WHEN IT WAS A GAME - TRIPLE PLAY COLLECTION

WHEN IT WAS A GAME - TRIPLE PLAY COLLECTION - 1992

RATING - NR but G. Very family friendly.

RATED - 24 Amazon (5/5), 19,967 Netflix (3.8/5), 157 IMDB (8.6/10).

STARRING - Every old time baseball star you can name and then some.

AWARDS - Winner of 1992 Television Critics Association Award for OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN SPORTS.

THEME - Baseball - WHEN IT WAS A GAME!!

STORY - This HBO documentary is divided into three one hour segments, each remembering a different era. You can buy or rent them individually but I recommend watching all three. The entire series consists of 8mm and 16mm clips shot entirely by fans and players. Almost all are in color and none are done by professional photographers. The quality is amazing considering the sources -clear, sharp pictures. There are special features on Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and others. This is for those of us who remember or want to know about when players lived in our neighborhoods, shopped at our stores and had second jobs during the off season to make ends meet. Dick Raddatz recalls making $6,000 pitching for the Red Sox during the season and $11,000 during the off season as a furniture mover. We lived for several years next door to Camilo Pascual, the great pitcher for the Senators and Twins. We would play catch in the back yard and my sisters would babysit his children. Jim Kaat shopped at my (future) in-laws corner grocery store and lived down the block. They were real heroes to all of us and they were regular people, too. This series starts in the 30's (they really did have color film) and ends in 1970 with the advent of free agency, which arguably changed the game forever, whatever you might think of its validity. This is nothing but three hours of fun and nostalgia. If you're a baseball fan, it would be hard to recommend anything else that would be as much just plain fun. None of us can turn back the clock but for three hours you can relive those years when baseball was just a game. Enjoy. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 06/22/2009.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB

ANATOMY OF A MURDER

ANATOMY OF A MURDER - 1959

RATED - NR but probably PG for adult themes including frank but not graphic discussion of rape in the courtroom.

RATINGS - 82 Amazon (4.5/5), 141,689 Netflix (4.0/5), 10,101 IMDB (8.1/10).

STARRING - James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Eve Arden, Arthur O'Connell. Directed by Otto Preminger.

AWARDS - 7 Academy Award nominations including BEST PICTURE & BEST ACTOR (Stewart). AFI Top 100 THRILLS & Top 100 MOVIES nominations. Recently named AFI All Time Top 10 COURTROOM DRAMA. BAFTA nominee for BEST PICTURE & BEST ACTOR. 4 Golden Globe nominations including BEST MOTION PICTURE.

STORY - This Otto Preminger directed film is vintage Jimmy Stewart who plays a country lawyer recently voted out of the county prosecutors office he held for many years. Fishing seems to have replaced legal work and as the film opens his long time secretary (Arden) is asking for enough money to cover her pay check. He needs a case to bring in some fees. Laura Manion (Remick) shows up looking for a lawyer to defend her Army officer husband, Lt. Frederick Manion (Gazzara) who is accused of murdering a local bartender who apparently raped Mrs. Manion. Nothing seems to be like it appears. A lie detector test on Mrs. Manion says one thing and the forensic evidence taken after the alleged rape seems to say the opposite. They seem to be happily married but Mrs. Manion is often seen in public without her husband and in the company of other men. Lt. Manion seems a solid citizen soldier but is he always that way in private? Can Stewart defend him on the basis of temporary insanity? A great performance by Stewart as well as by everyone else with many surprise turns. As great as Stewart's performance is, the movie would not be what is without a terrific, albeit somewhat minor, performance by Joseph Welch as the retired judge who is filling in for the regular judge. With a dry sense of humor and perfect timing, he makes the courtroom scenes so outstanding. A genuine classic. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 06-21-2008.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, TRAILER

SOUL OF THE GAME

SOUL OF THE GAME - 1996

RATED - PG-13 for language and brief sensuality. Take the rating seriously for younger children.

RATINGS - 15 Amazon (4.5/5), 17,525 Netflix (3.6/5), 363 IMDB (7.4/10).

THEMES - Racial prejudice, courage, reconciliation.

STORY - This HBO movie is almost a docudrama. While the facts aren't necessarily historically accurate, the people involved are historical and the overall story happened. It's 1945 and it's time for baseball to integrate. There are two 'separate but unequal' professional baseball leagues. There is the Negro League and the Major League. Everyone knows integration has to happen and it will be sooner rather than later. But Judge Landis, the Major League Commissioner keeps trying to stop it. Some of the greatest players in America are being kept out of Major League baseball because of the color of their skin. Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is anxious to bring Negroes into the league, not only because he knows they belong there, but he knows what they can do for his team. Under the pretext of wanting to start another team in Brooklyn for the Negro League, he begins to seriously 'scout' the Negro League for talent. He's really looking for the right one to break the color barrier. He knows it will take a very special player, not only talented, but someone who has the courage NOT to fight back. The film centers around three of the top, if not the top, candidates to be that pioneer: Satchell Paige, the legendary and colorful pitcher, Josh Gibson, a catcher and one of the greatest hitters ever to play the game (white or black) and Jackie Robinson, the college graduate and football star as well as tank commander in the Army who is new to the Negro League. We all know, of course, that Jackie Robinson became the first Negro Major League player and what an amazing career he had and how he opened the doors for scores of great black players to follow. In this film, we see the competition between these three legendary players as they begin to understand what might be happening when a certain white scout keeps showing up at the games. We see the genius of Branch Rickey as he goes through the decision making process, knowing that the first player must be the right one or it will set the cause back for decades perhaps. A terrific movie with a good historical basis as well as some creative imagination about the relationships between these three great players. Language might be a little rough for younger children but older teens and up will definitely enjoy this outstanding made for TV movie. CHECK OUT THE LINK BELOW TO THE 2008 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 'RIGHTING A WRONG' NEGRO LEAGUE DRAFT. My claim to fame is being the freshman coach when Dave Winfield was a freshman at the U of M. Fotunately, for him, he had the good sense not to listen to my advice. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 06/07/2008.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, 2008 MLB NEGRO LEAGUE DRAFT

ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD

ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD - 1951

RATED - NR but probably G/PG. 'Guffy' McGovern uses a lot of apparent profanity but it's all garbled electronically so you can't understand it which makes it sound rather silly.

RATINGS - 17 Amazon (4/5), 2,242 Netflix (3.6/5), 504 IMDB (7/10).

STARRING - Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh

THEMES - Redemption, nice guys finish first, family.

STORY - 'Guffy' McGovern's the roughest guy in baseball and he manages the worst team in baseball, the Pittsburgh Pirates (many actual scenes from the old Forbes Field). When the local paper assigns the Home Economics reporter (Janet Leigh) to cover the Pirates to try and find a different angle since they're losing all the time and nobody is following the team, she confronts McGovern about his attitude and he replies, 'Dogs have fleas, managers have sportswriters'. After being thrown out of a game for the umpteenth time, 'Guffy' can't find his pin and goes to look for it on the field after the game. It is there sitting on 2nd base under the stars he encounters an angel and his life is changed. No more bad guy. Amazingly the team's fortunes start to change, also. It becomes even more mysterious when Janet Leigh writes an article about a young, orphan girl who has been praying for the team. 'Guffy' wants to find this girl but Leigh won't reveal who she is. He tracks her to the orphanage and in one of the most poignant scenes in the film tells the Sister in charge that he's 'looking for a little girl'. The Sister rushes into the classroom and announces to the classroom full of 8 year old girls that a man is here who is 'looking for a little girl'. One little girl wearing thick glasses quickly takes them off and hides them, telling her friend, 'people looking to adopt don't like children with glasses'. Your heart goes out as you wonder how many times she has had her hopes up that the next person 'looking for a little girl' would pick her. It's wonderful family film with enough baseball for real fans. It has cameo appearances by Ty Cobb, Joe Dimaggio and Bing Cosby, who was part owner of the Pirates at that time. Conspicuous by their absence, there are no African-American players in the Major Leagues at that time. Dwight Eisenhower called it his favorite movie. Enjoy!! Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 03/02/2008.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, TRAILER