MovieChat Forums > Silent Movie (1976) Discussion > James Caan as a boxer

James Caan as a boxer

posted 11 years ago by DwightFry
4 replies | jump to latest

The star cameos either play up the stars' usual screen persona (Burt Reynolds as a rich playboy, Marcel Marceau as - well, a mime) or some characteristic of them in real life (Paul Newman's well-documented love of race cars). So my question is, why is James Caan depicted as a boxer? I know he played football and knows martial arts, but I have no info about him ever having been a boxer, nor do I remember any movie in which he plays one. It almost feels like the role was intended for Sylvester Stallone (then just fresh from the smashing success of Rocky), he turned it down, and they got James Caan to fill for him, for whatever reason giving him the boxer role instead of creating a new one to fit him better.

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[–] silentmovie 11 years ago

He was supposedly portraying a boxer in a movie that he was supposedly starring in.

That would be in keeping with his James Caan's "tough guy" image at the time this movie was made.

[–] hotspurpagg 11 years ago

Stallone would not have been intended for this. Silent Movie was released in June 1976 and probably filmed in '75 at a time when Stallone wasn't a star yet. Rocky wasn't released until the fall of '76. I think Brooks and his writers figured boxing glove gags would be good to milk!

[–] jejozi 10 years ago

It was obvious by the way he was going at the heavy bag that he'd done it many times before. Some people use boxing training as their exercise routine.

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[–] mikainen 8 years ago

Nitpicking on an old post, Paul Newman did not just love race cars. He was a race car driver and a good one too.