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Anytime you see an African-American – or any other person of color – on a diamond, gridiron, court, ice, or any other sports field, thank this man. Photo courtesy of history.com

 

COMMEMORATING JACKIE ROBINSON DAY ON APRIL 15th – THE DAY THAT HE PLAYED HIS FIRST GAME WITH THE (then) BROOKLYN DODGERS AND BROKE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL’S COLOR BARRIER

 

This week – this Wednesday to be precise – marks the 73rd anniversary of the greatest moment in the history of sports:

Jackie Robinson taking the field at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, NY, wearing a uniform of that borough’s Major League Baseball team, one of three in New York City at that time, the Dodgers, and becoming the first black man of African descent to play in the Majors since 1887, thus breaking a racist color barrier that barred such immortal  legends from the Negro Leagues like Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Oscar Charleston, and John “Pop” Lloyd from enjoying such glory that guys like Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth enjoyed.

I’ve always done something to celebrate this great man on this blog at this time every year.

This year I wanted to do something a little different to commemorate this great man;

Rank four movies/films/productions that tell his story

These are the movie and TV productions that come to mind the most when it comes to Jackie.

I won’t waste anymore time – here are my rankings, from number four to number one…

 

 

Image courtesy of imdb.com

 

4. THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY (1950)

The biggest thing about this film is the fact that Jackie plays himself in it.

Though his acting is not horrible, as you watch the movie it’s pretty obvious that Jackie is no actor.

Minor Watson, who played Dodger president/general manager Branch Rickey, and Ruby Dee, who played Jackie’s wife Rachel, did a good job; Ruby was quite pretty.

But it seemed to me that the producers and writers watered the story down a bit, didn’t really show the pure hell that Jackie went through during his time in the minors with the Montreal Royals and his first year with the Dodgers the way I felt it should have.

Then again, it was made in 1950, when things were watered down in movies anyway, i.e., no cursing, epithets, or anything graphic like today.

Plus sports biopics from that time were pretty watered down anyway, so I didn’t expect anything more from this film.

I did like how they touched on Jackie’s days at UCLA, though.

But as far as watching the story of this great man, there’s one movie that I recommend far more than this one.

Which I will highlight a little later.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDCyjoPq9Cw

A trailer from “The Jackie Robinson Story” (1950), courtesy of YouTube (click on the link)

 

 

Image courtesy of imdb.com

 

3. SOUL OF THE GAME (1996)

I remember when this HBO feature about Jackie, played very well by Blair Underwood, along with all time legends Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, played by Delroy Lindo and Mykelti Williamson, respectively, was first shown.

I really liked how Blair realistically portrayed Jackie as an intelligent but very intense guy  – fighting at the drop of a hat – while playing on Satchel’s Negro League Kansas City Monarchs in 1945, which was also the year when Jackie was signed by Rickey to join the Dodger organization.

One scene I remember was when Satchel, his wife Lahoma (played by Sallie Richardson-Whitfield), and Jackie were on the road heading for a game when they stopped at a gas station, where this young white girl was minding the place.

The girl and Lahoma got along swimmingly, with Lahoma showing the girl how to fix her hair and things like that.

That is, until Lahoma asked to use the bathroom, which was when the girl’s bigotry came out.

Which gave a realistic view of how things were for African-Americans in those times.

Another feature of this movie that I liked was when they showed how Josh and Satchel reacted when they learned that Jackie was signed to the Dodgers, which wasn’t too good considering that while Jackie was certainly a good player, he wasn’t considered the best in the Negro Leagues – far from it, as both Satchel and Josh were among those expected to be the ones chosen to break the color line, not understanding that the guy breaking it had to be able to take all the hell that the white players and fans were going to exude without fighting back.

Bottom Line: This is a good movie that ought to be checked out. And I think will be liked.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71f6tWm26XU

A scene from “Soul Of The Game” (1996), courtesy of YouTube (click on the link)

 

Image courtesy of imdb.com

 

2. JACKIE ROBINSON – A KEN BURNS FILM (2016)

After this exquisite film maker made his quintessential documentary Baseball in 1994, it was only a matter of time before he turned his focus to the greatest Dodger and UCLA Bruin of all time.

I was only surprised in a “What took you so long?!” way when Jackie Robinson premiered on PBS 22 years after his nine-part, or “inning”, Baseball miniseries.

For a long time baseball and softball guy/Dodger fan/UCLA alumnus and member of Bruin Nation like me, this two-part miniseries was very well done, covering all the bases from,

  • Jackie’s childhood and early days in Pasadena
  • His All-American exploits at UCLA
  • His days in the army during World War II and how he beat a charge of insubordination when he refused to go to the back of a bus in Texas
  • His time with the Kansas City Monarchs
  • His career with the Dodgers

and especially,

  • His post-baseball life, where he was as much a part of the Civil Rights Movement as Martin Luther King – in fact, King once famously told Jackie that his breaking the color line made it possible for him to do his job –  in that he went on marches, started businesses, and advocated for political candidates who he felt considered civil rights a priority

As brilliant as the documentary was, though, it seemed to me personally that Burns was preaching to the choir due to the knowledge I already had about the man.

For someone who doesn’t really know much about Jackie, however, besides him being the first Black man in baseball, this production is a masterpiece that must be seen, as much will be learned.

I would certainly make a point to show it to my classes if I were a school teacher; it’s best for students from the upper elementary grades through high school.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqizYxTxnjI

An official trailer from Ken Burns’ “Jackie Robinson” (2016), courtesy of YouTube (click on the link)

 

OK, here’s my choice for the best feature production of this Baseball Hall of Famer…

 

Image courtesy of bestbuy.com

 

1. 42 (2013)

This is clearly the most realistic portrayal of Jackie Robinson, excellently portrayed by Chadwick Boseman, who five years later would go on to superstar status as the title character in a movie called Black Panther.

If you want to see the pure, unadulterated hell that he and even his wife Rachel, likewise portrayed wonderfully by Nicole Beharie, went through during his year in the minors with Montreal and his first season with the Dodgers, see this movie.

One scene particularly stood out with me:

It was when the Dodgers played the Philadelphia Phillies, who were led by super bigoted manager Ben Chapman, played by Alan Tudyk.

Chapman spent the entire game standing outside the Phillies dugout screaming the “N” word and other extremely bigoted things at Jackie every time he batted, to the point where after he flew out in his second at bat, he went into the tunnel between the Dodgers’ dugout and the clubhouse,

And made like he was Bruce Banner about to turn into the Incredible Hulk in breaking his bat and screaming in fury, which Jackie would have if he were overdosed on gamma rays, he was so angry, all the while knowing that he couldn’t show his anger on the field due to his promising Branch Rickey (who was so well played by Harrison Ford that I thought he should have gotten an Oscar nomination) that he wouldn’t retaliate against any racist bigotry that was given him.

Which considering his personal chemistry and temperament was extremely difficult to do on a pronounced scale.

I felt that that scene showed once and for all what Jackie went though, and how tough it was for him to endure what he endured in a sport which many people, from owners on down, dearly wanted to keep white and would do whatever they could to ensure such.

42, in mine and many others’ views, is the best film about Jackie Robinson that has been made precisely due to the realism of what he and pretty much every other African-American had to go through in this country during the 1940s.

It’s certainly a movie that I put among my top five baseball films.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlaUzQgRKPI

An official trailer from “42” (2013), courtesy of YouTube (click on the link)

 

For the other four, you will just have to watch for that as I’ll announce them on this blog soon.

But for now, I hope this list encourages you to check out these films celebrating this great man, as the anniversary of his breaking the color line is observed.

Now if only we can get this season started…

 

 

All of the Los Angeles Dodgers wearing Jackie Robinson’s #42 on Jackie Robinson Day at Dodger Stadium. Photo courtesy of wavenewspapers.com