, 2007|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=July 15, 1940|access-date= March 24, 2008}}</ref> "The great white hope" is a reference to the white boxer who many white people hoped would finally defeat Johnson.

[[William Warren Barbour]], who won the [[United States|American]] and [[Canada|Canadian]] amateur heavyweight championship in 1910 and 1911, respectively, was [[James J. Corbett|"Gentleman Jim" Corbett]]'s choice to be "the great white hope," but Barbour declined to take up the mantle. Some 30 years later, it was Barbour who, as U.S. Senator (R) from [[New Jersey]] in 1940, worked successfully to repeal the 1912 law prohibiting interstate transportation of boxing film footage.<ref name=time/> About 30 years after that, William Warren Barbour's nephew, Thomas Barbour, played four small parts, including Sir William Griswald, in the Broadway production of ''The Great White Hope.''<ref name=ibdb/>

The first "great white hope" boxer to accept the challenge was [[James J. Jeffries|Jim Jeffries]], who came out of retirement to fight Johnson unsuccessfully in 1910. Johnson's title was eventually lost to [[Jess Willard]], a white boxer, in 1915. There was some controversy surrounding Willard's win, with Johnson claiming he threw the fight. In part because of white animosity toward Johnson, it was 20 years before another African American boxer was allowed to contend for the world professional heavyweight title. In 1937, [[Joe Louis]] defeated [[James J. Braddock]], "The Cinderella Man," to become the second African-American boxer to hold the world heavyweight championship title.<ref name=pbs/>

== Awards and nominations ==
* 1969 [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]]
* 1969 [[Tony Award for Best Play]] (Winner)
* 1969 [[Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play]], [[James Earl Jones]] (Winner)
* 1969 [[Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play|Tony Award for Actress, Supporting or Featured (Dramatic)]], [[Jane Alexander]] (Winner)
* 1969 [[New York Drama Critics' Circle]] Award for Best Play (Winner)
* 1969 [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director]], Edwin Sherin (Winner)
* 1969 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance, [[James Earl Jones]] (Winner)
* 1969 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance, [[Jane Alexander]] (Winner)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|last=Sackler|first=Howard|title=The Great White Hope, A Play|url=https://archive.org/details/greatwhitehopepl00sack|url-access=registration|location=New York, NY|publisher=The Dial Press|year=1968| oclc=451597}}

== External links ==
* {{IBDB show|4084}}
* {{IBDB title|3417}}
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q1218542}}

{{Navboxes
| title = Awards for ''The Great White Hope''
| list = 
{{Pulitzer Prize for Drama 1951-1975}}
{{TonyAwardBestPlay 1947-1975}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Great White Hope}}
[[Category:1967 plays]]
[[Category:Broadway plays]]
[[Category:Drama Desk Award–winning plays]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Drama–winning works]]
[[Category:Tony Award–winning plays]]
[[Category:Plays about race and ethnicity]]
[[Category:American plays adapted into films]]
[[Category:Plays based on actual events]]
[[Category:Plays set in Chicago]]
[[Category:Plays set in San Francisco]]
[[Category:Plays set in Nevada]]
[[Category:Plays set in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Plays set in London]]
[[Category:Plays set in France]]
[[Category:Plays set in Ohio]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Jack Johnson]]