Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious:
The Making of 'Mary Poppins
Babe Ruth (1991)
In the early 1990’s, NBC announced that they would be producing a made-for-TV biopic of famed baseball player Babe Ruth, with John Goodman in the lead role. It seemed such a good idea that shortly thereafter, Universal Studios announced that they too would be producing a biopic of Babe Ruth starring John Goodman. Having lost their name actor, NBC cast then little-known Stephen Lang as the Sultan of Swat. With the aid of a false nose and chin, Lang calls to mind Babe’s stature, looks and running between the plates more than other portrayals, but is undone by a pedestrian script.
The tired biopic tropes are there from the outset as Babe, on the eve of one of his final innings, adopts the role of narrator to reflect upon his past achievements. Cue flashback to his signing with the New York Yankees, after which the film dutifully records his many home runs, pendants and World Series triumphs. Off the field, Babe is portrayed as a bit of a lughead, hooked on his own celebrity and oblivious to the impact his actions have on others. In case this characterization was too subtle for audiences to pick up on, Yankee’s manager Miller Huggins describes Babe as incorrigible on more than one occasion, while the Bambino himself announces to the press that he likes to swing big, hit big or miss big. “That’s the way I live my life. BIG!”
In his one-note portrayal of Babe, Lang seems to interpret his character’s fondness for living loud as a cue to shout virtually every line of dialogue. As a result, any insight that may be afforded the Babe during his wife’s miscarriage, marriage breakup or career setbacks is vacated. Joining him in this shadow play of exposition are a collection of familiar faces. Brian Doyle-Murray is well cast as sportswriter Marshall Hunt, though Donald Moffat is surprisingly cartoonish as New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert.
In a bit of stunt casting disgraced former baseballer Pete Rose portrays Ty Cobb, whose record of all-time hits he broke. When word got out that one of Rose’s scenes called for him to wear a Detroit Tigers uniform, the baseball commission demanded a rewrite, citing a clause in Rose’s lifetime ban that prevented him from ever wearing a major league uniform. As a result, Rose’s appearance was reduced to one scene, inside a hotel room wearing business attire.
as 'Babe' Ruth
as Lou Gehrig
as Ty Cobb
Stephen Prutting as Jimmy Walker Philip L. Stone as Graham McNamee
Biopic recreates the famous "called shot" home run, where Babe is reputed to have pointed to the centerfield bleachers and then hit a home run to the spot he had pointed to.
"Some people said, 'You can't be sure he pointed.' I said, 'The Yankee guys say he pointed, the Cub guys say he didn't. This movie is about Babe Ruth, so he points. When we do the Charlie Root story, he won't point.' " (Charlie Root, by the way, was the Chicago pitcher, and he went to his grave swearing that Ruth did not point.)"
Robert Creamer (Sports Illustrated)
Biopic makes no mention of Babe Ruth’s film career, in which he either cameoed as himself, or played the lead role of some baseballer named Babe.