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Cobb (film)
Encyclopedia
Cobb is a 1994 biopic starring Tommy Lee Jones
as the famed baseball
player Ty Cobb
. It was written and directed by Ron Shelton
and was based on a book by Al Stump
. The original music score was composed by Elliot Goldenthal
.
) is hired in 1959 as ghostwriter of an authorized autobiography of the great Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb, one of the best baseball players of all time. Now 72 and in failing health, Cobb (Tommy Lee Jones
) wants an official biography to "set the record straight" before he dies.
Cobb wants a sanitized hagiography which will present him virtually without flaws. Such books were common in earlier decades and the public images of many players (such as Babe Ruth
, whom Cobb strongly resented, but respected as a player), had been shaped by such coverage.
Stump arrives at Cobb's Lake Tahoe
estate to write the official life story of the first baseball player inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He finds a continually-drunken, misanthropic, bitter racist who abuses his biographer as well as everyone else he comes in contact with. Although Cobb's home is luxurious, it is without heat, power and running water due to long-running violent disputes between Cobb and utility companies. Cobb also rapidly runs through domestic workers, hiring and firing them in quick succession.
Although Cobb is seriously ill and prone to frequent physical breakdown, he retains considerable strength and also keeps several loaded firearms within easy reach at almost all times, making the outbreak of violent confrontation always an immediate possibility in his presence.
Cobb and Stump eventually decide to travel together cross-country to the Baseball Hall of Fame induction weekend in Cooperstown, New York, where many players from Cobb's era attend, and then on to Cobb's native Georgia
, where his estranged daughter continues to live. After spending a few months with Cobb and absorbing considerable abuse, Stump is torn between writing the book that Cobb wants and writing his own book on Cobb which will reveal his true highly abrasive nature. Cobb begins to regard Stump as a friend of sorts; it is clear his conduct has driven away virtually all his legitimate friends and family.
Thus, Stump writes two books simultaneously: the puff piece Cobb expects, and his own, sensational, merciless account which will reveal the true Cobb, warts and all. Stump plans to complete Cobb's whitewashed version while the old man is still alive, guaranteeing his payment for the autobiography project, letting Cobb die happy, and then issue the hard-hitting followup after Cobb dies. At one point, after a long night contending with the raging Cobb, Stump passes out and Cobb discovers his notes for his no-punches-pulled version, bringing on an epic explosion from Cobb.
The film concludes with the news that Cobb has died and we see several scenes from Cobb's playing career, with Stump gaining a grudging respect for the player's legendary intensity and fearsome competitive fire, and an understanding the murder of Cobb's father may have been partly responsible for his antagonistic personality. The film ends with Stump conflicted in his opinion of Cobb: whether respect for his playing accomplishments can outweigh his repellent personal conduct. In the end, Stump decides to publish the whitewashed version of Cobb's life, mainly out of respect for Cobb's memory and his belief in redemption.
's Rickwood Field
, which stood in for Philadelphia's Shibe Park and Pittsburgh's Forbes Field
. Scenes also were filmed in Cobb's actual hometown of Royston, Georgia
.
Much of the Cobb location filming was done in Northern Nevada
. The hotel check-in was at the Morris Hotel on Fourth Street in Reno
. Casino, outdoor and entry shots were done outside Cactus Jack's Hotel and Casino in Carson City and outside the then-closed, now-reopened (2007) Doppelganger's Bar in Carson City.
The late baseball announcer Ernie Harwell
, a member of the Hall of Fame, is featured as emcee at a Cooperstown, New York awards banquet. Real-life sportswriters Allan Malamud, Doug Krikorian, and Jeff Fellenzer and boxing publicist Bill Caplan appear in the movie's opening and closing scenes at a Santa Barbara
bar as Stump's friends and fellow scribes. Carson City free-lance photographer Bob Wilkie
photographed many still scenes for Nevada Magazine, the Associated Press
, and the Nevada Appeal
.
Tommy Lee Jones was shooting this film when he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
for The Fugitive
. Since his head was partially shaved in the front for his role as the balding, 72 year old Cobb, the actor made light of the situation in his acceptance speech: "All a man can say at a time like this is, 'I am not really bald,'" Jones said. He added, "But I do have work." In addition to his partially shaved head, Jones also endured a broken ankle, suffered while practicing Cobb's distinctive slide.
The film shows Cobb sharpening his spikes as a means to keep infielders from tagging him out as he ran the bases, and was accused of spiking several players who tried. Cobb, however, always denied ever spiking anyone on purpose.
Tyler Logan Cobb, a descendant of Cobb's, played "Young Ty."
, accused Al Stump of extensive forgery of Cobb-related documents and diaries and even of having falsely claimed to possess a shotgun used by Cobb's mother to kill his father. The shotgun later came into the hands of noted memorabilia collector Barry Halper
, but in reality Cobb's father had been killed by a pistol. The article further accused Stump of numerous false statements about Cobb, most of which were sensationalistic in nature and intended to cast Cobb in an unflattering light.
of Rolling Stone
hailed it as "one of the year's best" and Charles Taylor of Salon
included it on his list of the best films of the decade. Others took a harsher view of the picture. Owen Glieberman of Entertainment Weekly
gave the film a 'D', claiming it to be a "noisy, cantankerous buddy picture" and presented Cobb as little more than a "septuagenarian crank." He noted that while the film had constant reminders of Cobbs records, it had little actual baseball in it, besides one flashback where Cobb is seen getting on base, then stealing third and home, and instigating a brawl with the opposing team. He explained: "By refusing to place before our eyes Ty Cobb's haunted ferocity as a baseball player, it succeeds in making him look even worse than he was."
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
as the famed baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
. It was written and directed by Ron Shelton
Ron Shelton
Ron Shelton is a U.S. film director and screenwriter, most notable for making movies about sports.Shelton is an alumnus of Santa Barbara High School and of the University of Arizona and Westmont College...
and was based on a book by Al Stump
Al Stump
Al Stump , was an American author and Sports writer. Stump spent a great deal of time with Ty Cobb before Cobb's death. Stump wrote one book with Cobb, one book on Cobb and a handful of magazine articles about the time the two men spent together...
. The original music score was composed by Elliot Goldenthal
Elliot Goldenthal
Elliot Goldenthal is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was a student of Aaron Copland and John Corigliano, and is best known for his distinctive style and ability to blend various musical styles and techniques in original and inventive ways...
.
Plot
Sportswriter Al Stump (Robert WuhlRobert Wuhl
-Early life:Wuhl was born in Union, New Jersey to a Jewish family, including a father who worked as a produce distributor. After attending Union High School, Wuhl headed to the University of Houston, where he was active in the drama department and the Epsilon-Omicron Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon...
) is hired in 1959 as ghostwriter of an authorized autobiography of the great Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb, one of the best baseball players of all time. Now 72 and in failing health, Cobb (Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
) wants an official biography to "set the record straight" before he dies.
Cobb wants a sanitized hagiography which will present him virtually without flaws. Such books were common in earlier decades and the public images of many players (such as Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
, whom Cobb strongly resented, but respected as a player), had been shaped by such coverage.
Stump arrives at Cobb's Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
estate to write the official life story of the first baseball player inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He finds a continually-drunken, misanthropic, bitter racist who abuses his biographer as well as everyone else he comes in contact with. Although Cobb's home is luxurious, it is without heat, power and running water due to long-running violent disputes between Cobb and utility companies. Cobb also rapidly runs through domestic workers, hiring and firing them in quick succession.
Although Cobb is seriously ill and prone to frequent physical breakdown, he retains considerable strength and also keeps several loaded firearms within easy reach at almost all times, making the outbreak of violent confrontation always an immediate possibility in his presence.
Cobb and Stump eventually decide to travel together cross-country to the Baseball Hall of Fame induction weekend in Cooperstown, New York, where many players from Cobb's era attend, and then on to Cobb's native Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, where his estranged daughter continues to live. After spending a few months with Cobb and absorbing considerable abuse, Stump is torn between writing the book that Cobb wants and writing his own book on Cobb which will reveal his true highly abrasive nature. Cobb begins to regard Stump as a friend of sorts; it is clear his conduct has driven away virtually all his legitimate friends and family.
Thus, Stump writes two books simultaneously: the puff piece Cobb expects, and his own, sensational, merciless account which will reveal the true Cobb, warts and all. Stump plans to complete Cobb's whitewashed version while the old man is still alive, guaranteeing his payment for the autobiography project, letting Cobb die happy, and then issue the hard-hitting followup after Cobb dies. At one point, after a long night contending with the raging Cobb, Stump passes out and Cobb discovers his notes for his no-punches-pulled version, bringing on an epic explosion from Cobb.
The film concludes with the news that Cobb has died and we see several scenes from Cobb's playing career, with Stump gaining a grudging respect for the player's legendary intensity and fearsome competitive fire, and an understanding the murder of Cobb's father may have been partly responsible for his antagonistic personality. The film ends with Stump conflicted in his opinion of Cobb: whether respect for his playing accomplishments can outweigh his repellent personal conduct. In the end, Stump decides to publish the whitewashed version of Cobb's life, mainly out of respect for Cobb's memory and his belief in redemption.
Cast
- Tommy Lee JonesTommy Lee JonesTommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
as Ty CobbTy CobbTyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia... - Robert WuhlRobert Wuhl-Early life:Wuhl was born in Union, New Jersey to a Jewish family, including a father who worked as a produce distributor. After attending Union High School, Wuhl headed to the University of Houston, where he was active in the drama department and the Epsilon-Omicron Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon...
as Al StumpAl StumpAl Stump , was an American author and Sports writer. Stump spent a great deal of time with Ty Cobb before Cobb's death. Stump wrote one book with Cobb, one book on Cobb and a handful of magazine articles about the time the two men spent together... - Lolita DavidovichLolita DavidovichLolita Davidovich is a Canadian film and television actress.-Early life and career:Davidovich was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of immigrants from Yugoslavia. Her father was from Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and her mother was from Slovenia; she spoke only Serbian during her early years...
as Ramona - Lou MyersLou MyersLou Myers was a cartoonist and short story writer.He was the first person since James Thurber to contribute both cartoons and articles to The New Yorker...
as Willie - William UtayWilliam UtayWilliam Utay is an American character actor known for roles as stockbroker-turned-bum Phil Sanders, and Phil's evil twin Will, on the American television series Night Court. Utay also plays Dr...
as Jameson - J. Kenneth CampbellJ. Kenneth CampbellJ. Kenneth Campbell is an American film, stage, and television actor with distinctive features that has been cast in over 80 roles.He was born in Flushing, New York.-External links:...
as William Herschel Cobb - Rhoda GriffisRhoda GriffisRhoda Griffis is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing supporting roles both in independent and mainstream films and television.- Life and career :...
as Amanda Chitwood Cobb - Roger ClemensRoger ClemensWilliam Roger Clemens , nicknamed "Rocket", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the league with the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching staff he would help anchor for 12 years. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher. He played for four different teams over...
as Opposing pitcher - Stephen Mendillo as Mickey CochraneMickey CochraneGordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane was a professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers...
- Tommy Bush as Rogers HornsbyRogers HornsbyRogers Hornsby, Sr. , nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball . He played for the St. Louis Cardinals , New York Giants , Boston Braves , Chicago Cubs , and St. Louis Browns...
- Stacy Keach, Sr.Stacy Keach, Sr.Stacy Keach, Sr. was the stage name of Walter Stacy Keach , an American actor whose screen career spanned six decades. He and his wife, Mary Cain , were members of the Peninsula Players summer theater program during the 1930s. He may be best known for his role as Carlson in the television show Get...
as Jimmie FoxxJimmie FoxxJames Emory "Jimmie" Foxx , nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was a right-handed American Major League Baseball first baseman and noted power hitter.... - Crash Davis as Sam CrawfordSam CrawfordSamuel Earl Crawford , nicknamed "Wahoo Sam", was a Major League Baseball player who played outfield for the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957....
- Rath Shelton as Paul WanerPaul WanerPaul Glee Waner , nicknamed "Big Poison", was a German-American Major League Baseball right fielder.-Pittsburgh Pirates:...
- Jim Shelton as Lloyd WanerLloyd WanerLloyd James Waner , nicknamed "Little Poison", was a Major League Baseball center fielder. His small stature at 5'9" and 132 lb made him one of the smallest players of his era. Along with his brother, Paul Waner, he anchored the Pittsburgh Pirates outfield throughout the 1920s and 1930s...
- Reid Cruickshanks as Pie TraynorPie TraynorHarold Joseph "Pie" Traynor was an American professional baseball player, manager, scout and radio broadcaster. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a third baseman with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He batted and threw right-handed...
- Eloy Casados as Louis PrimaLouis PrimaLouis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...
- Paula Rudy as Keely SmithKeely SmithKeely Smith is an American jazz and popular music singer who enjoyed popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. She collaborated with, among others, Louis Prima and Frank Sinatra.-Career:...
- Bradley WhitfordBradley WhitfordBradley Whitford is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles as Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the NBC television drama The West Wing, as Danny Tripp on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, as Dan Stark in the Fox police buddy-comedy The Good Guys, as...
as Process Server - Brian Patrick Mulligan as Charlie ChaplinCharlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
- Jimmy BuffettJimmy BuffettJames William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
as Heckler
Production
Baseball scenes were filmed at BirminghamBirmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
's Rickwood Field
Rickwood Field
Rickwood FieldFacility StatisticsLocation1137 2nd Avenue WestBirmingham, AlabamaBroke GroundSpring 1910Cost$75,000OpenedAugust 18, 1910SurfaceGrassOwnerCity of BirminghamTenantsBirmingham Barons 1910-1961...
, which stood in for Philadelphia's Shibe Park and Pittsburgh's Forbes Field
Forbes Field
Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...
. Scenes also were filmed in Cobb's actual hometown of Royston, Georgia
Royston, Georgia
Royston is a city in Franklin, Hart, and Madison counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 2,493 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Royston is located at ....
.
Much of the Cobb location filming was done in Northern Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. The hotel check-in was at the Morris Hotel on Fourth Street in Reno
Reno
Reno is the fourth most populous city in Nevada, US.Reno may also refer to:-Places:Italy*The Reno River, in Northern ItalyCanada*Reno No...
. Casino, outdoor and entry shots were done outside Cactus Jack's Hotel and Casino in Carson City and outside the then-closed, now-reopened (2007) Doppelganger's Bar in Carson City.
The late baseball announcer Ernie Harwell
Ernie Harwell
William Earnest "Ernie" Harwell was an American sportscaster, known for his long career calling play-by-play of Major League Baseball games. For 55 years, 42 of them with the Detroit Tigers, Harwell called the action on radio and/or television...
, a member of the Hall of Fame, is featured as emcee at a Cooperstown, New York awards banquet. Real-life sportswriters Allan Malamud, Doug Krikorian, and Jeff Fellenzer and boxing publicist Bill Caplan appear in the movie's opening and closing scenes at a Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
bar as Stump's friends and fellow scribes. Carson City free-lance photographer Bob Wilkie
Bob Wilkie
Bob Wilkie is a retired professional ice hockey player. He played 18 NHL games with the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers.-External links:...
photographed many still scenes for Nevada Magazine, the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, and the Nevada Appeal
Nevada Appeal
The Nevada Appeal is a daily newspaper published in Carson City, Nevada by Swift Communications. The paper is available in six regional editions across northern Nevada and eastern California:*Lahontan Valley News...
.
Tommy Lee Jones was shooting this film when he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for The Fugitive
The Fugitive (1993 film)
The Fugitive is a 1993 American thriller film based on the television series of the same name. The film was directed by Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was one of the few movies associated with a television series to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best...
. Since his head was partially shaved in the front for his role as the balding, 72 year old Cobb, the actor made light of the situation in his acceptance speech: "All a man can say at a time like this is, 'I am not really bald,'" Jones said. He added, "But I do have work." In addition to his partially shaved head, Jones also endured a broken ankle, suffered while practicing Cobb's distinctive slide.
The film shows Cobb sharpening his spikes as a means to keep infielders from tagging him out as he ran the bases, and was accused of spiking several players who tried. Cobb, however, always denied ever spiking anyone on purpose.
Tyler Logan Cobb, a descendant of Cobb's, played "Young Ty."
Controversy over Sportswriter Al Stump
In 2010, an article by William R. "Ron" Cobb (no relation to Ty Cobb) in The National Pastime, official publication of the Society for American Baseball ResearchSociety for American Baseball Research
The Society for American Baseball Research was established in Cooperstown, New York, in August 1971 by Bob Davids of Washington, D.C. The Society's mission is to foster the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball, while generating interest in the game...
, accused Al Stump of extensive forgery of Cobb-related documents and diaries and even of having falsely claimed to possess a shotgun used by Cobb's mother to kill his father. The shotgun later came into the hands of noted memorabilia collector Barry Halper
Barry Halper
Barry Halper was an extensive collector of baseball memorabilia who had been a limited partner owning about 1% of the New York Yankees...
, but in reality Cobb's father had been killed by a pistol. The article further accused Stump of numerous false statements about Cobb, most of which were sensationalistic in nature and intended to cast Cobb in an unflattering light.
Critical response
Peter TraversPeter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
hailed it as "one of the year's best" and Charles Taylor of Salon
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
included it on his list of the best films of the decade. Others took a harsher view of the picture. Owen Glieberman of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film a 'D', claiming it to be a "noisy, cantankerous buddy picture" and presented Cobb as little more than a "septuagenarian crank." He noted that while the film had constant reminders of Cobbs records, it had little actual baseball in it, besides one flashback where Cobb is seen getting on base, then stealing third and home, and instigating a brawl with the opposing team. He explained: "By refusing to place before our eyes Ty Cobb's haunted ferocity as a baseball player, it succeeds in making him look even worse than he was."