Long Gone (film)

Long Gone

DVD Cover
Genre Comedy
Drama
Romance
Sports
Based on Long Gone
by Paul Hemphill
Screenplay by Michael Norell
Directed by Martin Davidson
Starring William Petersen
Virginia Madsen
Dermot Mulroney
Larry Riley
Katy Boyer
Theme music composer Phillip Namanworth
Kenny Vance
Original language(s) English
Production
Producer(s) Joan Barnett
Cinematography Robert Elswit
Editor(s) Gib Jaffe
Running time 113 minutes
Distributor HBO
Release
Original network HBO
Original release May 23, 1987

Long Gone is a 1987 baseball film by HBO that is based on Paul Hemphill's 1979 book of the same name.[1] The made-for-television film was directed by Martin Davidson and starred William Petersen, Virginia Madsen, and Dermot Mulroney.[2] Historic McKechnie Field, located in Bradenton, Florida, was the location for many of the film's scenes. Outside North America, the movie was known as and entitled, Stogies.

Plot

The Tampico Stogies are a last-place baseball team based in Tampico, Florida.[1] The team competes in the lowest-level (Class D) professional Gulf Coast league during the summer of 1957. It is unclear if the team is affiliated with a major league franchise. The Stogies are owned by a pair of corrupt and scheming local Tampico businessmen, Hale Buchman (Henry Gibson) and his son, Hale Buchman Jr. (Teller).[3] They refer to themselves as sports moguls, despite the team being heavily mortgaged.

Their star player and manager is an aging Cecil "Stud" Cantrell (William Petersen), a hard-drinking, hard-playing, and hard-loving man's man.[3] Signed out of high school by the St. Louis Cardinals, Cantrell was a onetime rookie standout in the organization, but he never made it to the big leagues because of a war injury he sustained in World War II during the Battle of Guadalcanal.[2]

At a game against the Crestview Cats in Alabama, Cantrell meets a beautiful young woman just voted Miss Strawberry Blossom of 1957, Dixie Lee Boxx (Virginia Madsen).[4] What Cantrell initially intends to be a one-night stand soon develops into a semi-serious relationship.[3]

Cantrell signs a slick-fielding but light-hitting second baseman named Jamie Weeks (Dermot Mulroney). Weeks soon falls for a virginal and church-going local girl, Esther Wrenn (Katy Boyer), who is looking to escape Tampico.[4] Cantrell also signs a power-hitting, strong-armed catcher, Joe Louis Brown (Larry Riley), who is African American. Because this is the Deep South during the 1950s, to keep the local bigots and Ku Klux Klan off his back, Cantrell lies that Brown is a Venezuelan named José Brown who can't speak any English.[3][4]

With the addition of these new players, the Stogies go on a red-hot winning streak. On the verge of a pennant, however, Cantrell is told that throwing the big game would give a substantial boost to his sagging career.[4] He is offered a managerial position in the minor leagues with the Cardinals organization, on the condition he does not show up for the final game. If he plays, his future managerial career is over.[2] Brown is also bribed not to play and the team's owners, the Buchmans, are involved in the match-fixing as well.

While the pennant game is being played at Tampico, Cantrell and Brown accidentally meet at a local bar where they discuss their moral and ethical dilemmas. They elect to hurry to the park and play, much to the anger and regret of the owners.

Cast

  • William Petersen as Cecil "Stud" Cantrell
  • Virginia Madsen as Dixie Lee Boxx
  • Dermot Mulroney as Jamie Weeks
  • Katy Boyer as Esther Caroline Wrenn
  • Larry Riley as Joe Louis Brown (aka José Brown)
  • Henry Gibson as Hale Buchman
  • Teller as Hale Buchman, Jr. (aka Junior)
  • Robert Easton as Cletis Ramey
  • Joel Murray as Bart Polanski
  • Panchito Gómez as Paco Izquierdo
  • David Langston Smyrl as Monroe Wright
  • Guich Koock as Bump Klein
  • Arthur Rosenburg as Peaches Cluff
  • Will Zahrn as Knucksie Chappell
  • Edward Blatchford as Whiz Whsonant
  • Steve Zurk as Buster Smerglia
  • Kenneth Eriksen as Bubba Bean
  • Neil DeGroot as Pukey Smathers
  • Ken Dominguez as Corky Lucadello
  • Mike McKown as Scooter Cagle
  • Nardi Contreras as Hose Harrigan
  • John Bauldrey as Tommy Tatum
  • Ken Krannick as Rook Robb
  • Kathryn Hasty as Bonnie
  • Tracy Roberts as "Redhead"
  • Hazen Gifford as J. Harrell Smythe
  • William Wohrman as Whitey Connerly (Dothan manager)
  • Tony Vila, Jr. as Dusty Hoolihan
  • Jim Rabe as Rusty Ledbetter (Dothan pitcher – championship game)
  • Ronn Allen as Mr. Wrenn
  • Monica Moran as Mrs. Wrenn

Reception

Released in 1987 by HBO, Long Gone is a little-known and difficult-to-obtain film that has consequently made it somewhat of a sports cult movie. It has been described as "three parts Bull Durham, two parts Slap Shot, add a dose of Bingo Long and a pinch of The Longest Yard".[2] It has also been described as the best baseball movie most of you never saw.[5]

A book, The Baseball Filmography, 1915 Through 2001, described Long Gone as one of the most thoroughly enjoyable baseball comedies made in the last two decades.[6] Robert Creamer, a writer for Sports Illustrated, wrote that it was probably the best made-for-television movie he had ever seen.[3]

John O'Connor, a writer for The New York Times, wrote that Long Gone makes classics such as The Pride of the Yankees look like promotional fantasies.[4] The Bleacher Report wrote that this film deserves to be included in anyone's collection of baseball features.[5] Newsday called it one of the best sports movies ever made.[7] Long Gone was ranked 50th in The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies: Featuring the 100 Greatest Sports Films.[2] It also rated a mention in another book, The Great Baseball Films, which stated Long Gone was an above-average comedy-drama that is full of bite, grit, and good feelings.[8]

Despite the positive reviews, Long Gone has been largely overlooked by mainstream media and remains extremely difficult to buy on DVD.[2][5]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 Hemphill, Paul (1979). Long Gone. Published by Viking Press, New York. OCLC 4774813. ISBN 978-0-670-43788-7.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Didinger, Ray and Macnow, Glen (2009, pp. 190 & 191). The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies: Featuring the 100 Greatest Sports Films. Published by Running Press, Philadelphia. OCLC 316825645. ISBN 978-0-7624-3548-7.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Creamer, Robert (June 1, 1987). Low Minors, High Style. SI Vault. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 O'Connor, John (May 22, 1987). TV Weekend; 'Long Gone,' A Baseball Comedy. The New York Times. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 Jones, Joseph (March 28, 2011). HBO's "Long Gone", The Best Baseball Movie Most of You Never Saw. Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
  6. ↑ Erickson, Hal (2002, p. 294). The baseball filmography, 1915 through 2001. Published by McFarland, N.C. OCLC 49225316. ISBN 978-0-7864-1272-3.
  7. ↑ Holston, Noel (June 25, 2005). Holston 10. Newsday. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  8. ↑ Edelman, Rob (1994, p. 111). The great baseball films: from right off the bat to a league of their own. Published by Carol Pub, N.J. OCLC 29467483. ISBN 978-0-8065-1479-6.
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