Customer Reviews

Babe Ruth Story [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is often pointed to cynically by sportswriters and fans as the ultimate ridiculously sugarcoated sports-hero film of all time. Who's to argue? If you know Babe Ruth and what he was like, you almost have to laugh at some of the stuff in here. Yet, this film is old-fashioned charm, and despite the negatives to it, I enjoy watching it. It's so corny, it's good.

That's not to say Ruth was a bad man, because he wasn't. He was extremely likable guy whom his teammates all loved, he was fantastic with kids and very, very generous man. But he also had a ton of faults, too, some of which got him in big trouble with his managers and league officials. His health was a problem at times, thanks, in part to his opulent lifestyle. He was a glutton and an adulterer and life wasn't fun for him as he got unfairly passed over to be a manager, something he desperately sought.His was very crude and profane.

Very few if any of these negative qualities are the in the film - just the good 'ole boy - the kind William Bendix played on his TV show, "The Life Of Riley."

Also unrealistic - and typical of sports movies in the "classic era" - is Bendix trying to throw and hit a baseball. Thank goodness modern-day movies don't have actors like this who are clueless on how to play the actual sport they are portraying.

Yet, as sweet and unrealistic as this film can be, it's a lot better than doing the reverse, which is what Hollywood did to the Babe in 1992 in the John Goodman movie. They portray the Babe in mostly negative terms.

Too bad you usually get two extremes when it comes biographies made in Hollywood. In the "classic era" films, our heroes could do no wrong. Since the '60s, our heroes are shown to be blemished more than anything else. Where is the middle ground?

This is my wife's favorite sports movie. What you need to know is that she hates sports. But this movie is so absurd, it is hilarious, in a Plan 9 From Outer Space kind of way.

Scene after scene is pure fiction, but you can't help but laugh and enjoy it. It climaxes with the Babe in the hospital, dying of throat cancer (which they don't identify). Outside his room window are hundreds of people (that part is true, according to Red Barber in Ken Burns' Baseball - he was sick and in the same hospital). However, it probably is NOT true that the people sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame in rich harmony, slowly, like a dirge. (This was my wife's favorite moment).

And lest we forget, he agrees to allow experimental surgery on his body, to help humanity, because that's just the kind of guy he was, and because the surgeon (who had treated a dog the Babe had hit with a foul ball and brought to the hospital, leaving the game in progress) was "good people." Sorry for that run on sentence, but the writing in so many scenes is just so bizarely and idiotically wonderful, I just get pumped up thinking about it.

The scene, by the way, where the Babe called his shot, as William Bendix hams it up and emphatically points his bat at the centerfield wall, is given a lot of credit for the controversy of whether that actually ever happened. Bendix is so over the top, you want it to be true.

It's a ridiculous, wonderful piece of entertainment. A real homer.

A wonderful dedication to such a fantastic baseball player. Babe Ruth's life shows what a sentive side he had along with his fortitude as the greatest baseball player. The end makes you feel like you lost a personal friend. Everyone has heard of Babe,he'll always be remembered and loved. This movie gives you a sence of knowing him and loving his life.

I like to order Babe Ruth Story. I need to know if it is closed captioned (cc). If not closed captioned, I don't want it. Thank you. Janet A. Smith

I cannot write a review as I have not received the tape! It is a gift for a friend so do hope it arrives soon!

This is a documentary. The history, only romanced a little by Hollywood.
I never saw Babe play. I am 61. But my father sat right behind him in center field, at the Stadium in New York. This movie was one of the first movies I ever saw. The nuns played it for us once a year, at school, because of the message at the end of the film. Me, as a regular human, give the film 5 stars. This is on my "Top-Five-of-all-time" list
Bill Donovan

This is not "Pride of the Yankees". They couldn't even wait for the man to die before they were capitalizing on him. Lou Gehrig at least had accomplished actor Gary Cooper play him. He also had the real Babe Ruth & other players in cameos. No players appeared in this one. Babe got buffoon, William Bendix, later of Kill the Umpire & Life of Riley fame. He's talented but a comedian. Babe Ruth's life before during & after baseball is covered in rather pedestrian fashion. That he loved kids is well known. I'm very dubious of combining the famous "called shot" during the 1932 World Series & the promise to hit one for the little dying boy listening on the radio. That either one actually happened will always be debated but combining them in one moment is a bit much. The end is one we are all too familiar with. Everyone can see the end of the athlete's career except that person himself. It ends badly & he never realizes his dream of managing. So it is. The Babe is going to die of cancer. Must not say that word on screen. His imminent death is drawn out & every baseball metaphor is utilized. In the end the experimental drug he agrees to take advances medical treatment for thousands. This movie is not as bad as I seemed to remember it years ago. Still...

WHEN THIS MOVIE WAS MADE BABE RUTH WAS DYING.WHEN HE WENT TO SEE THIS MOVIE HE HAD TO WALK OUT BECAUSE HE THOUGHT THAT IT WAS SO BAD.I THINK WILLIAM BENDIX (WHO USED TO BE THE BATBOY DURING THE TIME THE BABE PLAYED FOR THE YANKEES) WAS EXCELLENT.I OWN THE VIDEO OF THIS MOVIE BUT THE MOVIE WAS ONLY FAIR.