NY Times articles from 1935 - Page one and page two - Lucky Jim - Jersey James (just before the Baer fight)- The championship bout - round by round

This thanks to Poly: From Variety

Zellweger shoe-in for 'Cinderella'
Thesp to see $21 mil for pic, 'Bridget' sequel
By MICHAEL FLEMING

7/9/03 -- Renee Zellweger is set to star with Russell Crowe in the Ron Howard-directed "Cinderella Man," a Miramax and Universal co-production that begins production in spring. Imagine's Brian Grazer is producing.

Zellweger's engaged in a package deal with Universal and Miramax that will pay her $21 million to do both "Cinderella Man" and the sequel to "Bridget Jones's Diary," which begins lensing in October.

On both films, U has domestic and Miramax has foreign territories.

In "Cinderella Man," Crowe will play Jim Braddock, a Depression-era boxer who became a folk hero by winning a brutal 15-round match with heavyweight champion Max Baer in 1935. Zellweger will play his wife.

Akiva Goldsman was brought on to do to a rewrite of a script originated by Cliff Hollingsworth and previously rewritten by Charlie Mitchell. Goldsman came aboard after Howard committed, making it a reunion for "A Beautiful Mind" alums Crowe, Goldsman, Howard and Grazer.

Zellweger has been interested in the role since Crowe first pondered pairing with director Lasse Hallstrom. Since then, the actress turned in a Golden Globe-winning performance for Miramax in "Chicago."

She recently agreed to play Janis Joplin in a biopic for Paramount and Lakeshore and will next be seen starring with Jude Law and Nicole Kidman in the Anthony Minghella-directed adaptation of "Cold Mountain" for Miramax.

"Cinderella Man" will be overseen by U's Scott Stuber and Miramax's Meryl Poster and Bob Osher. CAA and John Carrabino rep Zellweger.

10/25/01 - LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- Renee Zellweger is in negotiations to star opposite Russell Crowe in Universal Pictures/Miramax Films' "The Cinderella Man" for director Lasse Hallstrom. The project is expected to go into production in August.

"Cinderella" reunites Zellweger with the two studios that co-produced "Bridget Jones's Diary," in which she starred. "Cinderella" also continues to strengthen the Zellweger's relationship with Miramax, for which she's currently prepping to star in "Chicago" (HR 8/29).

Crowe, who received the offer on "Cinderella" last week, is negotiating to star in the film as real-life heavyweight boxing champ Jim Braddock. During the 1930s, Braddock was an aging boxer who made a comeback while trying to save his family during the Depression.

Zellweger, whose deal is subject to Crowe closing his, will star as his supportive wife. Cliff Hollingsworth and Charlie Mitchell wrote the screenplay for the project.

Zellweger, repped by CAA and manager John Carrabino, recently wrapped Warner Bros.' "White Oleander" with Michelle Pfeiffer and Robin Wright Penn. Zellweger won a Golden Globe this year for her performance in USA Films' "Nurse Betty."

Miramax declined comment.

Thanks, Miss C from The Perch for the full Reporter article.

NEW YORK (Variety) - Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe has been offered the lead role in "The Cinderella Man," playing real-life heavyweight boxing champ Jim Braddock.

Braddock captured the imagination of the public and became known as the Cinderella Man when he rose from obscurity to defeat Max Baer in a grueling 15-round battle in 1935.

Lasse Hallstrom ("The Cider House Rules") will direct the movie, which Universal has been developing for a number of years. Miramax is also partnered on the project. Billy Bob Thornton was attached to direct at one point, and it was rumored that Ben Affleck would play Braddock.

The Countdown by George Bellows, American Artist

"Cinderella" is certain to gain considerable momentum if Crowe comes onboard. He is coming off a lauded role for director Ron Howard as mathematician John Nash in ``A Beautiful Mind,'' which Universal will start rolling out on Dec. 26.

Universal said it was premature to confirm any of the "Cinderella" cast, but confirmed Lasse Halstrom will direct. Miramax declined comment. The William Morris Agency, which represents Crowe, said he's not committed to doing any new roles.

Crowe is currently planning to make his debut as a screenwriter, director and producer with the WWII picture "The Long Green Shore." He won an Oscar this year for his role in "Gladiator."

But Baer's hold on the belt lasted only one year less a day when he was defeated in his first title defense. Instead of training, Baer enjoyed being the Champ. He'd already made a movie in 1933, "The Prize Fighter and the Lady," with Jack Dempsey, and hanging around with the Hollywood crowd appealed to him more than getting ready for his next opponent, who was considered little more than cannon-fodder for the heavy-hitting champion.

That opponent was James J. Braddock, a fighter whose main claim to fame had been a points loss to Tommy Loughran in a bout for the light-heavyweight title in 1929. Since that defeat, Braddock had spiraled down the rankings and had had to resort to welfare to feed his family. He was primarily engaged as an opponent to up and coming young heavyweights, but had begun to upset those scripts, knocking out hot prospect Corn Griffin in three rounds and out-pointing future light-heavyweight champion John Henry Lewis.

Despite clawing his way back into the heavyweight picture, Braddock was to be, in almost every prediction, a pushover for Baer, whether or not the Champ bothered training. Some odds on Braddock were as long as 15-1, and there were stories that an ambulance was discreetly waiting to take Braddock to hospital after his inevitable beating.

But Braddock upset that script too. Some observers say that Baer lost his title that night more than Braddock won it because the Champ didn't take the fight seriously. Others say Baer had injured his hands and couldn't hit with his customary power.

Either way, Braddock went toe-to-toe with Baer for 15 rounds, boxing steadily while Baer hammed it up, and took the title on points in what was arguably the greatest upset in heavyweight history, rivaled only by Mike Tyson's shocking defeat to Buster Douglas in 1990. The victory was so unlikely that the great writer Damon Runyon dubbed Braddock the "Cinderella Man" for his good fortune.

Like Baer, Braddock lost his title in his first defense to Joe Louis, but not before having the satisfaction of flooring the Brown Bomber before suffering an eighth round knockout.

Braddock vs. Louis

…But that night in 1936 Schmeling [after beating Joe Louis] was the world's greatest heavyweight, even if Braddock was champion. Louis had powerful monied backing from his wealthy Chicago managers and from Mike Jacobs, the new czar. If justice meant anything, Schmeling should have been Braddock's next opponent, but money talked and Braddock was persuaded to meet Louis, who had picked himself up to win eight more fights. Almost exactly a year after the Schmeling setback, Louis emerged from the tunnel under the stands of the White Sox baseball park in Chicago to take his place in the ring with Braddock who had been sitting on the title for two years without defending it. Braddock now had the payday of a lifetime: 50 per cent of the receipts (that alone gained Braddock almost $300,000) but more importantly, he had a deal, if he lost, guaranteeing him 10 per cent of Mike Jacob's share in all future Joe Louis championships. In light of Louis's long supremacy, this stands as one of the shrewdest deals ever struck

Louis, sleek, quick, punching home the quick blows which were his trademark, subdued game Braddock in 8 rounds. The Cinderella Man spoke his own epitaph: "I fought as well as I'd ever done, but that Louis…oh, he was good! In the eighth I had nothing left, and when he hit me with that right I just lay there. I couldn't have got up if they offered me a million dollars." His 10 percent investment in Louis's future wouldn't net him a million, but it paid off well. How would Braddock know, as he lay stricken in Cominskey Park, that Louis would be around as champion for the next ten years?

Text and graphic from Boxing: An Illustrated History, by Harry Carpenter.