I've briefly posted here about this wonderful 1992 flick, but I sincerely think that it deserves its own page, due to the engaging storyline, wonderful performances and great period atmosphere. The main story concerns the rivalry between two sisters playing baseball in the WW II-era All American Girls Professional Baseball League. The framing story, at the beginning and end of the film, concerns the opening of the "Women In Baseball" exhibit at the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown, and a reunion of the surviving players.


Dottie Hinson.......Geena Davis
Kit Keller..........Lori Petty
Jimmy Dugan.........Tom Hanks
Ernie Cappodino.....Jon Lovitz
Mae Mordabito.......Madonna
Doris Murphy........Rosie O'Donnell
Marla Hooch.........Megan Cavanaugh
Betty "Spaghetti" Horn...Tracy Reiner
Evelyn Gardner .....Bitty Schram
Ira Lowenstein......Davis Straithairn
Walter Harvey.......Garry Marshall.
Bob Hinson..........Bill Pullman

Directed by Penny Marshall, screenplay by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, story by Kim Wilson and Kelly Candaele. Music by Hans Zimmer (Gladiator). Rated "PG" for adult language and themes. Running time is 127 minutes.

As much as I love this film, it's not above nitpicking (is anything?)

Geena Davis was a last-minute replacement for Debra Winger, who would not work with the already-cast Madonna. Her performance here is nothing less than first rate, though.

Although Tom Hanks gets top billing, his role is basically a supporting one, and he doesn't even show up until a half-hour into the movie. Hanks was in a career slump at the time, coming off the flops Joe Vs. The Volcano and The Bonfire Of The Vanities. IMHO, the success of this pic revived and probably saved his career.

Jimmy Dugan has a drinking problem, and when the team's bus driver abruptly quits, after being taunted by Evelyn's bratty son Stillwell, he takes over driving the bus, even though he's plastered. He does get off one good line, to the team's chaperone Ms. Cuthbert (Pauline Brailsford): "By the way, I loved you in The Wizard of Oz."

In the photos over the end credits, Marla Hooch is shown wearing a Racine Belles uniform, even though she is shown playing the the Rockford Peaches in the film.

The "Women In Baseball" exhibit is much smaller now than it was in the film (at least it was when I was last there in September, 2000.) But, my lady friend informed me that she was there around the time this film was in theaters, and the exhibit back then was comparable to the way it was shown in the movie.

The closing credits list the cast and the positions each of them played on the team. A nice touch.

There was a short-lived TV series, based on this movie, aired by CBS in mid-1993; Tracy Reiner and Megan Cavanaugh reprised their movie roles in it. Dottie Hinson was played by a post-James Bond but pre-Law & Order Carey Lowell.


Great dialog exchange:
Dottie (to Dugan): "You married?"
Dugan: "Let me think...yeah, twice."
Dottie: "Any children?"
Dugan: "One of them was, yeah."

Great film. The theme song is one of my favorites. What amazed me was how the actors playing the older versions of the characters, especially Dottie and Kit, looked and sounded exactly like Geena Davis and Lori Petty, and I was positive when I first saw this movie that it was Davis and Petty in makeup, but in fact, they were different actors. I wonder if they at least dubbed Geena Davis' voice in over Lynn Cartwright's.

Adam Bomb: Directed by Penny Marshall, screenplay by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, story by Kim Wilson and Kelly Candaele. Music by Hans Zimmer (Gladiator). Rated "PG" for adult language and themes. Running time is 127 minutes.
Luigi Novi: Hmmm....why does this format seem familiar.....?

Adam Bomb: Although Tom Hanks gets top billing, his role is basically a supporting one, and he doesn't even show up until a half-hour into the movie. Hanks was in a career slump at the time, coming off the flops Joe Vs. The Volcano and The Bonfire Of The Vanities. IMHO, the success of this pic revived and probably saved his career.
Luigi Novi: So, given the character he played, it was art imitating life?

Adam Bomb: He does get off one good line, to the team's chaperone Ms. Cuthbert (Pauline Brailsford): "By the way, I loved you in The Wizard of Oz."
Luigi Novi: Given that Wizard of Oz was a box office bomb, and didn't gain its status as a classic until they began showing it on TV, I guess that gives us a clue as to Dugan's taste in movies?

Yes, I "borrowed" the format of my reviews from you. I apologize, but I like the way you do them. But, I like to put the full running time in (the time here is an even two hours without credits, by the way. I usually stay for the entire credit run.) Also, this film has been making the rounds of all the premium services lately (HBO, Showtime and Starz/Encore).

According to IMDB, Geena Davis and Lori Petty dubbed the voices of the older actresses. It's very apparent that it's Geena Davis' voice in place of Lynn Cartwright's. It's hard to tell with the older Kit, as she had only one line. I was positive it was Davis in makeup as well, at least until I read the end credits. (See why I stay?)

When the older Dottie shows up at the Hall Of Fame, she's holding a suitcase with her right hand. The older Doris throws a fastball to her, mimicing the scene where Dottie and Doris first met. Dottie catches the ball, just like she did fifty years before. But...we never see or hear Dottie's suitcase drop.

Jimmie Dugan's Hall Of Fame poster indicated that he lived until the age of 81. A long time, IMHO, for someone who had a serious drinking problem. According to IMDB, Dugan was based on Jimmie Foxx.

Writer Kelly Candaele's mom played in the AAGPBL. I wonder if he was the inspiration for the bratty Stillwell.

The car (a Ford Model A, I believe) that Dottie and Bob drove must have had great gas mileage. It had an "A" gas rationing sticker, meaning that you could buy four gallons of gasoline a week during wartime (the smallest ration given.) Yet, Dottie and Bob drove from the Midwest to Yellowstone Park, back to the Midwest, and then on to Oregon.
Actually, during the war, lots of stuff was rationed, such as food, cars, clothing and rubber. (The real reason gasoline was rationed was to conserve rubber for tires, as the U.S.'s rubber supply was cut off.) More on rationing here.

Dugan explained to Dottie that he is IV-F, meaning he's physically unable to serve in the Armed Forces, as he has no cartilage in his knee. He tells Dottie that "you don't need cartilage to shoot Nazis." Six years later, Hanks would be shooting Nazis, in his role as Captain Miller in Saving Private Ryan.

No, don't apologize Adam; I was just kidding (hence the smiley), and I consider imitation to be the highest form of flattery.

Like Dugan, Mae Mordabito's character was also based on a specific ball player with a reputation like that of Mae's.

I don't remember. Did Dottie bat/field righty or lefty? If she is righty, then her instinct would be to catch the ball (in both the tryout and Hall-of-fame scenes) with her left hand, not her right hand.

This film's director, Penny Marshall, passed away yesterday at age 75. More here.

This film was screened at the recent 2022 TCM Classic Film Festival. (Of course I saw it while I was there; it was even better on the big screen. ) Here's an interview with some of the cast, that took place at the Festival.