Flashing Spikes
Encyclopedia
Flashing Spikes is a 1962
teleplay
directed by John Ford
and starring James Stewart
, with a lengthy surprise appearance by John Wayne
, billed in the credits as "Michael Morris" (apparently based on Wayne's birth name "Marion Michael Morrison"). The hour-long drama revolving around a disgraced ex-baseball
player (Stewart) was broadcast as an episode of the anthology series Alcoa Premiere
hosted by Fred Astaire
.
The script was based upon a novel by Frank O'Rourke
and the supporting cast includes Jack Warden
, Tige Andrews
, Patrick Wayne
, Don Drysdale
, Vin Scully
, Harry Carey, Jr.
, and Edgar Buchanan
. The Director of Photography was William H. Clothier
.
This show's director John Ford, actors James Stewart and John Wayne, and cinematographer
William H. Clothier also filmed The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
together the same year.
Ford
had also directed a half-hour baseball television drama shown on Screen Director's Playhouse in 1955 with an extremely similar theme, Rookie of the Year
, also with Patrick Wayne
as the phenomenal young player but with his father John Wayne, Vera Miles
, and Ward Bond
in the leads, all of whom Ford would direct in The Searchers
the following year.
Flashing Spikes remains available for public viewing at the Paley Center for Media in New York City
and Los Angeles
.
1962 in film
The year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....
teleplay
Teleplay
A teleplay is a television play, a comedy or drama written or adapted for television. The term surfaced during the 1950s with wide usage to distinguish a television plays from stage plays for the theater and screenplays written for films...
directed by John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
and starring James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
, with a lengthy surprise appearance by John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, billed in the credits as "Michael Morris" (apparently based on Wayne's birth name "Marion Michael Morrison"). The hour-long drama revolving around a disgraced ex-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 (Stewart) was broadcast as an episode of the anthology series Alcoa Premiere
Alcoa Premiere
Alcoa Premiere is the title of a TV drama series that aired from 1961 to 1963 and hosted by Fred Astaire and directed by Norman Lloyd. Each episode presented a new drama which often offered powerful stories on painful or controversial subjects as opposed to classic drama...
hosted by Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
.
The script was based upon a novel by Frank O'Rourke
Frank O'Rourke
Frank O'Rourke was an American writer known for western and mystery novels and sports fiction. O'Rourke ultimately wrote more than 60 novels and numerous magazine articles....
and the supporting cast includes Jack Warden
Jack Warden
Jack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
, Tige Andrews
Tige Andrews
Tige Andrews was an American character actor. His work includes the role of Captain Adam Greer on the late 1960s-to-early 1970s television series The Mod Squad and Detective Lt...
, Patrick Wayne
Patrick Wayne
Patrick John Morrison, better known by his stage name Patrick Wayne , is an American actor, the second son of movie star John Wayne and his first wife, Josephine Alicia Saenz. He made over 40 films in his career, including nine with his father...
, Don Drysdale
Don Drysdale
Donald Scott "Don" Drysdale was a Major League Baseball player and Hall of Fame right-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was one of the dominant starting pitchers of the 1960s, and became a radio and television broadcaster following his playing career...
, Vin Scully
Vin Scully
Vincent Edward Scully is an American sportscaster, known primarily as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team on Prime Ticket, KCAL-TV and KABC radio...
, Harry Carey, Jr.
Harry Carey, Jr.
Harry Carey, Jr. is an American film actor. He appeared in over 90 films. He is mostly remembered for appearing in Western films — notably those by his friend John Ford — and in television programs.-Early life:...
, and Edgar Buchanan
Edgar Buchanan
Edgar Buchanan was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s...
. The Director of Photography was William H. Clothier
William H. Clothier
William H. Clothier, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer.Born in Decatur, Illinois, Clothier entered the film industry painting sets at Warner Bros., and at the end of the silent era began photographing such films as Wings and Ernst Lubitsch's The Patriot...
.
This show's director John Ford, actors James Stewart and John Wayne, and cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
William H. Clothier also filmed The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a 1962 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring James Stewart and John Wayne. The black-and-white film was released by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck was adapted from a short story written by Dorothy M...
together the same year.
Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
had also directed a half-hour baseball television drama shown on Screen Director's Playhouse in 1955 with an extremely similar theme, Rookie of the Year
Rookie of the Year (1955 TV drama)
Rookie of the Year is a half-hour baseball drama directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, Vera Miles, Ward Bond, and Patrick Wayne, all of whom Ford would direct in The Searchers the following year...
, also with Patrick Wayne
Patrick Wayne
Patrick John Morrison, better known by his stage name Patrick Wayne , is an American actor, the second son of movie star John Wayne and his first wife, Josephine Alicia Saenz. He made over 40 films in his career, including nine with his father...
as the phenomenal young player but with his father John Wayne, Vera Miles
Vera Miles
Vera Miles is an American film actress who gained popularity for starring in films such as The Searchers, The Wrong Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Psycho and Psycho II.-Early life:...
, and Ward Bond
Ward Bond
Wardell Edwin "Ward" Bond was an American film actor whose rugged appearance and easygoing charm were featured in over 200 movies and the television series Wagon Train.-Early life:...
in the leads, all of whom Ford would direct in The Searchers
The Searchers (film)
The Searchers is a 1956 American Western film directed by John Ford, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May, and set during the Texas–Indian Wars...
the following year.
Flashing Spikes remains available for public viewing at the Paley Center for Media in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Cast
- James StewartJames Stewart (actor)James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
... Slim Conway - John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
... Umpire behind pitcher (billed as "Michael Morris") - Jack WardenJack WardenJack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
... Baseball Commissioner - Patrick WaynePatrick WaynePatrick John Morrison, better known by his stage name Patrick Wayne , is an American actor, the second son of movie star John Wayne and his first wife, Josephine Alicia Saenz. He made over 40 films in his career, including nine with his father...
... Bill Riley - Tige AndrewsTige AndrewsTige Andrews was an American character actor. His work includes the role of Captain Adam Greer on the late 1960s-to-early 1970s television series The Mod Squad and Detective Lt...
... Gaby Lasalle - Carleton YoungCarleton YoungCarleton Scott Young was an American character actor born in New York City, New York and known for his deep voice.-Private life:...
... Rex Short - Don DrysdaleDon DrysdaleDonald Scott "Don" Drysdale was a Major League Baseball player and Hall of Fame right-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was one of the dominant starting pitchers of the 1960s, and became a radio and television broadcaster following his playing career...
... Gomer - Harry Carey, Jr.Harry Carey, Jr.Harry Carey, Jr. is an American film actor. He appeared in over 90 films. He is mostly remembered for appearing in Western films — notably those by his friend John Ford — and in television programs.-Early life:...
... Baseball player in dugout - Vin ScullyVin ScullyVincent Edward Scully is an American sportscaster, known primarily as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team on Prime Ticket, KCAL-TV and KABC radio...
... Announcer - Edgar BuchananEdgar BuchananEdgar Buchanan was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s...
... Crab Holman
External links
- "Flashing Spikes" in the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Senses of Cinema: Flashing Spikes
- "Rookie of the Year in the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...