Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)

Director:

John D. Hancock

Writers:

Mark Harris (novel)
Mark Harris (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 May 1978 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Plot:

The story of the friendship between a star pitcher, wise to the world, and a half-wit catcher, as they...

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | Terminal Illness | Friendship | New York City | Athlete

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Michael Moriarty	...	Henry 'Author' Wiggen
Robert De Niro	...	Bruce Pearson
Vincent Gardenia	...	Dutch Schnell
Phil Foster	...	Joe Jaros
Ann Wedgeworth	...	Katie
Patrick McVey	...	Bruce's Father
Heather MacRae	...	Holly Wiggen
Selma Diamond	...	Tootsie, Hotel switchboard operator
Barbara Babcock	...	Team Owner
Maurice Rosenfield	...	Team Owner
Tom Ligon	...	Piney Woods
Andy Jarrell	...	Ugly
Marshall Efron	...	Bradley
Danny Burks	...	Perry
Tom Signorelli	...	Goose Williams

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Clearwater, Florida, USA

Company:

ANJS

Trivia:

The stadium used for the fictional NY Mammoths home games was Shea Stadium which from 1964 to 2008 was the home of the New York Mets. Shea was demolished after the 2008 baseball season.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Paul shoots the light in the hotel room using a single action revolver, which requires manually cocking the hammer. However, the hammer is clearly in the down position and his finger is not even on the trigger.

Quotes:

Henry Wiggen: These are Fifth and Two. Fifth and Queen.
Joe Jaros: Red Rooster.
[long pause, then Tegawar Player lays a 3. Joe slams down his cards]
Joe Jaros: BANJO! Ha-HAAAA! That's the first natural Banjo since the days of Joe Dimaggio in St. Petersburg.
Henry Wiggen: Hey, wait a minute. Fifteen and Fifteen's Thirty-One.
Tegwar Player: Hey, what's the name of this game?
Joe Jaros: Fifteen and Fifteen is Thirty-TWO!
Henry Wiggen: Thirry-T... oh, that's right.
[to Tegwar player]
Henry Wiggen: That's a Double Honeybees.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: Brian Does Hollywood (#3.2)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Streets of Loredo (The Cowboy's Lament)

What entails a good Sports movie

Good sports movies are hard to come by. Sure, there are a lot that are pretty decent, the ones that truly strike a chord seem to have been made mostly in the 70's, and this one is included. DeNiro plays a struggling catcher on the Yankees who finds out hes's dying, and Moriarty plays the pitcher. They're two completely different characters who form a bond with each other throughout the last year or so of the catcher's life. And though it still somehow gets centered mainly on Moriarty until the pivotal points of the movie, DeNiro still amazes, as the slow witted catcher with a problem that he doesn't want to tell anyone, so as not to get pity. This is real story with baseball as the backdrop, and that's how it should be done, to get real sports movies.