The Sporting Life in Pennsylvania Caught on Celluloid' Linda K

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The Sporting Life in Pennsylvania Caught on Celluloid' Linda K. Fuller Department of Communications, Worcester State College

It is perhaps a testimony to how little we really pay attention to the locales offilm that so few placesfrom the movies seem really memo- rable. Locales, except when they are developed in ways which make them special, typically function as unquestioned backgrounds within the movie world. Loukides and Fuller, 1993, P. 1

Although one might automatically associate the Sylvester Stallone "Rocky" boxing series with Pennsylvania sports as seen in the motion pictures, in reality it turns out that there are number of different places and different sports that are represented in the movies-as can be seen on the attached filmography. Following a discussion on the role of places mainstream movie representations, the significance of place in some two dozen Pennsylvanian sports-related films will be analyzed.

Motion pictures places "In film, as in our everyday world, conventions of locales typically have been quite fixed, and even rigid conventional parameters which have scarcely been studied by popular culturalists," Loukides and Fuller (1993, p.1) have noted. Only recently has academic attention focused on the role of place(s) chosen as background or, in some instances, a particular locale itself as a role- player (Burgess and Gold, 1985; Reed, 1989; Zonn, 1990; Denzin, 1991; Jameson, 1992; Aitken and Zonn, 1994). "Study of the interrelationships between film and the politics of social and cultural representation, and the use of film as a means toward understanding our place in the world, remains pro- vocative but largely unexplored in geography," Aitken and Zonn (1994, p.5) state in their introductory chapter. This author, fascinated by the discrepancies between filmic images of "foreign" countries, as opposed to actual experiences in them, has performed comparative studies of Africa (Fuller, 1993), Brazil (Fuller, 1993), and the Canadian border (Fuller, 1995 and 1997). "Cities now are depicted in a variety of ways in film," writes Larry Ford (1994, p.13 2). "During the early days of American films, cities tended to be depicted as neutral backdrops for the antics of the stars. This was due in part to the fact that film in America grew out of Vaudeville rather than 'serious art' 544 Pennsylvania History as was the case in Europe." In the case of Pennsylvania, most of the films featuring sports have taken place in major urban areas, like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, but other cities are also represented.

Sports movies in and about Pennsylvania Referring to the attached filmography, one can see that one of the first motion pictures in the century-old media was THE BASEBALL BUG, dating back to 1911. The protagonist, a young clerk with delusions of being the greatest baseball player of all time, has a wife who contacts her cousin (Phila- delphia A's pitcher Chief Bender) to come visit with his teammates to give her husband something to compare his prowess so-in effect, curing his "bug." The universal parable might well apply today. Pittsburgh provided the backdrop for the next few films. FAST COM- PANY(1929) featured another small-town baseball hero, this time coming up against crooked gamblers during the World Series with the Pittsburgh Pirates; the film was so popular that it was re-released four years later as "Elmer the Great," starring Joe E. Brown. Billy Conn, a heavyweight boxing contender, played himself as THE PITTSBURGH KID (1941), whose greatest challenge was not the game but instead was an unscrupulous manager. ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD (1951) has the Pittsburgh Pirates being managed by inept Guffy McGovern, helped at last by the prayers of a little orphan girl who calls on the Angel Gabriel to send down spirits of past baseball greats; it was redone recently (1994), this time with Danny Glover as the disbelieving coach. The single tennis film featured here is also the only one directed by a woman: Ida Lupino's HARD, FAST, AND BEAUTIFUL (1951) concerns a classic story of the athlete being pushed by a manipulative mother-in this case, a young woman who begins by winning a junior tournament in Phila- delphia and then goes onto the professional tennis circuit. Also in 1951 came JIM THORPE, ALL AMERICAN, a biopic about the Olympic medalist most famous as an American Indian football player (played by Burt Lancaster) who equally excelled at baseball and track. John Updike's RABBIT RUN(1970) follows a former basketball player from his wedding in Reading, Pennsylvania, through a marriage that can't let go of those glory days. Like THAT CHAMPIONSHIPSEASON (1982), which brings together a bunch of buddies who gather annually in Scranton to cel- ebrate a basketball victory that now took place 24 years earlier, dreams die slowly. As was mentioned earlier, Sylvester Stallone's ROCKYseries, all dealing with the underdog boxer and the American Dream, brought attention to Phila- delphia that might make a Chamber of Commerce envious. Of the five films, four-1976 (which won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, The Sporting Life in PA Caught in Celluloid 545 and, Editing), 1979, 1982, and 1990, all took place in the City of Brotherly Love. THEFISHTHATSAVEDPITTSBURGH(1979) was a basketball com- edy with an astrological twist starring NBA legend Julius Erving ("Dr. J."), with cameos by Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon and Laker great Kareem Abdul Jabbar. In 1994, DR. J'S BASKETBALL STUFFcontinued the fun. A baseball has-been (Alan Arkin) is the central figure in CHU CHU d THE PHILLYFLASH (1981). It's a sad theme played out in a different way in STEALING HOME(1988), where a young boy from the wealthy Philadel- phian suburbs is robbed not only of his love of baseball but also the sudden death of his practice partner, his father. Mark Harmon stars here as Billy, for whom baseball is all, then later in WORTH WINNING (1989), as a cocky gambling womanizer. Tom Cruise plays a learning-about-life high school senior in ALL THE RJGHTMOVES (1983), anxious to earn a football scholarship that will be the ticket to get him out of his Pennsylvania mill town. In THE COLOR OF MONEY(1986), he teams up with Paul Newman to portray the subculture of Philadelphian professional pool hustlers first depicted in the 1961 movie "The Hustler"; it earned Newman, playing "Fast Eddie Felson," an Academy Award for Best Actor. THEIN CROWD (1988) revolves around Philadelphian teens who par- ticipate in 1960's-inspired American Bandstand musical shows. Interestingly, the only hockey film included in this list isMARIO (1994), a review of the life and work of Pittsburgh Penguins player Mario Lemieux, who served as the inspiration for "Super Mario" action figures. PATHS OF GLORY 100 YEARS OF PITT FOOTBALL (1994) is a documentary featuring the key years of Panther football, back to the days of Pop Warner and Jock Sutherland. And most recently, although there isjust one scene that takes place in Philadelphia (the hero racing away from a train), MAJXJMUMRISK(1996) rounds out the wide spectrum of sports taking place in Pennsylvania films by having it as the location of choice for kick-boxer Jean-Claude Van Damme. While that completes the list of mainstream movies dealing with various sporting events in Pennsylvania, some other features are also worth mention2: 1. BEST OF TIMES (1920-1924), 1984, 24 minutes-includes cover- age of the inauguration of Pittsburgh's KDKA, considered the country's first commercial radio station, and the first World Series recorded on film. 2. BORN TO PACE, 25 minutes-on Philadelphia sportscaster Jim Leaming. 3. FIRE IN THE COOL WORLD, 1975, 27 minutes-efforts of Philadelphia's Mantua community to better the neighborhood so it could of- fer athletic programs, rebuild homes, and give college scholarships. 546 Pennsylvania History

4. I & E SPORTS REEL, 1958,22 minutes-highlights of the previous year's Army-Navy football game, which had played in Philadelphia. 5. OAKMONT AND THE OPEN, 1962,33 minutes-a golfing semi- documentary featuring scenes from where the U.S. Open took place near Pitts- burgh. While the championship was won by Tommy Armour, Sam Parks, Jr., and Ben Hogan, it also includes a playoff between Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. 6. SPORTS AS A HUMANISTIC ACTIVITY, 1975, 59 minutes-a panel discussion moderated by Robert Weaver, professor of English at Penn- sylvania State University, with the following participants: CBS sportscaster Heywood Hale Broun; philosophy professor Aaron Druckman of Penn State; Eleanor Metheny, professor emerita of Southern California; Mike Reid, former defensive tackle for Penn State and the Cincinnati Bengals; and Penn State's famous football coach, Joe Paterno.

Concluding thoughts While this report has zeroed in on the topic of sports in motion pictures relative to Pennsylvania, hopefully it will encourage future scholarship that will extend that notion not only to other topic areas but also to various genres, auteurs, stars, and stock characters. At the same time, the author welcomes further input to advance the ideas and resources listed here.

Notes: 1. Special appreciation for input into this report to Sharon Pinkenson, Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, and Joan Bressler, assistant. 2. These films are cited in Judith A. Davidson (ed.), Sport on Film and Video: The North American Society for Sport History Guide (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow), 1993. The Sporting Life in PA Caught in Celluloid 547

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References

Aitken, Stuart C. and Leo E. Zonn (eds.) 1994. Place, Power, Situation and Spectacle: A Geography ofFilm. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Burgess, J. and J.R. Gold (eds.) 1985. Geography, the Media, and PopularCulture. New York: St. Martin's Press. Davidson, Judith A. (ed.) 1993. Sport on Film and Video: The North American Societyfor Sport History Guide. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow. Denzin, Norman K. 1991. Images of Postmodern Society: Social Theory and ContemporarySociety. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Ford, Larry. 1994. "Sunshine and Shadow: Lighting and Color in the Depiction of Cities on Film." In Stuart C. Aitken and Leo E. Zonn (eds.) Place, Power, Situation and Spectacle: A Geography of Film. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield): 119-136. Fuller, Linda K. 1993. "Images of Africa in Popular Film." Paper presented to the World Communication Association, Pretoria, South Africa. Fuller, Linda K. 1993. "South America As Cinematic Scene-Stealer: Recent Reflections on the Rain Forest." Paper presented to the 10th Annual Intercultural/International Communication Conference, Miami, FL. Fuller, Linda K. 1995. "The Not-So-'Rocky' Road: Philadelphia Films about Sports." Paper presented to the Sports Division, Popular Culture Association, Philadelphia, PA. Fuller, Linda K. 1995. "Borders as a Cinematic Convention: A Case Study of Canada." Paper presented to the World Communication Association, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Fuller, Linda K. 1997. "Canadian Mints: Images of Canada in Popular Film." Paper presented to the Society for Cinema Studies, Ottowa, Ontario, Canada. Jameson, Fredric. 1992. The GeopoliticalAesthetic: Cinema and Space in the World System. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Loukides, Paul and Linda K. Fuller (eds.). 1993. "Introduction." Beyond the Stars IV Locales in American PopularFilm. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. Reed, Joseph. 1989. American Scenarios: The Use of Film Genre. Middletown, CN: Wesleyan University Press. Zoon, Leo E. 1990. Place Images in Media: Portrayal,Experience, andMeaning. Savage, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.