Bang the Drum Slowly (film)
Encyclopedia
Bang the Drum Slowly is a 1973 film adaptation of the 1956 baseball novel of the same name
by Mark Harris
. It was previously dramatized in 1956 on the U.S. Steel Hour with Paul Newman
and Albert Salmi
.
It was directed by John D. Hancock
and stars Michael Moriarty
and a then-little-known Robert De Niro
as baseball teammates. De Niro's performance in this film and in Mean Streets
, released two months later, brought him widespread acclaim.
One of Henry's teammates and best friend on the team is a catcher, Bruce Pearson, a player of limited skill and intellect. Teammates call Henry by the nickname "Author" because the brainy pitcher once wrote a book, although Bruce misunderstands the origin of the name and, with his thick Southern drawl, often calls him "Arthur" instead.
The film opens with Henry and Bruce leaving the Mayo Clinic, where Bruce has been told he is terminally ill with Hodgkin's disease.
The team knows nothing about this. At spring training, Dutch is preparing to bench or release Bruce in favor of a hot young prospect, country boy Piney Woods. So management is amazed and confused with Henry ends his holdout and agrees to a new contract on one condition: that he and Bruce come as a package. If one is on the team, so is the other. If one's traded or sent down, the other goes too.
Dutch tries everything he can think of to make Henry reveal why he insists that Bruce catch for him. In the meantime, the Mammoths are losing games and have a low morale, with teammates quarreling among themselves.
Meanwhile, knowing that he is dying, Bruce wants Henry to change the beneficiary on his life insurance policy from his parents to his girlfriend Katie. She is interested only in Bruce's money, and is taking advantage of his limited intellect.
One day when a player picks on Bruce, a frustrated Henry blurts out the fact that Bruce is dying. He asks that it remain confidential, but quickly teammates and Dutch all find out. They begin to treat Bruce differently and each other as well, and the team's play and mood both improve.
Near the end of the season, Bruce becomes too ill to continue playing. The team goes on to the World Series, but he returns to see his parents in Georgia. After the season is over, he passes away, and Henry vows that he won't "rag" on anyone again.
; in addition, the visitors' clubhouse, the walkway from the Yankees' dugout, and the front of the right-field bullpen also were used in the "away-game" sequences. The few scenes of Yankee Stadium — particularly the wide pan at the end of the rain delay sequence — are some of the best clips of the stadium before the 1973-1976 renovation. Dugout shots of "home" games were shot at Yankee Stadium.
The "home" game sequences were filmed in Shea Stadium
. The filmmakers also used the walkway that connected the Mets clubhouse, dugout, and the TV studio that was the home of "Kiner's Korner" post-game show for the singing scene. The Opening Day/band clips came from MLB; they were recorded before the fourth game of the 1969 World Series at Shea. Wide crowd shots are from a regular season game, and MLB films also provided clips of Tony Perez
(from the 1970 World Series) and Brooks Robinson
hitting.
Spring-training baseball scenes were shot at the Philadelphia Phillies' complex in Clearwater, Florida, which is still in use.
Rain-delay footage of a grounds crew covering the infield with a tarp was from the 1969 All-Star Game in Washington's RFK Stadium (the game was postponed by rain and played the next day). In the audio over this clip was the voice of long-time Yankees' public-address announcer Bob Sheppard. Baseball-game action clips starting at 01:21 are from MLB films; they are from Yankees and Mets games in 1970 and 1971 — Danny Cater
(10), shortstop Gene Michael (17), hitter Jerry Kenney
, catcher Thurman Munson
(15), and runner Bobby Murcer
(1) can be seen.
The uniforms worn by the Mammoths baseball team are Yankees uniforms from 1971, but the "NY" on the home pinstriped shirts was changed. Other teams providing uniforms were the Pittsburgh Pirates
and the Boston Red Sox
.
The film and book include a fictional card game known as tegwar, which means "The Exciting Game Without Any Rules." It is a game basically designed to separate a sucker from their cash. Henry Wiggen plays this game along with other ballplayers and coaches to sucker passers-by in the lobby of the team hotel. It is generally believed that Bruce Pearson is too dumb to be able to sucker people, so he is initially excluded; however, Henry begins to include Bruce in the tegwar games as the story progresses.
This film is reportedly Robert De Niro's colleague Al Pacino
's favorite film. In reviews, Wiggen is often referred to as being modeled after Tom Seaver
, though not in the book, which was written when Seaver was 12.
One error: Moriarity's Wiggen is a right-handed pitcher, while Wiggen in Harris's novels is explicitly a left-handed pitcher.
Bang the Drum Slowly
Bang the Drum Slowly is a novel by Mark Harris, a sequel to The Southpaw . It was first published in 1956, and was later made into a 1956 U.S...
by Mark Harris
Mark Harris (author)
Mark Harris was an American novelist, literary biographer, and educator.-Early life:Harris was born Mark Harris Finklestein in Mount Vernon, New York to Carlyle and Ruth Klausner Finkelstein...
. It was previously dramatized in 1956 on the U.S. Steel Hour with Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
and Albert Salmi
Albert Salmi
Albert Salmi was an American actor.-Biography:Albert Salmi was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Finnish immigrant parents, and following a stint in the Army, took up acting as a career, studying Method acting with Lee Strasberg. In 1955, Salmi starred in Bus Stop on Broadway...
.
It was directed by John D. Hancock
John D. Hancock
John D. Hancock is an American stage and film director, producer and writer. He is the son of Ralph and Ella Mae Rosenthal Hancock. His father was a musician with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in Chicago, Illinois and his mother a school teacher. Hancock spent his youth between their home in...
and stars Michael Moriarty
Michael Moriarty
Michael Moriarty is an American-Canadian actor of stage and screen, and a jazz musician. He played Benjamin Stone for four seasons on the TV series Law & Order.-Early life:...
and a then-little-known Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
as baseball teammates. De Niro's performance in this film and in Mean Streets
Mean Streets
Mean Streets is a 1973 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin. The film stars Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. It was released by Warner Bros. on October 2, 1973...
, released two months later, brought him widespread acclaim.
Plot
Henry Wiggen is a star pitcher for the New York Mammoths, a fictitious Major League Baseball team. He is a valuable player to his manager, Dutch, but is in a dispute with the team's ownership, holding out for a new contract and more money. Henry also has a sideline as an insurance salesman working for the Arcturus Corporation, with ballplayers as his clients.One of Henry's teammates and best friend on the team is a catcher, Bruce Pearson, a player of limited skill and intellect. Teammates call Henry by the nickname "Author" because the brainy pitcher once wrote a book, although Bruce misunderstands the origin of the name and, with his thick Southern drawl, often calls him "Arthur" instead.
The film opens with Henry and Bruce leaving the Mayo Clinic, where Bruce has been told he is terminally ill with Hodgkin's disease.
The team knows nothing about this. At spring training, Dutch is preparing to bench or release Bruce in favor of a hot young prospect, country boy Piney Woods. So management is amazed and confused with Henry ends his holdout and agrees to a new contract on one condition: that he and Bruce come as a package. If one is on the team, so is the other. If one's traded or sent down, the other goes too.
Dutch tries everything he can think of to make Henry reveal why he insists that Bruce catch for him. In the meantime, the Mammoths are losing games and have a low morale, with teammates quarreling among themselves.
Meanwhile, knowing that he is dying, Bruce wants Henry to change the beneficiary on his life insurance policy from his parents to his girlfriend Katie. She is interested only in Bruce's money, and is taking advantage of his limited intellect.
One day when a player picks on Bruce, a frustrated Henry blurts out the fact that Bruce is dying. He asks that it remain confidential, but quickly teammates and Dutch all find out. They begin to treat Bruce differently and each other as well, and the team's play and mood both improve.
Near the end of the season, Bruce becomes too ill to continue playing. The team goes on to the World Series, but he returns to see his parents in Georgia. After the season is over, he passes away, and Henry vows that he won't "rag" on anyone again.
Cast
- Michael MoriartyMichael MoriartyMichael Moriarty is an American-Canadian actor of stage and screen, and a jazz musician. He played Benjamin Stone for four seasons on the TV series Law & Order.-Early life:...
as Henry Wiggen - Robert De NiroRobert De NiroRobert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
as Bruce Pearson - Vincent GardeniaVincent GardeniaVincent Gardenia was an Italian American stage, film, and television actor.-Early life:...
as Dutch - Phil FosterPhil FosterPhil Foster was an American actor and performer. He is best known for playing Frank De Fazio on the television sitcom Laverne & Shirley.- Biography :...
as Joe - Heather MacRaeHeather MacRaeHeather MacRae is an American stage, film and television actress, perhaps best known for her role in the Woody Allen 1972 comedy film Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* ....
as Holly - Ann WedgeworthAnn WedgeworthAnn Wedgeworth is a Tony award winning American actress, best known for her role as Lahoma Vane Lucas on the daytime dramas Another World and Somerset .-Early life:...
as Katie - Tom Ligon as Piney Woods
Production
The non-Florida baseball sequences were filmed at New York's Yankee and Shea stadiums during late May and June 1972, when the Yankees and Mets were on extended roadtrips. The opening scenes of the movie show the stars running on the warning track at Yankee StadiumYankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
; in addition, the visitors' clubhouse, the walkway from the Yankees' dugout, and the front of the right-field bullpen also were used in the "away-game" sequences. The few scenes of Yankee Stadium — particularly the wide pan at the end of the rain delay sequence — are some of the best clips of the stadium before the 1973-1976 renovation. Dugout shots of "home" games were shot at Yankee Stadium.
The "home" game sequences were filmed in Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
. The filmmakers also used the walkway that connected the Mets clubhouse, dugout, and the TV studio that was the home of "Kiner's Korner" post-game show for the singing scene. The Opening Day/band clips came from MLB; they were recorded before the fourth game of the 1969 World Series at Shea. Wide crowd shots are from a regular season game, and MLB films also provided clips of Tony Perez
Tony Pérez
Atanasio Pérez Rigal , more commonly known as Tony Pérez, is a former Major League Baseball player. He was also known by the nickname "Big Dog," "Big Doggie," and "Doggie."...
(from the 1970 World Series) and Brooks Robinson
Brooks Robinson
Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr. is a former American professional baseball player. He played his entire 23-year major league career for the Baltimore Orioles . Nicknamed "The Human Vacuum Cleaner", he is generally acclaimed as the greatest defensive third-basemen in major league history...
hitting.
Spring-training baseball scenes were shot at the Philadelphia Phillies' complex in Clearwater, Florida, which is still in use.
Rain-delay footage of a grounds crew covering the infield with a tarp was from the 1969 All-Star Game in Washington's RFK Stadium (the game was postponed by rain and played the next day). In the audio over this clip was the voice of long-time Yankees' public-address announcer Bob Sheppard. Baseball-game action clips starting at 01:21 are from MLB films; they are from Yankees and Mets games in 1970 and 1971 — Danny Cater
Danny Cater
Danny Anderson Cater is a former Major League Baseball first baseman, third baseman, and outfielder. He was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies at the age of 18 on June 8,...
(10), shortstop Gene Michael (17), hitter Jerry Kenney
Jerry Kenney
Gerald Tennyson Kenney is a retired American Major League Baseball infielder. He is from Beloit, Wisconsin.-Baseball career:...
, catcher Thurman Munson
Thurman Munson
Thurman Lee Munson was an American Major League Baseball catcher. He played his entire 11-year career for the New York Yankees...
(15), and runner Bobby Murcer
Bobby Murcer
Bobby Ray Murcer was an American Major League Baseball outfielder who played for 17 seasons between 1965 and 1983, mostly with the New York Yankees, whom he later rejoined as a longtime broadcaster...
(1) can be seen.
The uniforms worn by the Mammoths baseball team are Yankees uniforms from 1971, but the "NY" on the home pinstriped shirts was changed. Other teams providing uniforms were the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
and the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
.
The film and book include a fictional card game known as tegwar, which means "The Exciting Game Without Any Rules." It is a game basically designed to separate a sucker from their cash. Henry Wiggen plays this game along with other ballplayers and coaches to sucker passers-by in the lobby of the team hotel. It is generally believed that Bruce Pearson is too dumb to be able to sucker people, so he is initially excluded; however, Henry begins to include Bruce in the tegwar games as the story progresses.
This film is reportedly Robert De Niro's colleague Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
's favorite film. In reviews, Wiggen is often referred to as being modeled after Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver
George Thomas "Tom" Seaver , nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1967-1986 for four different teams in his career, but is noted primarily for his time with the New York Mets...
, though not in the book, which was written when Seaver was 12.
One error: Moriarity's Wiggen is a right-handed pitcher, while Wiggen in Harris's novels is explicitly a left-handed pitcher.