It's a shame that this film went to such trouble to get details like uniforms and campus settings accurate and then played so loosely with the facts. A prime example is when the 1959 Syracuse team won the national championship by defeating Texas in the Cotton Bowl, an event portrayed as if the Orange had never experienced such a rabid segregationist setting. In fact, they had played in the same Cotton Bowl three years earlier, losing to TCU 28-27. And for that game they had Jim Brown, an African-American, on the team so the problems they encountered (segregated hotels etc.) would not have been unexpected nor unprepared for. The actual game is totally mixed up, that is to say the first SU TD was the 87-yard Schwedes to Davis pass, not the last, as shown. And, as Schwartzwalder was always quick to point out, Texas was never within fewer than two scores of overtaking the Orange -- not as close as 15-14 as shown in the film. One could go on and on, but to someone unfamiliar with the facts, it is an inspiring story that should complement other films about the civil rights era.
Review of The Express
