Product Details

• Actors: Joe DiMaggio
• Producers: Ross Greenburg
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• VHS Release Date: March 17, 1998
• Run Time: 63 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0783112807
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #387,085 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Using never-before-seen footage and rare archival materials, this documentary about one of the most-beloved figures in baseball tells of Joe DiMaggio's early life in San Francisco, and of his entrance into the New York Yankees organization in 1936 at the tender age of 21. The familiar facts are covered (though it is always nice to see them again): his 56-game hitting streak, the nine World Series championships he helped attain, and his thrice-earned MVP status. DiMaggio's personal life is tastefully handled, too, including his bachelor years and his two marriages, the second a famous union to Marilyn Monroe. Drawing upon interviews with Bob Feller, Reggie Jackson, Pete Rose, George Bush, Mario Cuomo, and DiMaggio's teammates Jerry Coleman, Phil Rizzuto, and Tommy Henrich, the film creates a portrait of a hero who knew both greatness and tragedy on his path. An exciting homage, all around, and now that's he gone an important marker of American life in the 20th century. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, unvarnished account, March 3, 2000

By 

Leon M. Bodevin "Do right and fear no man" (Lemoore, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio? [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This video gives a realistic rendering of Joe DiMaggio's personality. It is not as whitewashed as the A&E Biography video, but this is probably to the video's credit. The most poignant part of the movie is the end where DiMaggio becomes "the keeper of his own flame." It is a depressing, lonely part of DiMaggio's life, but you walk away from it feeling you know the real DiMaggio, an American hero who was nonetheless prone to isolationism and paranoia. I recommend this video as well as A&E's video on DiMaggio.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Joe DiMaggio Story: The Pride of a Yankee, February 4, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio? [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Following Joe DiMaggio's death and the publication of Richard Ben Cramer's expose "Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life" a lot more came out about the Yankee Clipper than was ever known during his lifetime. "Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?" is an HBO production that ends up taking the middle ground between the legend of DiMaggio and the grim reality of what we know take to be the truth. We hear about DiMaggio's fierce demand for privacy, his tendency to cut off friends who crossed him, the money he made selling his signature, and the care with which he maintained his reputation as "the greatest living baseball player." However, this comes in the latter part of this 63-minute documentary. The first part deals with how this son of immigrant San Francisco fisherman became a legendary figure.

The portrait is certainly balanced. Witnesses tell of how DiMaggio snubbed the young Mickey Mantle, who was clearly being groomed to replace him in center field at Yankee Stadium, but then Reggie Jackson talks about how nice DiMaggio was to him when the Hall of Famer was a coach for the Oakland A's. The talking heads are a nice mixture of biographers, reporters and baseball players. This latter includes both former teammates like Tommy Henrich, Phil Rizzuto and Yogi Berra and opponents such as Bob Feller (who allows that DiMaggio was the best right-handed batter he ever faced). In the end, two things stand out: when DiMaggio took himself out of a crucial game against the Red Sox because he was hurting the team and the way he stepped in when his ex-wife Marilyn Monroe died. At the root of everything he did was a sense of pride on truly epic proportions.

Certainly it took long enough for someone to appropriate this title from Paul Simon's "Mrs. Robinson." Maury Allen, of course, was first with his biography. At one point in this documentary we learned that DiMaggio was puzzled by the Simon & Garfunkel song and considered suing over the apparent "insult." Of course, the exact opposite was the case. Even if we now know more than we ever wanted to know about the real Joe DiMaggio, "Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?" more than adequately covers the legend he worked so hard to create and to maintain. Final Note: Be sure to watch the credits on this one, which roll over an appearance of DiMaggio on "I've Got a Secret." The irony is palatable.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars almost, October 16, 2008

By 

Joseph W. Garnier (Pierce County, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio? (DVD)

I was looking for a video of the yankees with Di Maggio in actual play. This has a few clips of the games, but nothing spectacular. NBC and CBS both filmed the all-star games in the late 30's and 40's, but they aren't making moves to release them. All we have of the old days are stories. Someone should find the game films and put them out. I'll buy one or two a month.