Main Cast: Delroy Lindo, Mykelti Williamson, Blair Underwood, Edward Herrmann, R. Lee Ermey
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
Plot
This original HBO production documents, in dramatic form, the rivalry between Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson to see who would be the first African-American to play Major League Baseball. Paige (played by Delroy Lindo) and Gibson (Mykelti Williamson) are more aggressive about seizing the opportunity that arose in the mid-'40s with the death of baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who had publicly avowed that the color line in baseball would never be broken. Branch Rickey (Edward Herrmann), the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is the first to seize that opportunity, sending his scouts to check out all the stars of the Negro Leagues. He narrows his choice down to Robinson, in part because of Paige's age (he was around 40) and Gibson's health (he behaved erratically in public, though it rarely affected his game). Rickey was looking for a player with the talent to compete in the big leagues and the character not to allow the inevitable harassment that would come his way to get to him. Robinson was signed in October 1945 and made his big-league debut in April 1947. Paige made it to the big leagues in 1948; Gibson died at the age of 36 in 1947 of a brain tumor. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
Review
After a shaky opening, with a reporter interviewing Willie Mays (played by an actor who looks nothing like the "Say Hey Kid") in 1954 as a device for a flashback to the 1940s heyday of the Negro Leagues, Soul of the Game settles into a surprisingly melancholy account of the breaking of baseball's color line. This is not a celebration of Jackie Robinson's immense courage, but a rumination on the cruel circumstances that denied his more talented colleagues, pitcher Satchel Paige and catcher Josh Gibson (cited by many baseball historians as the black Babe Ruth), their shot at history. The film devotes the most time to Paige, elegantly portrayed by Delroy Lindo as a proud man clinging to his dignity after almost two decades of playing in the Negro Leagues. Before Michael Jordan, Paige was the black athlete who could put fans in the seats just by showing up, and he often had to pitch every game to justify his cut of the gate (though, at the time of this story, he only pitched a few innings each outing). Gibson, played with glowering menace by Mykelti Williamson, was a troubled man, but the film is less clear about the source of his demons; only a postscript which describes his death from a brain tumor suggests that he wasn't totally in control of his health. Robinson's skills and character aren't fully dramatized here; he is only shown to be fast on the bases, and Blair Underwood's bland performance misses his coiled intensity. David Himmelstein's script does offer tantalizing sidelights about the political machinations behind Branch Rickey's courting of black ballplayers. The film winds up on a suitably sad note; an all-star game between Negro Leaguers and Major Leaguers, in which Paige and Gibson might have had the chance to strut their stuff in front an integrated crowd, is rained out, leaving the two veterans once again frustrated at what might have been. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
Gina Ravera - Grace; Obba Babatunde - Cum Posey; Joe Banks - Link Rudolph; Paul Bates - Orderly #1; Guy Boyd - Clark Griffith; Gregg Burge - Bill Robinson; Ed Cambridge - Bellhop; Cylk Cozart - Zo Perry; Zaid Farid - Clerk; Edith Fields - Nurse; Jesse D. Goins - John Givens Reporter; Jerry Hardin - Happy Chandler; Brent Jennings - Frank Duncan; David Johnson - Roy Campanella; Lou Richards - Radio Announcer; Salli Richardson - Lahoma; Richard Riehle - Peter Harmon; Bob Minor - Goon #2; Oscar Williams - Grays Manager; Bruce Beatty - Reporter; J.D. Hall - Gus Greenlee; Kevin Sifuentes - Waiter; Isaiah Washington - Adult Willie Mays; Terrence Riggins - Orderly #2; Erika Flores - Girl; Joseph Latimore - Jesse Williams; Charles Stevenson - Supervisor
Credit
Marc Dabe - Art Director, David Giella - Casting, Reuben Cannon - Casting, Luke Reichle - Costume Designer, Kevin Rodney Sullivan - Director, Gary Hoffman - Executive Producer, Mike Medavoy - Executive Producer, Lee Holdridge - Composer (Music Score), Chester Kaczenski - Production Designer, Sandi Sissel - Cinematographer, Robert A. Papazian - Producer, Jimmy Ortega - Stunts, David Himmelstein - Screenwriter
Branch Rickey, played by Edward Herrmann, is the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers who is determined to integrate Major League Baseball. He begins sending his scouts to Negro League games to find the best players. Rickey directs his scouts to look not only at playing ability but also at the players' maturity and capacity to withstand the hostility that is sure to be directed at the first black player in the Major Leagues.
Robinson gradually comes to Rickey's notice both for his skills on the field and his personal background. Although Paige and Gibson are far more prominent, Rickey decides to pass them over, concerned about Paige's age and reports about Gibson's mental stability. Rickey makes history by signing Robinson to the first contract between a black man and a Major League Baseball franchise. This alienates Robinson from his two friends at first, until Paige enlists Robinson's help in getting Gibson temporarily released from a mental hospital so that the three men can all play in the annual exhibition game between the All-Stars of the Major Leagues and the Negro League. The game is rained out, but Paige and Gibson seem reconciled to Robinson's being signed ahead of them.
The movie concludes by showing scenes from Robinson's successful career with the Dodgers, as well as Paige's later signing by the Cleveland Indians, with whom he won the American LeagueRookie of the Year Award at the age of 42. Gibson died from a brain aneurysm at the age of 36 before he could ever play a game in the Major Leagues. All three men are later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
