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Monday, August 4, 2025

1977 biopic of Muhammad Ali : adapted screenplay by Ring Lardner, Jr. titled "The Greatest"

 The Greatest (1977) biopic

autobiographical memoir by

Muhammad Ali of his early life

when he was a young adult boxer,

Gold Medalist in Rome Olympic Games

representing U.S. Boxing team

through the Ali-Frazier world

championship fight in Zaire.

Tom Gries was the Director of this film

based on Ali's own best-selling memoir

The Greatest.

This feature made with complete cooperation 

of the boxing great -- was in theaters in 1977 

and the next year it won

the IMAGE Award (NAACP) for best

feature film.  Sadly,

Tom Gries (Director) sustained a fatal heart attack

and the studio replaced him

by Monte Hellman.

Incidentally, James Earl Jones plays the role of

"Malcolm X" for several initial sequences of

Ali's young adult period.

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