The All-American Girls' Professional Baseball League was founded in 1943, when most of the men of baseball-playing age were far away in Europe and Asia fighting World War II. The league flourished until after World War II, when, with the men's return, the league was consigned to oblivion. Director Penny Marshall and screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel re-create the wartime era when women's baseball looked to stand a good chance of sweeping the country. The story begins as a candy-bar tycoon enlists agents to scour the country to find women who could play ball. In the backwoods of Oregon, two sisters -- Dottie (Geena Davis) and Kit (Lori Petty) -- are discovered. Dottie can hit and catch, while Kit can throw a mean fastball. The girls come to Chicago to try out for the team with other prospects that include their soon-to-be-teammates Mae Mordabito (Madonna), Doris Murphy (Rosie O'Donnell), and Marla Hooch (Megan Cavanagh). The team's owner, Walter Harvey (Gary Marshall) needs someone to coach his team and he picks one-time home-run champion Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), who is now a broken-down alcoholic. After a few weeks of training, as Dugan sobers up, the team begins to show some promise. By the end of the season, the team has improved to the point where they are competing in the World Series (which is no big deal, since there are only four teams in the league). ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
Review
Too sentimental by half, and at the same time completely disarming entertainment, Penny Marshall's film scores points for drawing attention to a chapter of sports history many people didn't even know existed. The baseball scenes are remarkably authentic-looking, and the production design is just right, without drawing too much unnecessary attention. Marshall has assembled a top-flight cast as well, with Geena Davis and Tom Hanks adding unlimited charisma to their wonderfully comic performances. The first hour is genuinely superb, briskly paced and filled with humorous vignettes. The second hour succumbs to syrupy bonding and overstates its emotions, but the film retains its good nature -- difficult to pass up as a worthy Hollywood confection. The film was a huge summer hit, and paid off with its casting of Davis, who stepped in after Debra Winger reportedly turned down the role (rumor has it she was turned off by the casting of Madonna in a supporting role). A failed TV series followed shortly after, but didn't create nearly as much buzz. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi
David Strathairn - Ira Lowenstein; Garry Marshall - Walter Harvey; Megan Cavanagh - Marla Hooch; Renee Coleman - Alice Gaspers; Ann Cusack - Shirley Baker; Anne Ramsay - Helen Haley; Tracy Reiner - Betty Horn; Bitty Schram - Evelyn Gardner; Freddie Simpson - Ellen Sue Gotlander; Pauline Brailsford - Miss Cuthbert; Justin Scheller - Stilwell; Eddie Jones - Dave Hooch; Lynn Cartwright - Older Dottie; Rae Allen - Ma Keller; Eunice Anderson - Older Mae; Blair Baron - Margaret; Douglas Blakeslee - 1st Doris Fan; Shirley Burkovich - Older Alice; Ray Chapman - Ticket Scalper; Larissa Collins - Charm School Assistant; Laurel Cronin - Maida Gilespie; Dolores "Pickles" Dries - Lady in Bleachers; Marvin Einhorn - Older Ira; Barbara Erwin - Older Shirley; Stephen Feagley - 2nd Autograph Kid; Brenda Ferrari - Racine Pitcher; Brian Flannery - 1st Autograph Kid; David Franks - Vacuum Salesman; Brian Boru Gleeson - Bobby; R.M. Haley - Empathetic Umpire; Lisa Hand - Shelly Adlard; Joette Hodgen - Opera Singer; Mark Holton - Older Stilwell; Ryan Howell - Jeffrey; Vera Johnson - Older Doris; Cherry Jones - Additional Player; Cheryl Jones - Vickie Buse; Janet Jones - Racine Pitcher; Robin Knight - "Beans" Babbitt; Joe Krowka - Heckler; Téa Leoni - Racine 1B; Stephen Mailer - Kit's Date in Bar; Kathleen Marshall - "Mumbles" Brockman; Eugenia McLin - Older Elle Sue; Eddie Mekka - Mae's Guy in Bar; Betty Miller - Older Betty; Shelly Niemeyer - KC Carr; Ryan Olsen - Dollbody Kid; Patti Pelton - Marbleann Wilkenson; Barbara Pilavin Gelber - Older Helen; Connie Pounds-Taylor - Connie Calhoun; Sally Rutherford - Julie Croteau; Wantland L. Sandel, Jr. - Doctor; Lita Scmitt - Tonya Gilles Koch; Kelli Simpkins - Beverly Dixon; Gregory Sporleder - Mitch Swaley; Robert Stanton - Western Union Man; Sharon Szmidt - Vivian Ernst; Neezer Tarleton - Neezer Dalton; Amanda Walker - Kirsten Gretick; Brenda Watson - Stacey Gustaferro; Ellie Weingardt - Charm School Instructor; Alan Wilder - Nelson; Patricia J. Wilson - Older Marla; Kathleen Butler - Older Kit; Don S. Davis - Racine Coach Charlie; Harry Shearer - Newsreel Announcer; Amanda Mackey-Johnson; Ellen Lewis; Joey Slotnick - 2nd Doris Fan
Credit
Tim Galvin - Art Director, Amy Lemisch - Associate Producer, Ellen Lewis - Casting, William Pace - Co-producer, Joseph Hartwick - Co-producer, Cynthia Flynt - Costume Designer, Penny Marshall - Director, Adam Bernardi - Editor, George Bowers - Editor, Penny Marshall - Executive Producer, Hans Zimmer - Composer (Music Score), Bill Groom - Production Designer, Miroslav Ondrícek - Cinematographer, Michael Yada - Cinematographer, Elliot Abbott - Producer, Robert Greenhut - Producer, Kim Wilson - Producer, Kelly Candaele - Producer, Les Lazarowitz - Sound/Sound Designer, Lowell Ganz - Screenwriter, Babaloo Mandel - Screenwriter, Kim Wilson - Screenwriter, George De Titta, Jr. - Set Decorator
When World War II threatens to shut down Major League Baseball, candy magnate and Chicago Cubs owner Walter Harvey creates a women's league to make money. Ira Lowenstein is put in charge and Ernie Capadino is sent out to recruit players.
Capadino likes what he sees in softball catcher Dottie. She is a terrific hitter and very attractive. He offers her a tryout, but she is content working in a dairy and on the family farm while her husband, Bob, fights in the war. He is less impressed with her younger sister, pitcher Kit Keller, who is desperate to go. He lets her come along when she persuades Dottie to change her mind. He also checks out Marla Hooch, a great switch-hitting slugger. Because Marla is homely, he rejects her, but Dottie and Kit refuse to go on without her, and her father makes an impassioned plea. Capadino gives in.
When the trio arrive at the tryouts in Chicago, they meet taxi dancer "All the Way" Mae Mordabito and her best friend, Doris Murphy, both tough-talking New Yorkers; soft-spoken right fielder Evelyn Gardner; illiterate and shy left fielder Shirley Baker; and pitcher and former Miss Georgia Ellen Sue Gotlander. They and nine others are selected to form the Rockford Peaches, while 48 others are split among the Racine Belles, Kenosha Comets, and South Bend Blue Sox.
The Peaches are managed by Jimmy Dugan, a former marquee Cubs slugger who lost his career to alcohol. He treats the whole thing as a joke, forcing Dottie to take on his duties. Jimmy takes over after clashing with Dottie over a game-time decision.
The league attracts little interest. Lowenstein tells the Peaches that the owners are having second thoughts. With a Life magazine photographer attending a game, Lowenstein begs them to do something spectacular. Dottie obliges when a ball is popped up behind home plate, catching it while doing a split. The resulting photograph makes the cover of the magazine. A publicity campaign draws more and more people to the ballgames, but the owners remain unconvinced.
Meanwhile, the sibling rivalry between Dottie and Kit intensifies: Kit resents being completely overshadowed by Dottie in everything. Things come to a head when Jimmy pulls Kit for a relief pitcher on Dottie's advice. After a heated argument between Dottie and Kit, Dottie tells Lowenstein she is thinking about quitting. Horrified at the prospect of losing his biggest star, Lowenstein promises to arrange a trade. Kit blames her sister for being sent to Racine.
Prior to a game, the Peaches' utility player, Betty "Spaghetti" Horn, is informed that her husband has been killed in action in the Pacific Theatre; the same evening, Bob returns, having been honorably discharged after being wounded in Italy. The following morning, Jimmy discovers that Dottie is returning to Oregon with Bob. He tells her she will regret her decision.
The team makes it to the World Series against Kit's Racine Belles. The Peaches win twice in a row to force a deciding seventh game. Dottie unexpectedly rejoins the team for the game. Racine leads 1-0 going into the ninth inning when Dottie hits Kit's pitch and drives in two runs. Kit comes up to bat with her team trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. Dottie tells pitcher Ellen Sue about Kit's weakness for chasing high fastballs. After swinging at and missing the first two pitches, Kit hits a line drive and rounds the bases, ignoring a stop signal from the third base coach. Dottie fields the throw to the plate, but Kit slams into her, knocking the ball out of her hand to score the winning run. The sellout crowd convinces Harvey to give Lowenstein the owners' support. After the game, the sisters reconcile before Dottie leaves to raise a family.
In the present day, Dottie and Kit are reunited during the dedication ceremony of the Womens Professional Baseball League; Dottie is reunited with several players (Doris, Marla, Mae and Betty). Several fates of the characters are revealed: Marla married Nelson, Jimmy and Bob have both passed away, and after Dottie reunites with Stillwell, she learns of his mother's (Evelyn) passing. All the baseball players sing and take a picture.
The film was released on July 1, 1992, and was #1 by its second weekend (July 10–12).[2] It was a commercial success, making $107 million in the United States(and an additional $25 million worldwide) on a $40 million budget, and was well-received by critics.[citation needed]
Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article A League of Their Own. Read more
