Product Details

• Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 2
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• VHS Release Date: March 17, 1998
• Run Time: 116 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303076815
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,227 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

The HBO documentary When It Was a Game (slightly shortened on DVD from the two-part VHS release) is based on a highly original idea: tell the story of baseball from the Great Depression era through the late 1950s using footage from home-movie cameras shot by fans and players. The result is a marvelous retelling of baseball in America as seen from the ground--the culture of stadiums, the ritual of afternoon games, the spiritually sustaining rivalries. Somewhat enthralled by the images at its disposal, the film has a way of almost stepping back from itself, waxing poetic at a sighting of the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang," or a glimpse of Bogart and Bacall in the stands, or the legendary contests between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Among the truly unexpected sights is color footage of the 1938 World Series (Cubs versus Yanks), not only from inside the stadium walls but from the street as traffic cops, crowds, and vehicles amassed. Of course, there are the heroes, too, often caught in relaxed, unselfconscious moments through the lens of a teammate or a true believer in the bleachers. A great experience all around.

Arguably more defined and even more lyrical than its predecessor, the second installment of When It Was a Game moves from a general celebration of baseball culture in America to a specific focus on various facets of the game's history. Once again using footage compiled from the 8mm and 16mm collections that players and fans shot over decades, this sequel follows, among other things, the special relationship between game announcers and fans and takes a fascinating trip through the story of the farm-team system during the 1930s, '40s, and '50s (particularly the near-alternate world of the Coast League). The working-class commonality of players and fans is examined, too. Imagine taking the subway home from Ebbets Field and finding yourself looking back on the day's game with a Dodger outfielder. (It could, and often did, happen.) Brooklyn's assimilation of the Dodgers into their community identity, a story often told, is covered quite winningly here, as is the heartbreak of the team's desertion to sunny California. Closing in on its final minutes, the film takes us on a tour of some of the game's legends and presents a touching tribute to the extraordinary Babe Ruth. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent film, but buyer beware....., September 5, 2000

By 

Jeff Kamen (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When It Was a Game (DVD)

"When it was a Game" ranks up there as one of my favorite baseball films, and I have owned a copy on VHS since it came out in 1992. I have enjoyed watching the outstanding footage and listening to the insightful comentary dozens upon dozens of times. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to purchase the DVD when it was released earlier this year. HOWEVER, it should be noted that this edition differs significantly from the original VHS tape: Certain segments were either omitted, shortened, or entirely different. This is not to say that the changes are for the worse, but rather to warn anyone who thinks they are purchasing an exact duplicate of the VHS, which the title seems to imply.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baseball time travel, April 21, 2002

By 

Jason A. Miller (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When It Was a Game (DVD)

I sometimes dream in black and white, and when I do, I'm usually watching an old baseball game, one played before there was TV, even. Doubtless my dreams are influenced by all the old books I read as a kid, and from watching "When It Was a Game" when it originally aired on HBO a decade ago. I decided to buy the DVD for myself after seeing some of the memorabilia from the Baseball Hall of Fame currently on display in the "Baseball As America" exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan.

And while many of the players and ballparks captured on film here were gone long before I was born, I recognized most of them anyway. I especially thrilled in seeing the black & white footage from the 1934 World Series -- the hard slides, the beanballs, the old-school herky-jerky pitching deliveries -- and the color footage from the '38 Series at Wrigley Field. Here you also get to see the fabled Green Monster at Fenway Park, before it was either Green, or called "Monster" -- covered in billboards for razor blades or Lifebuoy soap.

If I had to complain, I'd say that for a beginning or casual fan, the footage presented is confusing at first, since graphics and explanatory voiceovers are kept to a minimum in the first twenty minutes. Eventually, however, all the ballparks shown are identified by name, as are many of the players. The narration is misty-eyed and minimal, and not all of the poems or literary passages recited may be to your liking. However, it should be understood that HBO is quite adept at this form of documentary, and "When It Was A Game" was at the forefront of the HBO revolution. And it's also hard to argue with hearing Burgess Whitehead and Eldon Auker and Tommy Henrich speak for themselves.

Go out and watch "When It Was A Game" for yourself -- with the sound on, painting a word-picture of a time you can no longer see for yourself, or even with the sound off, just to look at the footage (Pepper Martin's juggling trick has to have been done with mirrors!). Then when someone asks you what you watched on TV yesterday, you can say, "Oh, the 1934 World Series..."

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, magical!, March 28, 2001

By 

Tammy A. "tardy-tammy" (somewhere near San Francisco) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: When It Was a Game (DVD)

I never saw this on HBO so I can't compare the DVD to that as some other reviewers have done. All I can say is that even my husband who is not a baseball fan was touched!

Technically amazing, I'm sure lots of this old footage had to be cleaned up for acceptable production quality. How did they dig up all this great footage? The prose/poetry voiceovers are pivotal to create that misty sweet nostalgia for the old game.

A little too heavy on the Yanks, even though, yes, they did dominate during this time period. Bonus is additional voiceover interviews from stars such as Enos Slaughter discussing opponents, teammates, the hometown crowd, and the rigors of travel. Wonderful footage of the Gashouse Gang and early immortals such as Ty Cobb and Cy Young!