A League of Their Own

This article is about the 1992 film. For other uses, see A League of Their Own (disambiguation).
A League of Their Own

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Penny Marshall
Produced by Elliot Abbott
Robert Greenhut
Screenplay by Lowell Ganz
Babaloo Mandel
Story by Kelly Candaele
Kim Wilson
Starring
Music by Hans Zimmer
Cinematography Miroslav Ondricek
Edited by George Bowers
Production
company
Parkway Productions
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • July 1, 1992 (1992-07-01)
Running time
 128 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $40 million
Box office $132,440,069[1]

A League of Their Own is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Lori Petty. The screenplay was written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel from a story by Kelly Candaele and Kim Wilson.

In 2012, A League of Their Own was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[2]

Plot

In 1988, Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) attends the opening of the new All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame. She sees many of her former teammates and friends, prompting a flashback to 1943.

When World War II threatens to shut down Major League Baseball, candy magnate and Cubs owner Walter Harvey (Garry Marshall) persuades his fellow owners to bankroll a women's league. Ira Lowenstein (David Strathairn) is put in charge, and Ernie Capadino (Jon Lovitz) is sent out to recruit players. Capadino attends an industrial-league softball game in rural Oregon and likes what he sees in Dottie, the catcher for a local dairy's team. Dottie turns down Capadino's offer, happy with her simple farm life while waiting for her husband Bob (Bill Pullman) to come back from the war. Her sister (and teammate) Kit (Lori Petty), however, is desperate to get away and make something of herself. Capadino is not impressed by Kit's hitting performance, but agrees to take her along if she can change Dottie's mind. Dottie agrees, but only for her sister's sake.

Dottie and Kit head out to Harvey Field in Chicago for the tryout. There they meet a pair of New Yorkers, taxi dancer "All the Way" Mae Mordabito (Madonna) and her best friend, bouncer Doris Murphy (Rosie O'Donnell), along with soft-spoken right fielder Evelyn Gardner (Bitty Schram), illiterate, shy left fielder Shirley Baker (Ann Cusack), pitcher/shortstop and former Miss Georgia beauty queen Ellen Sue Gotlander (Freddie Simpson), gentle left field/relief pitcher Betty "Spaghetti" Horn (Tracy Reiner), homely second baseman Marla Hooch (Megan Cavanagh), who was scouted by Ernie, Dottie and Kit in Fort Collins, Colorado, and first baseman Helen Haley (Anne Ramsay), a native of Saskatchewan. They and eight others are selected to form the Rockford Peaches, while 48 others are split among the Racine Belles, Kenosha Comets, and South Bend Blue Sox.

The Peaches are managed by Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), a former marquee Cubs slugger who initially treats the whole thing as a joke. The league attracts little interest at first. With a Life magazine photographer in the stands, Lowenstein begs the players to do something spectacular. Dottie obliges when a ball is popped up behind home plate, catching it while doing a split. The resulting photograph makes the magazine cover. A publicity campaign draws more people to the ballgames, but the owners remain unconvinced. Due to Kit's sibling rivalry with her sister, she is traded to the Peaches' rival, the Racine Belles.

The Peaches end the season qualifying for the league's World Series. In the locker room, Jimmy gives Betty a telegram that informs her her husband was killed in action in the Pacific Theater. The grief-stricken Betty leaves the team. Later that evening, Dottie receives a surprise when Bob, who was serving in Italy, shows up. He has been discharged from the Army. The following morning, Jimmy discovers that Dottie is going home with Bob. He is unable to persuade her to at least play in the World Series; he tells her she will regret her decision.

The Peaches and Belles meet in the World Series, which reaches a seventh and deciding game. Dottie, having reconsidered on the drive back to Oregon, is the catcher for the Peaches, while Kit is the starting pitcher for the Belles. With the Belles leading by a run in the top of the ninth, Dottie drives in the go-ahead run. Kit is the final batter. Under immense pressure, she gets a hit and, ignoring the third base coach's sign to stop, scores the winning run by knocking her sister over at the plate and dislodging the ball from Dottie's hand. The sellout crowd convinces Harvey to give Lowenstein the owners' support. After the game, the sisters reconcile before Dottie leaves.

Back in the present, Dottie is reunited with several other players, including Kit, whom she has not seen in several years. The fates of several of the characters are revealed: Jimmy, Bob, and Evelyn have died, while Marla has been married to Nelson, a man she met in a bar, for over 40 years. The original Peaches sing a team song composed by Evelyn and pose for a group photo.

Cast

Rockford Peaches

On MLB Network's Costas at the Movies in 2013, director Penny Marshall talked about her initial interest in Demi Moore for the part of Dottie Hinson, saying: "Demi Moore, I liked, but by the time we came around, she was pregnant."[3]

Others

Production

Discussing the skirts they wore playing baseball in the film, Geena Davis said on MLB Network's Costas at the Movies in 2013, "Some of our real cast, from sliding into home, had ripped the skin off their legs. It was nutty."[4]

Reception

The film was released on July 1, 1992 and was #1 by its second weekend (July 10–12).[5] It was a commercial success, making $107 million in the United States (and an additional $25 million worldwide) on a $40 million budget, and was well received by critics.[6][7][8][9][10]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

On December 19, 2012, it was announced that the film would be preserved as part of the United States National Film Registry.[14]

Soundtrack

A League of Their Own:
Music From The Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by various artists
Released June 30, 1992
Genre Soundtrack
Length 43:44
Label Columbia Records
Producer Various
Singles from A League of Their Own
  1. "This Used to Be My Playground"
    Released: June 16, 1992
  2. "Now and Forever"
    Released: July 1992

A League of Their Own soundtrack was released on CD and cassette tape by Columbia Records on June 30, 1992. The album peaked at #159 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart on July 25, 1992.[15] Although Madonna contributed "This Used to Be My Playground" to the film, featured over the closing credits, her recording was not included on the soundtrack album for contractual reasons.[16]

Track listing
  1. "Now and Forever" – Performed by Carole King
  2. "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" – Performed by The Manhattan Transfer
  3. "It's Only a Paper Moon" – Performed by James Taylor
  4. "In a Sentimental Mood" – Performed by Billy Joel
  5. "Two Sleepy People" – Performed by Art Garfunkel
  6. "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" – Performed by James Taylor
  7. "On the Sunny Side of the Street" – Performed by The Manhattan Transfer
  8. "Flying Home" – Performed by Doc's Rhythm Cats
  9. "Life Goes On" – Performed by Hans Zimmer
  10. "The Final Game" – Performed by Hans Zimmer
  11. "The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Song" – Performed by The Rockford Peaches

20th anniversary

With 2012 marking the 20th year since the film's release, A League of Their Own was released as a 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray on October 16, 2012.[17]

Forty-seven former players of the AAGPBL reunited in New York to celebrate the film and the real women who inspired it. Events included a trip to Cooperstown for a special program at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, reminiscent of the film's final scene depicting members of the AAGPBL and family coming together to witness the honoring of the Women's Professional Baseball League. The reunion wrapped up with a game of softball held at Alliance Bank Stadium in nearby Syracuse.[18]

Former players also made an appearance at Bosse Field in Evansville, Indiana on June 6, 2012, where many of the film's game scenes were filmed. The event included an outdoor screening of the film as well as a scene-setting display of cars featured in the film.[19] In addition to Bosse Field, the production used Huntingburg, Indiana's League Stadium, another Southwestern Indiana field older than Bosse that was renovated for the film.[20][21]

Television series

A short-lived series of the same title based on the film aired on CBS in April 1993, with Garry Marshall, Megan Cavanagh, Tracy Reiner, and Jon Lovitz reprising their roles. Only five of the six episodes made were broadcast.

References

Notes
  1. ↑ "A League of Their Own (1992)". Box Office Mojo. September 29, 1992. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  2. ↑ King, Susan. "National Film Registry selects 25 films for preservation " Los Angeles Times (December 19, 2012)
  3. ↑ "Penny Marshall". Costas at the Movies. MLB Network. January 28, 2013.
  4. ↑ http://www.newsday.com/sports/media/demi-moore-in-a-league-of-their-own-almost-happened-1.4524311
  5. ↑ "A League of Their Own (1992)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 2, 2008.
  6. ↑ Kronke, David (July 2, 1992). "Penny Marshall pitches 'League of Their Own' agenda". The Dispatch. Lexington, NC. Los Angeles Daily News. p. 4C. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  7. ↑ White, Sue (October 26, 2011). "'A League of Their Own' brings former ballplayer to the Riverside Saginaw Film Festival". MLive. MLive Media Group. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  8. ↑ Sidewater, Nancy (April 23, 2004). "DVD Q&A – Penny Marshall". Entertainment Weekly. Entertainment Weekly Inc. (761). Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  9. ↑ "A League of Their Own". Fort-Worth Star-Telegram. June 30, 1992.(subscription required)
  10. ↑ Rachlin, Jill (February 12, 1993). "A League of Their Own Review | Reviews and News". Entertainment Weekly. Entertainment Weekly, Inc. (157). Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  11. ↑ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes" (PDF). American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-14.
  12. ↑ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-14.
  13. ↑ "AFI's 10 Top 10 Nominees" (PDF). Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
  14. ↑ "Breakfast at Tiffany's added to film archive". BBC News. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  15. ↑ A League of Their Own soundtrack - The Billboard 200, retrieved June 7, 2015.
  16. ↑ Madonna: A League of Their Own soundtrack, retrieved June 5, 2015.
  17. ↑ A League of Their Own 20th Anniversary Blu-ray, retrieved June 28, 2015.
  18. ↑ Kekis, John (September 23, 2013). "Women Remain in League of Their Own". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  19. ↑ Prell, Jon (June 12, 2012). "A League Of Their Own Comes Home To Bosse Field On June 22". Evansville Courier & Press. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  20. ↑ "A League of Their Own". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  21. ↑ "Filming Locations for A League of Their Own". Internet Movie Database. Archived from the original on January 9, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2012.

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