Jim Thorpe: The World's Greatest Athlete

The subtitle of Tom Weidlinger's feature-length documentary on Jim Thorpe (1888-1953) repeats the words spoken by King Gustav V of Sweden as he presented the 24-year-old—who was of Native American and French-Irish descent—with medals he won in both the decathlon and pentathlon competitions at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution in 1999 calling Thorpe “America's athlete of the century,” honoring him for both his Olympic victories and his achievements in track, baseball, and college and professional football. Despite his amazing triumphs, Thorpe also suffered tragedies in his private life (his only son died at the age of two) and setbacks in his athletic career (he was stripped of his Olympic medals in 1913 for having played baseball professionally—thus invalidating his amateur status—and the medals were only restored posthumously in 1982). The prejudice Thorpe faced, moreover, was considerable. Weidlinger's film covers all these subjects and more, from Thorpe's Oklahoma childhood and years at Pennsylvania's Carlisle Indian School to his post-Olympic professional career and financial struggles during his later years, combining archival material, staged recreations, and interviews with family members and experts. A worthy tribute to an inspiring figure in American sports history, this is recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (F. Swietek)