Squeeze Play!
| Squeeze Play! | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Matthew Diamond |
| Produced by |
Michael Herz Lloyd Kaufman |
| Written by |
Lloyd Kaufman Charles Kaufman Haim Pekelis |
| Starring |
Jim Harris Jennifer Hetrick Rick Gitlin Helen Campitelli Al Corley |
| Cinematography | Richard Hicks |
| Distributed by | Troma Entertainment |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $115,000 |
Squeeze Play! is a 1979 comedy film directed by Matthew Diamond.
Plot
A group of New Jersey women, upset over their boyfriends' tendency to pay more attention to softball than their love lives, decide to beat them at their own game...literally. The girls form their own softball team and challenge the men to a match out on the field. The men initially scoff at the idea, but soon grow nervous when they worry that they'll lose face if they refuse to play.
Production
The idea of Squeeze Play! came from a suggestion that Kaufman and Herz should make a movie about a women’s softball team and their amorous adventures. Kaufman added the comedy element, and along with his brother Charles and screenwriter Haim Pekelis, a 75-page screenplay was finally worked out; the Kaufmans provided the ideas for sight gags and jokes, and Pekelis worked out the plot.
Reception
Once Squeeze Play! was completed, the reactions were almost unanimously negative. Major studios refused to distribute it, and two of the film’s executive producers demanded to have their names taken off of it.
Squeeze Play! finally made its theatrical debut as a double feature with The In-Laws in Norfolk, Virginia to tremendous success. The film built up a steady following in Virginia before being widely distributed nationwide. The film was constantly in Variety’s top 50 list and received excellent reviews from both The New York Times and The New York Daily News.
External links
- Squeeze Play! at the Internet Movie Database
- – at the 20th Century Fox movie database