Arts I/ Entertainment

`Cinderella' Story

Book, film tell tale of the underdog who defeated legendary prizefighter Max Baer.

Special to the Jewish News

B

oxing reached the peak of its popularity in
the 1920s-1930s — and Jewish boxers were
among the most popular, with many proud-
ly wearing a Star of David on their trunks. Some
fighters of other ethnicities even took on Jewish
names to create better match-ups among these sons
of impoverished European immigrants.
Boxing is regaining popularity today, thanks to the
successes of Million Dollar Baby, the Academy Award-
winning Clint Eastwood movie, and The Contender,
the hit TV reality series, plus the increasing number
of gyms offering boxing and kick-boxing lessons.
Now comes a double dose of pugilism in the form
of Cinderella Man, a book and movie about the
largely untold story of James J. Braddock, an Irish
fighter with a once-promising career who was wiped
out financially by the Great
Depression. A year later, he battled
his way back from the bottom as a
boxing-mad country struggled to do
the same. Suspended as a boxer, on
the relief rolls and working on the
docks with a broken hand, he
capped an amazing comeback by
upsetting Max Baer for the world's
heavyweight championship in 1935.
Baer had been recognized as the
first "Jewish" heavyweight champ.
Although his Jewish background
Jeremy Schapp:
was debated, he fought with a
His comeback was
Star of David on his trunks when
truly inspirational,"
he defeated German heavyweight
says Schapp of the
champ Max Schmeling in 1933
"Cinderella Man."
and was a hero to many Jewish
boxing fans. Jewish movie
moguls, who otherwise suppressed their ethnic back-
ground, loved him, too. Louis B. Mayer even hired
the handsome Baer to star in 1933's The Prizefighter
and the Lady, a film with the then-unknown Myrna
Loy. (Baer's son, Max Baer Jr. followed his father to
Hollywood; he starred as Jethro in the long-running
TV series The Beverly Hillbillies.)

Photos Coutesy Ri ng Magazi ne

BILL CARROLL

Page And Screen

Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer and the
Greatest Upset in Boxing History (Houghton Mifflin
Co.; $24) is a new 276-page book by Jewish sportscast-
er Jeremy Schaap, son of the late, award-winning jour-
nalist Dick Schaap. Cinderella Man also is the title of a
new movie opening Friday, June 3, at area theaters.
The book describes boxing's heyday. In addition
to Braddock and Baer, it profiles such fighters as
Benny Leonard, Barney Ross, Maxie Rosenbloom,
King Levinsky, Abe Feldman, Harry Lewis, Lew
Tendler, Louis "Kid" Kaplan and Ruby Goldstein.
At one point, Jews held world titles in four weight
classifications.
The film stars Russell Crowe as Braddock; Rene

CINDERELLA STORY on page 76

•

6/ 2

2005

75