'The Express' Posted by John Antonik on Thursday, October 9, 2008 (4:50 pm)
‘The Express,’ depicting the life of Syracuse Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis, is both entertaining and moving. It is also completely fictitious, at least the movie’s characterization of West Virginia.
‘The Express’ chronicles African-American football player Ernie Davis’ triumph over the racial injustices of the 1950s. Woven into the story were the real-life protests that ultimately led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The movie takes Davis from his early years in Uniontown, Pa., to Elmira, N.Y., and then to Syracuse University where he is one of three African-Americans on the 1959 Orange team that captures the national championship. Davis follows the footsteps of the great Jim Brown, an African-American who endured similar hardships and who becomes a sort of father figure to Davis.
Later when he is dying of cancer, Davis is shown in one final scene passing the baton to Floyd Little.
In addition to Brown, another key figure in the movie is Coach Ben Schwartzwalder, played by Dennis Quaid. Schwartzwalder was a Captain in the 82nd Airborne during World War II who earned distinction during the invasion of Normandy and the battles that followed. The movie uncovers the hard-scrabble Schwartzwalder’s complex relationship with the intelligent and sensitive Davis.
In one scene Schwartzwalder notices Davis glancing at a white cheerleader during practice. Later in his office, Schwartzwalder advises Davis that he should give his old girlfriend from home a call. The coach's message is clear: it is not proper for a black man to socialize with a white woman.
Another practice scene shows Davis being roughed up by a white player to which Schwartzwalder shows indifference, remarking to Davis that he will encounter much worse during games.
Then Syracuse arrives at West Virginia. Schwartzwalder is shown in the visiting locker room preparing his team for what they are about to encounter when they play the Mountaineers.
“They play by a different set of rules,” the coach says in the movie. “It will be hostile. Their fans are unruly, especially when they’re playing against a team that looks a little different than they do.”
Next comes a riveting scene when the Syracuse team is about to walk out onto Mountaineer Field underneath the haze of flying beer bottles, garbage and other debris in almost complete darkness.
“Everyone is to keep their helmets on at all times whether you are in the game or not,” Schwarztwalder says. “I don’t want anyone hurt by flying bottles. Davis, you stay in the middle of the pack and keep your head down.”
“It must be Halloween because here come the spooks!” yells one crazed West Virginia fan.
West Virginia players are shown giving cheap shots to Davis while he is on the ground. After a long Davis run that comes up just short of the goal line, Schwartzwalder removes Davis from the game because he is fearful that if he scores a touchdown he could be harmed.
It is all very compelling and dramatic. It also never happened.
Ernie Davis played just once at West Virginia in 1960, not 1959. The game that year was played during the day, not at night. And at no time do any of the participants on either side recall the unfortunate racial incidents portrayed in the movie.
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, recruited to play football at West Virginia University in the mid-1960s, voiced his outrage Thursday morning.
“It’s labeled a true story but to have so much falsehood is just ridiculous,” Manchin told the Charleston Daily Mail. “I mean there is no truth to it.”
Syracuse quarterback Dick Easterly concurs, saying what was depicted at West Virginia University simply did not happen.
“What the director tried to accomplish is showing the conditions of those times," Easterly was quoted in Thursday’s St. Petersburg Times. “A lot of things in the movie didn't happen at that time at Syracuse but did happen in the country.
“I see a lot of things that never were done to Ernie but maybe happened to (Syracuse great) Jim Brown (in the 1950s). The movie's more about him than Ernie. And they made Ben look like a racist, to me.”
There are also connections to West Virginia the movie ignores. Schwartzwalder was born in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, attended West Virginia University and briefly coached high school football in the Mountain State before going to Muhlenberg College and then on to Syracuse.
The early part of Davis’ life took place in Uniontown, just a ½ hour drive from Morgantown. The West Virginia game was essentially a homecoming for Davis.
Also, West Virginia’s coach the year Davis played in Morgantown was Gene Corum - the man responsible for integrating football at West Virginia University in 1962. To depict Corum and his West Virginia University team as bigoted is utterly appalling.
Of course West Virginia is an easy target. It always has been. Young people watching this movie are going to form an opinion of West Virginia that is completely false.
This is sad because West Virginia became a state because it seceded from Confederate Virginia during the Civil War.
Unfortunately, that fact is lost to history.
(From MSNsportsNET.com)
