Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)

The story of the friendship between a star pitcher, wise to the world, and a half-wit catcher, as they cope with the catcher's terminal illness through a baseball season.

Director:

John D. Hancock (as John Hancock)

Writers:

Mark Harris (novel), Mark Harris (screenplay)

Stars:

Michael Moriarty, Robert De Niro, Vincent Gardenia

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Moriarty	...	Henry
Robert De Niro	...	Bruce
Vincent Gardenia	...	Dutch
Phil Foster	...	Joe
Ann Wedgeworth	...	Katie
Patrick McVey	...	Bruce's Father
Heather MacRae	...	Holly
Selma Diamond	...	Tootsie
Barbara Babcock	...	Team Owner
Maurice Rosenfield	...	Team Owner
Tom Ligon	...	Piney
Andy Jarrell	...	Ugly
Marshall Efron	...	Bradley
Donny Burks	...	Perry
Hector Elias	...	Diego

Storyline

Henry Wiggen (Author to his friends) and Bruce Pearson are members of the New York Mammoths major league baseball team - Author the star pitcher, Bruce the catcher who never quite lived up to his potential - friends, and roommates when they're on the road. During the off season, Bruce is diagnosed with a terminal case of Hodgkin's disease. Author is the only person on the team who knows of Bruce's illness, with neither planning on telling anyone. Author takes extraordinary measures to ensure that he is playing ball with Bruce during what will probably be Bruce's final season before he can no longer play. Author looks after Bruce in part because Bruce is mentally a simple man who can easily be taken advantage of, especially by his opportunistic girlfriend Katie. As the season progresses, the team isn't quite gelling, despite being the best team on paper. But as information comes to light, the dynamic on the team changes to make it a memorable end of the season especially for Bruce, who...

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Plot Keywords:

playing cards | television set | contract | coach | doctor | 

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Taglines:

Nothing is more important than friendship. Not fame, not money, not death.

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was filmed at both Yankee and Shea Stadiums, action footage came mostly from recent Yankee games (hence the players wearing numbers of active Yankees at the time of filming), but many off-field scenes were filmed in areas not seen by fans, as in an actual Yankee Stadium auxiliary clubhouse (where Piney Woods sings the title song) and the corridors underneath the stands at both ballparks. Very familiar to those who worked in them as players, reporters or support staff.

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Goofs

The Yankees (Mamouths) are seen in the film playing Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Both Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are National League Clubs and wouldn't play the Yankees unless it was the World Series as there was no interleague play before 1997.

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Quotes

Henry Wiggen: Oh Katie, honey, why don't you get yourself married and raise yourself some exemptions.

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Connections

Featured in Diamonds on the Silver Screen (1992)

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Soundtracks

Home On The Range
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Brewster M. Higley and music by Daniel E. Kelley
Arranged by Nick Manolff

User Reviews

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

9 March 1978 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Bang the Drum Slowly

Filming Locations:

Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$354,372

Company Credits

Production Co:

ANJS, Dibs Partnership, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1