The Babe Ruth Story
| The Babe Ruth Story | |
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1990 Fox Video VHS release
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| Directed by | Roy Del Ruth |
| Produced by | Roy Del Ruth |
| Written by | George Callahan Bob Considine (book and screenplay) Babe Ruth (book) |
| Starring |
William Bendix Claire Trevor Charles Bickford |
| Narrated by | Knox Manning |
| Music by | Edward Ward |
| Cinematography | Philip Tannura |
| Edited by | Richard Heermance |
| Distributed by | Allied Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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106 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.4 million (US rentals) |
The Babe Ruth Story is a 1948 baseball film biography of Babe Ruth, the famed New York Yankees slugger. It stars William Bendix (New York Yankee batboy in the 1920s) as the ballplayer and Claire Trevor as his wife. It was rushed to release after news of Ruth's declining health, and makes no mention whatsoever of Ruth's first wife, Helen. Critics panned the film's heavy-handedness and direction, and it is said by many to be one of the worst films ever made.
The movie begins in 1906 at the Baltimore Waterfront, where 11-year-old George Herman Ruth Jr. is taken away by Brother Matthias from George's abusive father to St. Mary's. When George is 18, his incredible baseball talent gets him hired to play for the Baltimore Orioles, and during the interview, he gets his "Babe" nickname.
Babe becomes a successful baseball player, and is soon sold off to play for the Boston Red Sox. After a bad game, Babe wonders what went wrong at a bar, until he is told by Claire Hogsdon that when he pitches he sticks out his tongue. He continues his success, landing a new $100,000 contract. He finds Claire, but she gives him the cold shoulder. During one game, Denny, a sick paralyzed child, and his father watch Babe Ruth play. When Babe says "hiya kid" to the kid, he miraculously "uncripples" and gets up.
Babe soon becomes a player for the New York Yankees. During one game, he accidentally hurts a dog, and decides to take the dog and the dog's young owner to the hospital. After arguing with the doctors that a dog is the same as a human, the dog is healed; but because Babe left a game to do this, he gets suspended from the Yankees. A depressed Babe Ruth finds himself at a bar, and amidst the crowd giving off negative vibes, he starts a fight and gets arrested.
Soon, he decides to play Santa Claus at a Children's Hospital, where he runs into Claire again, visiting her nephew. She tells him that his actions affect the children of America, and Babe decides to keep that in mind. Miller Huggins, the same man who suspended Babe, fights to bring him back to the Yankees as the team has had a bad season. Babe is soon brought back, and the team wins the World Series thanks to him. With this, he and Claire get married. Soon after, Huggins dies from pyaemia.
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Wikipedia