July 4, 2005
Christmas in July
No, I am not referring to this incredibly disturbing image.
I am referring to the fact that just now I went grocery shopping, and I found, in this big sale rack of used DVDs, The Pride of the Yankees starring Gary Cooper - WHICH I HAVE NEVER SEEN. My stupid video store doesn't carry it, and I have been DYING to see it.
There are so many awesome stories about the filming of this movie (perhaps I will regale you with some of them later) - and as I have said before: the Gary Cooper obsession was starting to move into Cary Grant mode some months back. I could feel it happening, because I may be an obsessive, but I am also a self-aware obsessive. The most amazing thing to me about this film is that Gary Cooper, believe it or not, had never played baseball in his life. He grew up on a ranch. He rode horses. He did not play baseball. He knew less about baseball than RTG. So he went and trained for a while with some major league team - can't remember which one - and basically had to learn how to play. From what I understand, he did a phenomenal job in the film, and looked like he knew how to play ball.
And it was because of a few commenters here that I tracked down the film Ball of Fire, with Barbara Stanwyck, which has since become one of my favorite movies of all time. I wrote about it after first seeing it. There was one memorable evening when I watched it twice in a row. I was addicted, and I hadn't gotten my proper fix with only one viewing. And here I blither about his body language in that famous crane shot from High Noon.
Gary Cooper is just wonderful, and I cannot WAIT to see this movie - which I will do momentarily.
I posted my favorite story about Gary Cooper some time back, and here it is again. I'm tellin' ya, it just gives me chills.
Look at that face, man. I mean, just look at that face.
"Hey Tumblefoot!"
A tear-jerker, but a sweet, innocent movie.
I love it.
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at July 4, 2005 2:40 PMIt must be a trend. Thomas Jane knew nothing about baseball or Mickey Mantle before he played him in 61*.
Posted by: Bill McCabe at July 4, 2005 4:33 PMBill - damn, wasn't he just awesome as Mantle? He just WAS a baseball player. Loved it.
Posted by: red at July 4, 2005 4:34 PMAlso - Cooper had to play a leftie. Amazing.
Posted by: red at July 4, 2005 4:44 PM"He knew less about baseball than RTG."
Reading her post you linked, I kind of wonder how that's even possible.
Posted by: Dave J at July 4, 2005 5:38 PMHAHAHAHAHAHA
I was reading the post AS she did it, and tears of laughter were streaming down my face. I wanted to race over to her house and explain it all to her ... so she could see the beauty!!!
Posted by: red at July 4, 2005 5:40 PMi'm *relatively* certain that they filmed cooper batting rightie and flipped the film to make him appear leftie
but yeah - i was sick in 7th grade or so and was home from school for a week - i watched "pride" like 20 times...great film (and i agree about the funny mom)
tex - I think you're right about reversing the film, that sounds familiar. I'll look in my biography of Goldwyn - there's a lot of stuff on Pride of the Yankees in there.
I'm just not a baseball girl. I like to play soccer. I raced track in school. I was a cheerleader and in drill team. I know the basic general rules of football. But baseball? I know there must be some magic in it (I cried just like everybody else in Field of Dreams) but I just can't see it for myself - I require someone else (a fan, a filmmaker) to show it to me.
Baseball? No comprendez.
Posted by: RTG at July 4, 2005 7:06 PMRTG -if I had to live blog a football game, I would have also fumbled my way through. Football? No comprendez.
Posted by: red at July 4, 2005 7:19 PMPlaying a lefty...yeah, Ray Liotta couldn't manage that trick. But hardly anyone knows that Shoeless Joe was a lefty, and it doesn't really affect the story at all.
For 61*, for the one scene where Anthony Michael Hall (playing Whitey Ford) threw the ball, he wore a reversed jersey so that they could flip the filmed footage.
Posted by: Bill McCabe at July 4, 2005 7:33 PMI'm pretty sure tex is right about reversing the images. I remember reading that, years ago.
I recently read that Gehrig--on reflection--was showing symptoms of ALS even during the previous season, when he still hit something like .295 with 28 homers. One recent writer (can't remember who) said it might be the single greatest season anyone ever had, considering the circumstances.
Posted by: Ken Hall at July 4, 2005 10:57 PMOh, and RTG, I certainly didn't mean that in a mean way, and if it came off that way, I do apologize. But that post WAS absolutely hilarious.
Personally, I only pay any attention to football when the Pats are in the Superbowl, though as common an occurrence as that now is I'm learning a bit more. I pay even less attention to college football (or college sprts, period), but I'll root for anyone to beat FSU, simply because I hated being surrounded by rabid Noles for three years.
Posted by: Dave J at July 5, 2005 10:09 AM