Editorial Review:Product Description:Composed entirely of never-before-seen 8 and 16mm footage filmed by the players, their families and their fans between 1925 and 1961, When It Was A Game 2 brings many of these precious lost moments, and the men who lived them, to life the way you remember them - in living color. See Joe DiMaggio and Ty Cobb, Roy Campanella and Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron and Satchel Paige, Willie Mays and unique footage of the great Babe Ruth, along with rare scenes of the young Chuck Conners and Tommy Lasorda in the Minor Leagues. These are the players - theirs is the game - that won the hearts of America. Now you can see them as never before in original film footage that will transport you to a time gone by. Narrated by Peter Kessler with Ellen Burstyn, Billy Crystal, Joe Mantegna, Jack Palance, Jason Robards and Roy Scheider, you will never forget the experience, but you can always treasure the magic of days gone by with When It Was A Game 2 59 Minutes.
Amazon.com:Arguably more defined and even more lyrical than its predecessor (
When It Was a Game), this HBO documentary moves from a general celebration of baseball culture in America to a specific focus on various facets of the game's history. Once again using footage compiled from the 8mm and 16mm collections that players and fans shot over decades, this sequel follows, among other things, the special relationship between game announcers and fans and takes a fascinating trip through the story of the farm-team system during the 1930s, '40s, and '50s (particularly the near-alternate world of the Coast League). There's also an enlightening sidebar about the old disparity of capital and profits among major-league teams (as opposed to the contemporary disparity), and about how each season's funding shortages took a toll on such lowly outfits as the Boston Braves and the St. Louis Browns. The working-class commonality of players and fans is examined, too: imagine taking the subway home from Ebbets Field and finding yourself looking back on the day's game with a Dodger outfielder. (It could, and often did, happen.) Brooklyn's assimilation of the Dodgers into their community identity, a story often told, is covered quite winningly here, as is the heartbreak of the team's desertion to sunny California. Closing in on its final minutes, the film takes us on a tour of some of the game's legends and presents a touching tribute to the extraordinary Babe Ruth.
--Tom Keogh
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Related Items:
see more
Related Items:
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
-
More color home movies of baseball players (1925-1961)
The initial joy of seeing baseball players like Lou Gehrig and retired greats like Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb and Cy Young in living color is worn off when you get to volume 2 of "When It Was a Game," but this is still a captivating look into the past. The time frame for these collected home movies from players and fans on 8mm and 16mm film is a bit broader this time around, going back to 1925 and forward to 1961, which means the oldest shots are actually in black & white and seem rather out of place, because once again the thrill here is seeing players and ballparks in glorious color. There is Hank Aaron wearing the great looking uniform of the Boston Braves, old Crosley Field in its green splendor, and Babe Ruth making his final appearance in a Yankee uniform at the Stadium. There is a bit more effort this time to have the disembodied voices talking about subjects that sort of match up to the images on the screen, such as Joe Garagiola talking about graffiti on an outfield billboard, Enos Slaughter explaining why he always ran on and off the field, and the story of catcher Moe Berg being a government spy while barnstorming with Connie Mack in Japan. There is a nice section on what lfie was like the Pacific Coast League when major league baseball did not exist west of St. Louis.
But whether you actually listen to what is being said or tune it out will not affect your enjoyment of these nostalgic images. At the end of these hour-long HBO documentaries, when they simply show shots of various ballplayers and superimpose their names, that is the essence of what makes "When It Was a Game" so special. There is Jackie Robinson in color, Hank Greenberg in color, Mel Ott in color, and so on and so forth. Even when it is someone we are used to see in color, such as Yogi Berra or Willie Mays, we are still talking a young Yogi and a young "Say Hey" Kid. A lot of the action is off field-baseball players in Spring Training wearing bathing suits and cleats, Yogi and some other Yankees sticking out their tongues for the camera, the Chicago Cubs in a parade before the start of a World Series game-but that does not detract from our enjoyment of these simple film clips spliced together.
Rating: -
moving documentary
All 3 WIWAG are excellent. This is more than just a well put together documentary. Its very moving because of the footage, narration and music. You don't feel like you are watching a DVD about baseball. It feels like you are watching a snapshot of Americana from the 50's and 60's. After watching this, you wish that things today were as they were back in those days. Not just baseball or sports, but life in general as it was protrayed in the DVDs.
Rating: -
The best baseball movie of all time.
This is no Hollywood baseball movie. This is the real deal. Exquisite colors and poetic comments from those who played baseball the way it should be played- as a game.