Best movies like Spirit of Youth
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Spirit of Youth Starring Joe Louis, Clarence Muse, Edna Mae Harris, Mae Turner, and more. If you liked Spirit of Youth then you may also like: Undefeated, Veiled Aristocrats, We're All Gamblers, When We Were Kings, Raging Bull and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
The story of the rise of boxer Joe Thomas, which paralleled the life of Joe Louis.
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Veiled Aristocrats
A young woman plans to marry, but her mother and brother--a lawyer--don't like her prospective husband and scheme to prevent the marriage.
We're All Gamblers
The second of Thomas Meighan's three 1927 vehicles, We're All Gamblers was also the first of two collaborations between Meighan and director James Cruze. Based on Lucky Sam McCarver, a play by Sidney Howard, the story concerns a refugee of the Lower East Side who rises to the uppermost rungs of the nightclub world, all for the sake of a "dame." Boxer Sam McCarver (Meighan) falls in love with society girl Carlotta Asche (Mariette Mische).
When We Were Kings
It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.
Raging Bull
The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.
Resurrecting the Champ
Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.
Jawbone
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.
The Joe Louis Story
The life and career of Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis, who held the title for 12 years--longer than any other boxer in history--and who had to not only battle opponents inside the ring and racism outside it.
Back in the Day
A young boxer is taken under the wing of a mob boss after his mother dies and his father is run out of town for being an abusive alcoholic.
Carmen Jones
The tale of the cigarette-maker Carmen and the Spanish cavalry soldier Don Jose is translated into a modern-day story of a parachute factory worker and a stalwart GI named Joe who is about to go to flying school. Conflict arises when a prize-ring champ captures the heart of Carmen after she has seduced Joe and caused him to go AWOL.
The Challenger
A legendary trainer comes out of retirement to help an underdog boxer fight his way to a better life.
The Green Pastures
God, heaven, and several Old Testament stories, including the Creation and Noah's Ark, are described supposedly using the perspective of rural, black Americans.
The Fighters
Behind-the-scenes documentary chronicling the Fight of the Century between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali.
Harlem Nights
'Sugar' Ray is the owner of an illegal casino and must contend with the pressure of vicious gangsters and corrupt police who want to see him go out of business. In the world of organised crime and police corruption in the 1920s, any dastardly trick is fair.
Double Deal
Tommy McCoy and "Dude" Markey are both in love with Harlem singer/dancer Nita. Markey robs a jewelry store and turns the loot over to gang-boss Murray Howard. Later, Markey robs the safe, steals the jewelry, and, in order to get rid of his rival for Nita, frames the robbery on McCoy. The latter's big-brother thinks otherwise and, with Nita's help, sets out to prove it.
The Prizefighter and the Lady
An ex-sailor turned boxer finds romance and gets a shot at the heavyweight title.
Tyson
The story of Mike Tyson. From his early days as a 12 year old amateur with a powerful punch, to the undisputed title of "Heavyweight Champion of the World", and ultimately to his conviction for rape. The story of his turbulent life moves quickly, never focusing for long on anything in particular.
Undisputed
Monroe Hutchens is the heavyweight champion of Sweetwater, a maximum security prison. He was convicted to a life sentence due to a passionate crime. Iceman Chambers is the heavyweight champion, who lost his title due to a rape conviction to ten years in Sweetwater. WHen these two giants collide in the same prison, they fight against each other disputing who is the real champion.
Dark Manhattan
A low-level gangster determines to let nothing stand in the way of his gaining control of the numbers rackets in Harlem.
Southpaw
Billy "The Great" Hope, the reigning junior middleweight boxing champion, has an impressive career, a loving wife and daughter, and a lavish lifestyle. However, when tragedy strikes, Billy hits rock bottom, losing his family, his house and his manager. He soon finds an unlikely savior in Tick Willis, a former fighter who trains the city's toughest amateur boxers. With his future on the line, Hope fights to reclaim the trust of those he loves the most.
Blonde Fist
A woman attempts to escape her domestic problems by fleeing to New York in search of her father. She finds him, and also new problems, some friendship, a romance, and an unexpected career as pro-boxer, to make ends meet.
Phantom Punch
From his discovery by a priest while serving time at the Missouri State Penitentiary to the infamous 'Phantom Punch' by Cassius Clay which effectively ended his career, the movie spans the years from 1950 to Liston's mysterious and untimely death in 1971.
The Bronze Buckaroo
Bob Blake and his sidekick and four singing cowboys arrive at the Jackson ranch where Bob learns from Betty Jackson that her brother, Joe, is missing. Bob investigates and learns that there is gold on the Jackson ranch, and the neighboring rancher has kidnapped Joe in order to get his land.
Pardon Our Nerve
Big Town Girls have dating service jobs long enough to learn that a society matron needs a boxer to perform at a party. They talk a waiter into playing the part and a series of accidents and tricks sends him on a boxing career.
Moon Over Harlem
Hardworking Minnie (Cora Green) marries "Dollar" Bill (Bud Harris) a shady gambler after her money and her attractive daughter, Sue (Izanetta Wilcois). Sue meanwhile, is in love with Bob (Carl Hough), an idealist fond of looking out over the skyline and saying "Harlem... there's so much to be done here--it's fairly screaming for leadership." When Bob decides to organize the community against local racketeers he little realizes would-be father-in-law Dollar Bill is one of them. Bill meanwhile has problems of his own: A vicious white mob from lower Manhattan is muscling in on his action, and bullets are about to fly.
Two-Gun Man from Harlem
A cowboy is wrongfully accused of murder. He winds up in Harlem, where he assumes the identity of a preacher-turned-gangster who looks like him. He infiltrates the gang to catch the men who framed him.
Counterpunch
Based on a true story. A young boxer, Emilio, from the wrong side of the tracks with big dreams of winning the Golden Gloves boxing championship, finds himself at a cross roads after being locked up. As he fights his way back into the winning circle he gets a second shot at the championship title. As he is toe to toe in the ring with his competitor he'll throw all the punches and be the last man standing.
Winner Take All
When a waiter makes a lucky hit and wins a benefit prizefight, gamblers rig some fights for him; but a reporter arranges for a real boxer to put him in his place.
Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson
Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson is a 1993 film made by acclaimed American documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple. Though Tyson was in jail serving a sentence for rape, Kopple used existing interviews with the boxer, as well as her own extensive interviews with those closest to Tyson, to explore the man's history. The film traces Tyson's story from his troubled and tumultuous upbringing, through his rapid ascendancy in the ranks of the boxing world and his subsequent struggle with the trappings of fame. Fallen Champ earned Barbara Kopple a Directors Guild of America award as Best Documentary Director of 1993.
Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed
An American story. Traces the career of Joe Louis (1914-1981) within the context of American racial consciousness: his difficulty getting big fights early in his career, the pride of African-Americans in his prowess, the shift of White sentiment toward Louis as Hitler came to power, Louis's patriotism during World War II, and the hounding of Louis by the IRS for the following 15 years. In his last years, he's a casino greeter, a drug user, and the occasional object of scorn for young Turks like Muhammad Ali. Appreciative comment comes from boxing scholars, Louis's son Joe Jr., friends, and icons like Maya Angelou, Dick Gregory, and Bill Cosby.
Knock 'em Dead
Three rival actresses and their crew, desperate and hating each other, reunite for a horror movie sequel when someone starts killing them off just like in their movie, in this bitchy, raunchy comedy mystery.
Paradise in Harlem
It is the story of a comedian Lem Anderson who dreams of playing in Shakespeare scenes but he is applied only role in Harlem Vaudeville. One day he is the witness of a crime and the mobster strongly advised him to leave the town...
Day of the Fight
On the day of his first fight since his release from prison, a once-renowned boxer embarks on a redemptive journey through his past and present.
The Square Ring
Boxing drama following the lives of 5 different fighters and their reasons for becoming boxers.
Go Down, Death!
The owner of a juke joint arranges to frame an innocent preacher with a scandalous photograph, but his scheme backfires when his own adoptive mother interferes.
Murder with Music
Night club singer Nelle Hill has many suitors an escaped convict, a piano player and a newspaper man. One is killed. With musical shorts such as “Murder in Swingtime,” “Black and Tan Fantasy,” “Symphony in Black,” and “Ain’t Misbehaving.”
Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A.
A Harlem nightclub entertainer arrives on the Caribbean island of "Rinidad" to perform as the headliner in a revue at the Paradise Hotel. She quickly attracts the attention of several men.
Harlem Is Heaven
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson made his movie acting debut in this 1932 film, featuring Putney Dandridge, James Baskett (Oscar winner for "Song of the South"), Cotton Club dancer Anita Boyer, Henri Wassell, Alma Smith, Bob Sawyer, and composer/bandleader Eubie Blake and his orchestra.
Manny
From abject poverty to becoming a ten-time boxing world champion, congressman, and international icon, Manny Pacquiao is the true definition of a Cinderella story. In the Philippines, he first entered the ring as a sixteen-year-old weighing ninety-eight pounds with the goal of earning money to feed his family. Now, almost twenty years later, when he fights, the country of 100 million people comes to a complete standstill to watch. Regarded for his ability to bring people together, Pacquiao entered the political arena in 2010. As history’s first boxing congressman, Pacquiao now fights for his people both inside and outside of the ring. Now at the height of his career, he is faced with maneuvering an unscrupulous sport while maintaining his political duties. The question now is, what bridge is too far for Manny Pacquiao to cross?
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
The story of Jack Johnson, the first African American Heavyweight boxing champion.
On the Ropes
The story of three young boxers and their coach who is determined to guide them in a positive direction in and out of the ring.
The story of the rise of boxer Joe Thomas, which paralleled the life of Joe Louis.
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Spirit of Youth Starring Joe Louis, Clarence Muse, Edna Mae Harris, Mae Turner, and more. If you liked Spirit of Youth then you may also like: Undefeated, Veiled Aristocrats, We're All Gamblers, When We Were Kings, Raging Bull and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
Undefeated
Lex 'El Animal' Vargas is a promising Portorican boxer in Queens, but lacks ambition to aim for the big career. That changes after his brother Paulie is accidentally shot dead by a teenager in an amateur hold-up on their late dad's shop, which he now closes to turn professional boxer. His star rises fast, but success brings its own problems, as he he lacks experience to handle professionals and resist the abuse they and his ghetto past entourage make of his generous nature.