The Babe Ruth Story (1948)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Roy Del Ruth

Writers:

George Callahan (screenplay)
Bob Considine (book)

Release Date:

6 September 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

Here At Last ! The Babe's Own True Story !

Plot:

The famed slugger is played by Bendix, who resembles Ruth slightly in looks and not at all in baseball ability...

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | New York Yankees | Sports Team | Baseball Cap | Based On Book

Cast

William Bendix	...	George Herman 'Babe' Ruth
Claire Trevor	...	Claire (Hodgson) Ruth
Charles Bickford	...	Brother Matthias
Sam Levene	...	Phil Conrad
William Frawley	...	Jack Dunn
Gertrude Niesen	...	Nightclub singer
Fred Lightner	...	Miller (Hugh) Huggins
Stanley Clements	...	Western Union boy
Robert Ellis	...	Babe Ruth as a boy (as Bobby Ellis)
Lloyd Gough	...	Ballon
Matt Briggs	...	Col. Jacob Ruppert
Paul Cavanagh	...	Dr. Menzies
Warren Douglas	...	Boston Braves' rookie
Pat Flaherty	...	Bill Carrigan, Red Sox Manager
Mark Koenig	...	Himself

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Roy Del Ruth Productions

Trivia:

The film was rushed for release while Babe Ruth himself was still alive, which is why the movie ends the way it does. Ruth died shortly after the premiere, which he attended.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The third home run in what was Ruth's last game is shown landing in the stands at Yankee Stadium. In actuality, Ruth's last home run cleared the right field roof at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Diamonds on the Silver Screen (1992) (TV)

this movie about The Babe strikes out.

In Claire Hodgeson Ruth's fascinating book, "The Babe and I," about her famous husband, she is openly critical of the biopic, "The Babe Ruth Story." The film, according The Babe's widow, was rushed into production and on to the public in mid-1948, while Babe was still alive, although he was less than three months from death. It's easier to exploit a live man's life than a dead one's, Mrs. Ruth suggests. That's a primary reason why the production and everything associated with it was hurried. In the book, she also stated that she would forgo all royalties from the film's showings...if it were to be permanently shelved. It wasn't...but should have been. In fact, it never should have been done, if speed, indeed, were the primary motivation.

Babe Ruth was the greatest American sports hero ever...including those who followed him during the second half of the twentieth century. Babe deserved a much grander---and accurate---portrayal than this '48 laugher.

There were only two positive elements to the story..and both involved casting. Claire Trevor as the Babe's second wife, Claire, and Charles Bickford as Brother Matthias, were excellent choices. But selecting comic William Bendix for the title role was more than a case of poor casting; it was one that completely undermined both the film and its title character.

Through Bendix's portrayal, audiences see the "Sultan of Swat" as a buffoonish character. Someone who belongs in a cartoon. Not that Bendix didn't try his best. But he was miserably mis-cast. Mrs. Ruth, in her book, stated that she would like to have seen Paul Douglas portray her husband. Not only was Douglas an excellent actor, she said, but he had been an athlete in his youth. He easily could have handled the baseball scenes.

The whole tone of "The Babe Ruth Ruth" story was embarrassingly melodramatic. Again, The Babe deserved much better.

Haste makes waste, the saying goes. It certainly is true here.