Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)

Director:

John D. Hancock

Writers:

Mark Harris (novel)
Mark Harris (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 May 1978 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Plot:

The story of the friendship between a star pitcher, wise to the world, and a half-wit catcher, as they...

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | Terminal Illness | Friendship | New York City | Athlete

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Michael Moriarty	...	Henry 'Author' Wiggen
Robert De Niro	...	Bruce Pearson
Vincent Gardenia	...	Dutch Schnell
Phil Foster	...	Joe Jaros
Ann Wedgeworth	...	Katie
Patrick McVey	...	Bruce's Father
Heather MacRae	...	Holly Wiggen
Selma Diamond	...	Tootsie, Hotel switchboard operator
Barbara Babcock	...	Team Owner
Maurice Rosenfield	...	Team Owner
Tom Ligon	...	Piney Woods
Andy Jarrell	...	Ugly
Marshall Efron	...	Bradley
Danny Burks	...	Perry
Tom Signorelli	...	Goose Williams

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Clearwater, Florida, USA

Company:

ANJS

Trivia:

The stadium used for the fictional NY Mammoths home games was Shea Stadium which from 1964 to 2008 was the home of the New York Mets. Shea was demolished after the 2008 baseball season.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Paul shoots the light in the hotel room using a single action revolver, which requires manually cocking the hammer. However, the hammer is clearly in the down position and his finger is not even on the trigger.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Henry Wiggen: From here on in, I rag nobody.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "St. Elsewhere: Bang the Eardrum Slowly (#3.23)" (1985)

Soundtrack:

Streets of Loredo (The Cowboy's Lament)

More about Humanity than Baseball

New York Mammoth star Pitcher Henry Wiggen (played by Michael Moriarty of future "Law and Order" fame) learns from that his friend and catcher Bruce Pearson (a young Robert De Niro) is terminally ill. Because Bruce is a marginal player and, more importantly, a vulnerable, simple soul, Henry sets out to protect his compadre from the wrath of his teammates, management, and the predators of Life. Upon learning of his friend's condition, Henry negotiates as part of his contract that Bruce will remain with the team for the entire season. He also strives (and this is perhaps the biggest crux of conflict of the film) to keep Bruce's condition their secret for reasons far greater than mere confidentiality. Henry doesn't know what the fallout would be from disclosure, and one of the best scenes in the film is a grilling he gets when the manager suspects that he is hiding something. Henry is also there as Bruce deals with the unsettling prospects of terminal illness. Although the setting is baseball (and writer Mark Harris is one of the best authors of baseball fiction) the story is really about friendship and what a man will do for a friend when he knows that more is at stake than winning games. Younger viewers might not relate to a number of things that date the film somewhat, such a a player negotiating his contract without an agent and Henry's offseason moonlighting as an insurance salesman (yes, players really did do that back before free agency). Any baseball fan will appreciate the footage of Old Yankee Stadium before it was renovated in 1974-75, drastically changing the character of the legendary old park. There is an eerie real-life foreshadowing of the fate of another New York catcher, also wearing Bruce's number 15. It must be said that the supporting roles, such as the team's salty old manager Dutch (Vincent Gardenia), and Bruce's gold digging girlfriend Katie (Ann Wedgeworth), are portrayed extremely well.