soapysmi Reviews

Klondike Fever (1979)

Horrible destruction of historical facts

[1/10 · 24 May 2006]

My great grandfather was "Soapy" Smith, the villain portrayed in this film. I have written the true biography of Jefferson Randolph ("Soapy") Smith. and you can plainly see in the movie that the production company had never picked up a single book on Soapy. Very very little, if any, of the history in this horrible film on Jack London, is correct.

I also had known Pierre Berton, the author, before he passed away, whose book the film company used for the movie. His book was, and still is, regarded as one of the best non-fiction histories of the Klondike gold rush. Seemingly, the only part the film used from his fantastic book, was the title. He felt They had tricked him, and he fought like the dick'ins to get his name taken off the film credits and get his name back.

The Sting (1973)

Sting's Prequel and Con Man Soapy Smith

[23 March 2006]

The Sting was a big box office hit. Naturally, a sequel was in order. Unfortunately, actors Paul Newman and Robert Redford were not involved with the second installment of The Sting. Instead, Jackie Gleason took the starring role in what became a huge flop at the box office. Before the sequel was finished filming, a third film was in the works, in the way of a prequel. The ideal of a prequel was quickly dropped when the sequel bombed.

I became aware of the planned prequel while researching my great grandfather, Jefferson "Soapy" Smith, the infamous king of the frontier con men. According to the script, the prequel involved Paul Newman's character, Henry Gondorff, as a young confidence man, just starting out in his new career choice. Gondorff's mentor was to be none other than "Soapy" Smith.

Sincerely,

Jeff Smith