The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg

As was the case with Walter Kephart of the August 12th review, I am a member of two of the three groups he said would enjoy this movie. "The Life and Times" falls into the trap of most biographies, as there was little suspense to the plot, but it was one of the more entertaining and enjoyable movies I've seen lately. It served as a reminder that, in an age of million dollar athletes and cynical fans, there have been superstars with character. Hank Greenberg could not have picked a more difficult time this century to evolve as a Jewish athlete than during the depression-era 1930's. At a time when Nazism rose in popularity on both sides of the Atlantic, in the city of Henry Ford and Father Coughlin, Hank Greenberg persevered, overcoming anti-Semitic prejudice to lead his Detroit Tigers to four American League pennants and two World Championships, all the while putting together some of the better offensive statistics in baseball. He was also loyal to his religion and his country, as was demonstrated by not playing on Yom Kippur and sacrificing five years of his playing career to serve in the United States Army during the Second World War. The other forms of media used by Aviva Kempner, including movie clips such as "Gentleman's Agreement," Mandy Patinkin's Yiddish rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and interviews with people ranging from Alan Dershowitz to Al Rosen to the late Walter Matthau all helped illustrate the Hank Greenberg story. A Toronto Star columnist considered "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" to be the one must-see movie for the summer of 2000. It is definitely worth the price of admission, certainly moreso than nine out of ten movies playing these days.

I've seen this promoted, most of the time, as a movie for Jewish people because it is about their first big baseball idol, Hank Greenberg. A lot of the material here deals with how big an idol Hank was to all the Jews in Amercia back then. I found that interesting, but I watched it simply because I love baseball, especially the "old days" and am thrilled to see footage of any Major League baseball games and stars from the first half of the 20th century. If there is a human-interest behind the diamond heroics, all the better! It's amazing the degree Greenberg was literally worshiped by the Jewish people make in the 1930s and 1940s.

Greenberg was a likable guy and I enjoyed seeing him talk here and there from an interview he did in the early '80s, talking about his career. He isn't a braggart, but he's not that modest, either. He knew he was very good. He didn't make excuses either when he didn't accomplish he wanted, like hitting 60 homers one season. Sadly, some of the commentators like attorney Alan Dershowitz are not so unbiased. His paranoia is more than evident, claiming they didn't want a Jewish man breaking Ruth's record so they wouldn't throw strikes to him. That's proved a lie in the next minute when they show Cleveland ace Bob Feller striking him out several times in a late-season game as Hank was stuck at 58 and never made it to 60. To his credit, Greenberg said those claims were false, anyway.

I enjoyed not only seeing Greenberg smash the ball but witnessing some of his famous and not-so-famous teammates in footage, too, and also interviewed in their older age - guys like Charlie Gehringer, a great second baseman on Hank's winning teams in Detroit.

Greenberg was one of a number of great baseball players who gave up years of his ballplayer prime to serve in the military during World war II, as it is pointed out here. He left at the age of 31 and came back at 35.....and wound up hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to enable the Tigers to win the pennant! It might have been his greatest hit. The Tigers went on to cap off the season with a World Series win over the Cubs

That's one reason (besides the recent steroids scandal) baseball records aren't as meaningful as people think. Guys like Greenberg and Boston's Ted Williams lost 4-5 years of their prime years in baseball. Who knows what their final totals would be had their been no war?

I liked what Greenberg said near the end of this long documentary, something I wish more athletes of today would say (and believe): "I"ve tried to pattern my life on the fact that I'm out there in the limelight, so to speak, and that there are a lot of kids out there. If I set a good example for them, maybe it will, in some way, affect their lives."

Amen to that.

Interesting documentary about Hank Greenberg, the Detroit Tigers slugger who was the first major Jewish baseball star. Greenberg braved bigotry in one of the most anti-Semitic cities, and became one of baseball's great stars of the period. The film is good, but presents too much detail of Greenberg's life; every single statistical detail of his playing days is simply unnecessary. Mainly because of this, the film drags a little and is slow at times. A better idea might have been for a film about early Jewish baseball players, with a focus on Greenberg. Still, a good documentary about an important and interesting subject.

I bought this DVD because of my life-long passion for baseball history, not as someone interested in seeing a story about a Jewish ballplayer. I am always interested in knowing more about these baseball greats of the past, and this documentary did include facts and stories that I did not know, and I enjoyed the interviews of other ballplayers of the same era. Some were greats of the game as well, some were not, but it is wonderful to put a face and a voice to the photos and stats I grew up memorizing as a kid. The documentary was trying so hard to be an exact copy of the Ken Burns style of film making, so much though that it does serve as a distraction, a feeling of unoriginality dimmishes what could have been a great documentary. With that complaint asside, I felt it succeeded in conveying the whole person behind the Stats, behind the Legend, and the WWII Veteran. 8/10

As a young girl, I remember his name so well. However, the documentary brought back so many memories. I can't believe that I had actually forgotten about "Greenberg Gardens." I also was somewhat amazed that there were more young people in the audience, than usually seen in a film, that I thought would basically attract older people. Which goes to prove that baseball is and always has been a great national pastime. As a much older girl now, I'm still enamored of him as much as ever. Also the fine production and direction that went with it. Hank, I'll never forget you.

P.S. 2017 (update) Rereading and must add that the film was particularly nostalgic...My husband, Roy was one of Hank's greatest fans.. They attended the same High School in The Bronx.....Even though being a boy from The Bronx, Roy still always rooted for The Detroit Tigers..Ell-4 remained faithful to The Brooklyn Dodgers till they left Ebbets Field and went to LA