  |
||||||
|
|
Movie: The Bob Mathias Story (1954)Famous Olympic Decathlete Plays Himself in Biographical Film
Bob and Melba Mathias play themselves in the 1954 Olympic Games drama, The Bob Mathias Story. Ward Bond, Ann Doran, Howard Petrie and Diane Jergens appear in support.
Olympic great Bob Mathias was accorded the grand Hollywood treatment in 1954 via his own movie, The Bob Mathias Story. A good script, competent acting and actual Olympic Games footage make this biopic one of the best in the sports movie genre. Screenplay, Director, MusicRichard Collins wrote The Bob Mathias Story for Allied Artists. Directing was Francis D. Lyon, whose previous work included Crazylegs (1953), a biopic on footbal star Elroy Hirsch. Leith Stevens created the film's stirring music score. The Bob Mathias Story CastReal-life husband and wife Bob and Melba Mathias portray themselves. Other cast members include Ward Bond (Coach Virgil Jackson), Ann Doran (Lillian Mathias), Howard Petrie (Dr. Charles Mathias), Diane Jergens (Pat Mathias), Paul Bryar (Bill Andrews), Harry Lauter (Irving Mondschein) and Anne Kimbell (Sally). Narrating the movie is William Conrad. Look closely, and one can spot other athletes in the highlight footage, such as football great Frank Gifford of USC, Olympic diving champion Pat McCormick and famed American decathlete Milt Campbell. Filming LocationsThe Bob Mathias Story began filming in early June of 1954. The movie was shot in Tulare, California, Bob Mathias' hometown. Bob Mathias Wins Two Olympic Gold MedalsThe Bob Mathias Story opens in 1948, where 17-year-old schoolboy Robert Bruce Mathias is encouraged by his coach to try out for the U.S. Olympic Team. With only a month to prepare, the Tulare, California, high school phenomenon later heads to the Olympic Trials in Bloomfield, New Jersey, where he makes the cut. Young Mathias eventually wins gold in the London Games in the grueling decathlon, comprised of the shot put, javelin, pole vault, discus, high jump, broad jump, 110 meter high hurdles and the 100, 400 and 1,500 meter races. Decathlete champion Bob Mathias returns home a hero, has a little dustup with his girlfriend Melba and then enrolls at Stanford where he also becomes a star football player. Encouraged to compete in the 1952 Helsinki Games where the Russians will be making their first appearance, Bob Mathias wins gold again in the decathlon, which Coach Jackson has accurately described as "the greatest test for an all-around athlete." The triumph in Helsinki apparently puts Mathias in the marrying mood, as he then phones Melba and makes immediate wedding plans. Release, ReviewThe Bob Mathias Story -- released as The Flaming Torch in the UK -- opened at New York City's Palace Theater on October 15, 1954. "To the further credit of Bob Mathias, the young American decathlon athlete, his personal reputation is that of a quiet, modest and altogether likable guy. And so, fittingly, is The Bob Mathias Story..." wrote Howard Thompson of The New York Times (10/16/54). Bob Mathias (1930-2006)After retiring from athletic competition, Bob Mathias was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in 1954. He later appeared in three other movies, China Doll (1958), The Minotaur (1960) and It Happened in Athens (1962). From 1967 to 1975 Mathias served four terms as a Republican Congressman from California. Bob Mathias died of throat cancer in Fresno, California, on September 2, 2006. "The story we're about to tell is of a boy who came from a small town in California. And who brought it and himself, honor and glory," intones the narrator for The Bob Mathias Story. And that's no movie hype...
The copyright of the article Movie: The Bob Mathias Story (1954) in Biopic Dramas is owned by William J. Felchner. Permission to republish Movie: The Bob Mathias Story (1954) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
|||||
|
|
||||||
