Jim Thorpe

Although Thorpe sold the rights to his life story to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for $1,500 in 1929, the planned movie, to be called Red Son of Carlisle, was never produced, as the Great Depression settled in on America. In 1949, as Thorpe's fame was undergoing a revival, Warner Brothers studios announced that it had purchased the rights to his life story from MGM and was planning to make the film. Unfortunately, Thorpe never realized any further money from the deal, because his original contract gave him no rights in the event of a resale.

The film, titled Jim Thorpe-All-American, premiered in August 1951, the month that Thorpe was inducted into the National College Football Hall of Fame. The film became a box-office hit. Written by Russell Birdwell and Frank Davis and directed by Michael Curtiz, the film stars, in addition to Lancaster, Charles Bickford as Pop Warner, Steve Cochran as "Peter Allendine" (a character based on Albert Exendine), and Phyllis Thaxter as "Margaret Miller" (a character based on Thorpe's first wife, Iva Miller).

The story, like most films, does not follow Thorpe's life in true detail. It portrays him as striving to be a success for his mother and taking up football to impress his girl at Carlisle. It plays down racial issues and becomes melodramatic when Thorpe struggles with a drinking problem and tries to find work in his later years. However, it ends with Warner bringing Thorpe the good news that Oklahoma will erect a monument to the great athlete.