Babe Ruth (1991) (TV)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Mark Tinker

Writers (WGA):

Robert W. Creamer (book)
Kal Wagenheim (book)

Release Date:

October 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Sport

Plot:

A film based on the home-run legend's life. |

Plot Keywords:

Melodrama | New York Yankees | Baseball | Based On Book

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Stephen Lang	...	George Herman 'Babe' Ruth
Brian Doyle-Murray	...	Marshall Hunt
Donald Moffat	...	Jacob Ruppert
Yvonne Suhor	...	Helen Woodford Ruth
Bruce Weitz	...	Miller Huggins
Lisa Zane	...	Claire Hodgson Ruth
William Lucking	...	Brother Matthias
Neal McDonough	...	Lou Gehrig
John Anderson	...	Judge Landis
Pete Rose	...	Ty Cobb
Cy Buynak	...	Eddie Bennet
William Flatley	...	Emil Fuchs
Stephen Prutting	...	Jimmy Walker
Frankie Thorn	...	Lady in Hotel
Thomas Wagner	...	Bill Killefer

Runtime:

Germany:99 min | USA:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Company:

Elliot Friedgen & Company

Trivia:

According to a Sports Illustrated article, Rose impressed the film producers with his professionalism on the set. He knew his lines, delivered them without sounding like he was just reciting words and was able to easily adjust whenever the director suggested changes in pace on alternative takes. Rose attributed his ease in front of the camera to doing many commercials. "I do what the director tells me to do," he said.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The movie depicts the Yankees winning the 1923 World Series on a game six, bottom-of-the-ninth, walk-off home run by Babe Ruth. In fact, Ruth hit his home run in the top of the first inning of a 6-4 Yankees win.

Best Rendering to date

If you've seen either the sappy, sanitized 1948 THE BABE RUTH STORY with the woefully undersized William Bendix as the Babe; or THE BABE with the consistently over-sized John Goodman (Ruth was never that large)...you owe it to yourself to watch this take.

An honest effort has been made to depict the Babe with all his colorful sides and darker, less likable shades to his character. it's nearly an impossible task to portray a larger than life, legendary personage, but Steven Lang does a more than credible job.

Great care has been taken to depict the era, styles and mindsets of all the principals in Ruth's life and Ruth/Lang is on side the cheerful, over the top big kid and also the greedy, petulant, spoiled brat who feels he should always get his way, even when he knows he's dead wrong.

There's a clever cameo in mid film by Pete Rose, the current all time baseball career hit leader, as Ty Cobb (who's record he broke).

Sadly, life in regards to how Ruth dealt with his two wives and daughters didn't come to him as easily as baseball did. Here he doesn't fare as well as he did on the babeball diamond. The film touches on all this and his desire to be a big league manager, despite his failings to manage himself are also dealt with

honestly.