Movie Description

The Greatest is a 1977 film about the life of boxer Muhammad Ali, in which Ali plays himself. It was directed by Tom Gries and Monte Hellman. The film follows Ali's life from the 1960 Olympics to his regaining the heavyweight crown from George Foreman in their famous "Rumble in the Jungle" fight in 1974. The footage of the boxing matches themselves are largely the actual footage from the time involved. The song "The Greatest Love of All" was written for this film and sung by George Benson; it was later remade by Whitney Houston as "Greatest Love of All". The movie is based on a book written by Muhammad Ali, Herbert Muhammad and Richard Durham.