Very rarely do you hear of a documentary - especially a sports one - that seems to be universally lauded and acclaimed by both critics and the general public alike. It has been my experience that when this is the case -- it is usually in fact a 'winner'.
The 2008 HBO Sports Joe Louis Documentary definitely falls into that category. It is the first real honest look at not so much Joe Louis the fighter...but Joe Louis the person, and how his country of The United States Of America - a country that he had done so much for in such unique ways - really truly, for all intents and purposes...in fact BETRAYED him.
Joe Louis was a great fighter and a great human being, but he was no 'saint'. Amongst a few other things, he was a 'womanizer' of the highest degree in his younger days. The documentary does not ignore this fact, and addresses it in the first half. Nor is the U.S Government completely at fault for Joe's financial situation in latter days, as he needlessly squandered (and gave away) millions of dollars. But what the U.S Government did in literally HARASSING and DEGRADING him - a man that should have been looked at as an "American Hero" - is just absolutely appalling and disgusting. The money that Joe "owed" to them was a very large sum of money to Joe, and would be a very large sum of money to most anyone, but in the 'governmental sense' and the large scheme of things? It was but a mere 'drop in the bucket'. To realize the lengths at which they went to in order to collect the money, is (in a way) not much different than learning about some of the acts and cover-ups of The Vietnam Era (and perhaps Bush-era) or finding out how the C.I.A closely trailed and followed the "extremely dangerous" John Lennon of all people.
You are left going to yourself - incredulously - "They actually went to such lengths to do THIS??????"
The featuring of Joe Louis' son (Joseph Barrow Jr.) really 'brings things to home', as the man exudes intelligence, class, and integrity, not to mention honesty. That he put his 'stamp of approval' on the feature, and says emphatically that it is a true and honest look at his late Father and the situation, really speaks volumes.
In sum...The HBO Documentary is a hard-hitting and accurate look at "The Brown Bomber" that 'pulls no punches'. If you are a fan of Joe's -- you will feel proud and grateful to be as such.
On a bit of a lighter note, it is a joy to hear the accounts (in particular Radio) of the elderly blacks featured in the documentary, and to see some of the old clips of Louis fights that they show in the first half. In particular -- his annihalation of Schmelling in their return bout. ( * Schmelling, by the way, was a truly great man himself, and has an absolutely fascinating story. And ironically -- his Country/Government at the time, betrayed him as well.)
Poor Schmelling in that second bout though...Ol' Maxsie "saw something" going into the first fight with the young early 20's Louis, and I truly believe him, but two years later in the rematch?
He saw only two things: Ring lights...and the (Max)imum "Schmelling salts".
BB- I thought it an excellent documentary, probably the best one of those I've seen on HBO with the possible exception of the one they did on Sonny Liston a few years back. In the interest of fairness to the IRS (lol) here's an article by Fuhrman Bisher that takes issue with the documentary on just whose to blame for Joe's plight, which he seems to place on Louis and more specifically the guys who robbed him blind before the IRS got their shot. http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/sportscolumns/entries/2008/02/22/hard_to_feel_to.html
Yeah Murph (I had read that piece before) and really...in my opinion...he doesn't really say much. What I mean by that is -- yeah, I actually basically agree with him: The IRS is certainly not completely at fault for Joes finacial woes. *shrugs shoulders* I mean, I wrote about those exact same words above. Louis was supposedly a horrible business man, he needlessly squandered and gave away money, and he had leeches and bloodsuckers in his corner rip him off. So yeah, blame for Joes financial plight can be spread many ways, not the least of which himself in that sense.
But that's really not the 'main issue' (so to speak) here in my opinion.
BTW - Murph...I NEVER saw that Liston Documentary by god...it was a good one, eh? I'll have to check it out...
I saw the documentary and it had a few things in it that I never knew before, well really only one and that was about not being able to play in the golf tournament. I knew there had to be one more reason to hate golf. A better ducumentary is one called "Joe Louis For All Time" made during the 1980's and featured guys like Ray Arcel in it. The film is packed with info about Louis and his opponents, it also is packed with allot of old training footage of him and opponents. It really focused on the excitment that most people felt just listening to the fights and how he was a big national sensation, it also included footage from the war. One of the things that was brought out that HBO did not was that Joe fought 2 fights at Madison Square Garden following Pearl Harbor, one for the Navy relief fund and one for the Army relief fund, he fought Abe Simon and Buddy Bear in the 2 fights. The Simon fight was scheduled for 20 rounds, don't believe me look it up. The real problem for Joe was that when he was presented with the pay checks for both fights was that he endorsed the checks and gave them to the respective relief funds instead of having the checks made out to them they were made out to Joe so as far as the IRS was concerned Joe was paid and therefore owed the tax on close to 2 million dollars for 2 fights. That was one problem, the other problem was that he was pissing money away at an alrming rate and when the war started and he was not making any money he kept spending and borrowing from Mike Jacobs. By the time he fought the rematch with Billy Conn he was up to his ass in dept ot both Mike Jacobs and the IRS. Think about what the tax on 2 million dollars plus penalties was back in the 1940's. Also, as long as he owed Jacobs money he had to keep fighting. That's why Joe wound up the way he did. Allot of people like to point to the fact that when he signed to fight Jim Braddock his managers had to agree to pay Braddock 10% of all of Joe's future earnings. As far as I know that 10% came out of Mike Jacobs share of money but I could be wrong. I can still remember listening to my grandfathers stories about sitting in his appartment on St. Marks Ave. in Brooklyn eating sandwiches, drinking beer, playing cards and listening to the fights the night Louis destroyed Schmelling at Yankee Stadium. At first they thought the broadcast was a joke and finally realized that it was real, this was back in the War of the World days of radio. Those were the good old days of boxing when it was more popular that any other sport other than baseball. My grandfather used to refer to a good friend of his that died of lukemia as "looking like Joe Louis in his prime", people really admired that guy and he was a true champion and that is something that is missing in sports today.
* When I read that part about your Gramps and buddies listening to the fight on the radio and at first thinking it was a joke, I was kinda like ("Now why would they think that???") then when you mentioned the "War Of The World" radio days, I was like -- "Oh yeah". (lol)
Never ever will I be ashamed to be an American although I have been ashamed of the Government ,especially it's cowardness to fight and win in Namn and now Irack.Russia and China are steadily building its military,while we are acting like the women .The USA will be Mexico(in the south)in the next five years with Spanish being the language.We are next!God bless.....................kenny weldon
"Never ever will I be ashamed to be an American, although I have been ashamed of The Government..." - Isau
Good point Kenny, and one I will entirely agree with. ( My main point above probably could have been phrased a little better...)
In regards to how Louis ultimately handled his money folks -- like hearing about how Marciano handled his, it just made me wince and cringe. ( * Marciano - to his credit - at least had his money. Well, sort of. A bit more on that later...) I swear they should make the following mandatory for all upper-level Pro Boxers: A one-time sit-down seminar with Larry Holmes and Bernard Hopkins going over "financial 101".
In regards to Marciano, (for those that may not know) he was not only very frugal with his money, but also downright 'neurotic' and a bit idiotic as well, quite frankly. And like Louis -- he was a HORRIBLE buisness man. Marciano earned good money both during his career and after his career from various different appearances and as a part-time 'loan-shark' of sorts - and was by no means broke or in financial 'dire-straits' - but among other things he kept NO official records of his business transactions whatsoever. For example, the most frequently-heard phrase at his funeral was the following: "Boy...I sure am glad I paid Rocky back for that loan." Rocky's close friends and family damn well knew that most of these people were simply "full of shit", but unfortunately due to 'The Rock's' very poor 'recordkeeping' -- they had no way to ever prove it. And perhaps even worse than that...was the amount of money ol' Rocky buried.
* Sal -- As for the last bit...I don't know whether to shake my head, chuckle, or simply cry. As myself and probably Sal could tell you folks, 1st and 2nd-Generation Italian-Americans can be sometimes very 'odd' and quirky when it comes to their money. So...I won't come down too much on 'The Rock' for simply burying all the (literally HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars+) of money. But Sal...you would have thought that the stubborn and eccentric dago would have AT LEAST told ONE person (e.g., a very close relative or friend?) about the whereabouts of the cash, in case something ever happened to him? So his FAMILY could at least get ahold of it???
P.S - While I'm not quite sure if I agree with your opinion on Vietnam and Iraq Kenny, there is one situation where I definetly do in that respect...
The Korean War.
( It seems as if most just "forget" about that War. Even the school systems. Heck, I remember hearing all about The Civil War, World War 2, Vietnam, etc. at school growing up, but The Korean War??? I didn't hear DIDDLY SQUAT about that one for some reason...)
Anyhow, that's all I'll say here on that matter...;-)
Back at that time Italians and the sons of immigrants did not trust banks or the government at all. I know from my own family that is true and having grown up in Brooklyn and Ozone Park (Gotti-ville) I am not surrprised that this happened to Rocky. He kept no records becuase of not wanting to pay taxes on the money. When people owed him money he would not take a check because when it was deposited the government could prove that you made money from bank records. Also he looked at guys like Joe Louis and feared being like them. I have to agree with Mr. Weldon except I don't think it's cowardness but polititions trying to micromanage every move to save thier own asses.
Sal, picture this...(and 100% true and accurate by the way)
'The Rock' is magically brought back to life and after his family and friends 'renew acquaintences', the issue of the buried cash is brought up.
"No problem, says The Rock. "I'll show you where it's at," as he grabs a map and gathers the group to head towards the first location.
Upon arrival...Rocky's face (and heart and stomach!) absolutely sinks as he discovers...a SHOPPING MALL has been built over the spot!
( I bet the feisty ol' paisano would probably go there in the middle of the night with night-vision goggles and shovel in efforts of trying to dig a tunnel to the cash! LOL! )
BTW - If I'm not mistaken...Kenny Weldon has met the following hvy legends...
Rocky Marciano...Muhammed Ali...Jack Dempsey...(He also met the eccentric old legendary scribe Nat Fleischer as well...)
This is something that - quite honestly - a joe-average 'suburban schmuck' like me couldn't even BEGIN to fathom. I pride myself on being fairly 'smooth' and well-spoken in public settings, but if I were to have met one of the above larger-than-life legends???
Honestly, I probably would have had a seizure folks. I'm not kidding you. They would have had to pick me and my pipe up off the ground.
( Anyhow, please verify the above if you get this Kenny...I KNOW that you've met at least three of the four...)
...I wonder if he ever met Louis? If so, hopefully it wasn't in the very latter stages of his life. Unfortunately - for those that don't know - Joe was 'pretty far gone' mentally towards the end. Mental illness ran in his family big-time, and he was being improperly treated and medicated on top of that. ( * Instead of being treated with the proper meds, Louis was being treated - and 'treating himself' - with substances like cocaine and valium, amongst others...)
P.S - Kenny, I won't delve too much into politics on these threads, but you know how I feel about this Clinton lady...
She needs to be stopped Kenny...she needs to be STOPPED...
Hey Sal, one of the 'all-timers' was with an old Italian-American fighter ( I can't remember who, but I think it was one of the 40's/50's middleweights...)
He had hidden about 10K cash...in the shells of a high-wattage ceiling lamp.
( You guessed it: The cash caught fire and burned up! )
Bizzack ,of course I have met Joe Lewis and Nat fletcher.I met Joe at the Don King (ABC) NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS ON wIDE wORLD OF SPORTS and 2 or three time after that. I talked to him about his job at the Casino's at Las Vegas and about his fight with Marciano.I loved Joe and what he did for boxing world wide.I met Nat Fletcher at his office at Ring Magazine .He was furious about one of the champions not being in attendance to recieve the boxer of the year award from Ring Magazine(Carlos Monzon).I talked to him about Willy Pep and he told me he himself was retiring the comming month and was glad he was because the boxers were no longer appreciative or respected what Ring Magazine did for them.Randy Gordon had just went to work with Ring magazine and Nat introduced me to Randy.......God bless...kenny weldon
Bizzack ,of course I have met Joe Lewis and Nat fletcher.I met Joe at the Don King (ABC) NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS ON wIDE wORLD OF SPORTS and 2 or three time after that. I talked to him about his job at the Casino's at Las Vegas and about his fight with Marciano.I loved Joe and what he did for boxing world wide.I met Nat Fletcher at his office at Ring Magazine .He was furious about one of the champions not being in attendance to recieve the boxer of the year award from Ring Magazine(Carlos Monzon).I talked to him about Willy Pep and he told me he himself was retiring the comming month and was glad he was because the boxers were no longer appreciative or respected what Ring Magazine did for them.Randy Gordon had just went to work with Ring magazine and Nat introduced me to Randy.......God bless...kenny weldon
Send me a link or some info on your new video series if you would. What I would like to do is put it up on the front (Market) page. Also, I could put it up at a few Boxing gyms as well.
Man that's interesting Mr. Weldon. Bizzack, I know that we have all heard about Rocky being carefull with a buck and he hid allot of money and lent out allot too that they never recovered. But, if you really think about it, if most people were half as careful with money and how they send it we would not have the mortgage crissis we have now or the credit card debt we have. I try to be carefull about what I spend money on but not to Rocky's extremes.
Yeah Sal, it's not Rocky's frugalness with the dollar that I at all have issue with -- it's just that he sadly left his surviving family without all that dough.
Well he was secretive about money, back then you didn't discuss money or what you payed for things with people. It is sad that the family was left with next to nothing. I remember seeing Duva on ESPN talking about how Rocky was going to set him and a few other friends and family up with Rocky Marciano Pizzarias. A chain of pizza shops would have been great. Look at pizza hut. That pizza is shit.
There is no such thing as "BAD Pizza" my good friend Sal...Some, are just (MUCH) better than others.
And that being said, YES -- Pizza Hut, Domino's, and most chain outfits are just PAINFULLY MEDIOCRE.
;-(
They also had "Mama Marciano's Italian Stew" as an idea back in the 60's as well, and Rocky's mom was all for it, but there was something about the whole thing that 'The Rock' didn't particualry care for.
*shrugs sholuders, hey...I wouldn't have minded trying it...*
Damnit Sal, you stubborn 'wop' -- the Classico SPICY TOMATO & PESTO is "NO-JOKE" I tell you!!! I'm taking a swig from the jar right-now-as-we-speak and preparing to pour it over some penne. As a matter of fact, if you gave 'The Rock' a slurp of this stuff, I would almost venture to-wager-a-testicle his reply would be: "Hey, not too bad..."
* If you are after a more "Euro-Italian" flavor, there Vodka Sauce is also pretty good.
My aunt Marry can cook, she's great. My wife can cook and I've been told that I should open a restuarant. But, there's a big difference between cooking at home and running a restuarant.
guys, my moms can cook up a storm, tidal wavez, etc. ital food, mexican food, everytime i see a old pal back in the dayz, they ask is your moms still cooking swear, true story.
Bizzack ,of course I have met Joe Lewis and Nat fletcher.I met Joe at the Don King (ABC) NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS ON wIDE wORLD OF SPORTS and 2 or three time after that. I talked to him about his job at the Casino's at Las Vegas and about his fight with Marciano.I loved Joe and what he did for boxing world wide.I met Nat Fletcher at his office at Ring Magazine .He was furious about one of the champions not being in attendance to recieve the boxer of the year award from Ring Magazine(Carlos Monzon).I talked to him about Willy Pep and he told me he himself was retiring the comming month and was glad he was because the boxers were no longer appreciative or respected what Ring Magazine did for them.Randy Gordon had just went to work with Ring magazine and Nat introduced me to Randy.......God bless...kenny weldon 
