Eight Men Out
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| Eight Men Out | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | John Sayles |
| Produced by | Sarah Pillsbury |
| Written by | John Sayles |
| Starring | Jace Alexander John Cusack Gordon Clapp |
| Music by | Mason Daring |
| Cinematography | Robert Richardson |
| Editing by | John Tintori |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures Corporation |
| Release date(s) | September 2, 1988 |
| Running time | 119 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6,000,000 estimated. |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Eight Men Out is an American dramatic sports film, released in 1988, based on 8 Men Out, published in 1963, by Eliot Asinof. It was written and directed by John Sayles.[1]
It is a dramatization of Major League Baseball's 1919 Black Sox scandal, in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox conspired with gamblers to intentionally lose the World Series. The film was Much of the movie was filmed at the old Bush Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Tagline: The Scandal That Rocked A Nation.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The Chicago White Sox owner, Charles Comiskey, is portrayed as a skinflint with little inclination to reward his team for a spectacular season.
When a gambling syndicate led by Arnold Rothstein gets wind of the players' discontent, it offers a select group of stars — including Buck Weaver, and outfielder 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson — more money to play badly than they would have earned to try to win the series against the Cincinnati Reds.
[edit] Background
Former Chicago Cubs third baseman Ron Santo served as the personal coach for John Cusack. He taught Cusack the basic footwork and moves of a the position. In addition, former Chicago White Sox outfielder Ken Berry served as a baseball coach for the cast.
In preparing for the role, D.B. Sweeney, a former Tulane University outfielder, spent a season training with the Class-A Kenosha Twins of the Midwest League. A natural righthanded hitter, Sweeny learned to bat lefty in the six months prior to filming.
This film contains one of the hardest plays for live-action baseball broadcasters to execute. Shoeless Joe Jackson, played by D.B. Sweeney, drove a triple into the right-field corner while the camera operator was able to keep the batter-runner and the ball in the camera frame for the duration of play. The camera was positioned on home-plate side of the third-base dugout.
[edit] Cast
- Jace Alexander as Dickey Kerr
- John Cusack as Buck Weaver
- Gordon Clapp as Ray Schalk
- Don Harvey as Swede Risberg
- Michael Lerner as Arnold Rothstein
- Bill Irwin as Eddie Collins
- Clifton James as Charles Comiskey
- Perry Lang as Fred McMullin
- Christopher Lloyd as Bill Burns
- John Mahoney as Kid Gleason
- James Read as Lefty Williams
- Michael Rooker as Chick Gandil
- Charlie Sheen as Hap Felsch
- David Strathairn as Eddie Cicotte
- D.B. Sweeney as 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson
- James Desmond as Smitty
- John Sayles as Ring Lardner
- Andy Dominianni as Scoreboard Kid
- Studs Terkel as Hugh Fullerton
- John Anderson as Kenesaw Mountain Landis
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Eight Men Out at the Internet Movie Database.
[edit] External links
- Eight Men Out at Rotten Tomatoes.
- David Strathairn Online: Eight Men Out.
Honeydripper • Silver City • Casa de los Babys • Sunshine State • Limbo • Men with Guns • Lone Star • The Secret of Roan Inish • Passion Fish • City of Hope • Eight Men Out • Matewan • The Brother from Another Planet • Baby It's You • Lianna • Return of the Secaucus 7
