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Babe Ruth Story, The (1948)

1/2 (out of 4)

Wow. It's funny but you can read all about how awful a movie is but until you actually see it you have no idea how awful it's actually going to be. I had heard that this here was one of the worst sports movies in history and that's certainly true. The film tries to tell the story of Babe Ruth (William Bendix) from his early, abused childhood up through his star years and eventual "death." It's worth noting that Ruth lived to see the premiere of this film but ended up passing away three weeks before it's official theatrical release. It's strange but you can't help that this film probably took away some time from his life. I don't mind a bio pic from containing lies because they all do. You have to change and alter some things in order to build dramatic moments or at least tell a straight story but this film is so full of itself that you can't help but roll your eyes. There are at least seven scenes in this movie that made me say "oh my God" because I couldn't believe how awful they were. One moment is when Babe hits a foul ball that strikes a dog so he rushes it to a hospital. Another sequence is when the Babe goes into his managers hospital room talking his head off but not knowing the man is actually dead. One of the most insulting things is that the Babe is shown as a complete idiot here. I'm guessing they wanted him to have a child-like quality but he comes off looking incredibly stupid. It doesn't help that Bendix is miscast in the role as you really have to feel bad for it. The actor could certainly deliver the goods in the right roles but he's really, really bad here. You can't blame him too much as it's nearly impossible to play a character as legendary as Ruth but the actor simply doesn't do a very good job at imitating him. Bendix is all over the place in terms of tone and he just doesn't feel or look like a baseball player. Claire Trevor plays his wife and isn't impressive either. Charles Bickford, Sam Levene, Stanley Clements and Frank Ferguson have supporting roles. Ziggy Sears, Bucky Harris, Harry Wismer, Mel Allen and H.V. Kaltenborn all play themselves. As many bad thing as I've mentioned there are still plenty of others including the fact that the majority of the story is told with newspaper headlines, which is never a good thing. THE BABE RUTH STORY is a horrid film in just about every way and the only real entertainment comes from you having to keep watching just to see how much worse it's going to get. I couldn't help but wonder what the real Babe Ruth thought while he was watching this thing but he certainly deserved much better.

Some have rightly criticized this movie as being a glossed-over, fictionalized, lower-budget presentation of Babe Ruth, while "The Pride of the Yankees" afforded teammate Gehrig a big-budget, A-list-cast project.

However, both were off the proverbial "mark." Gehrig was not quite the totally-affable individual Gary Cooper portrayed, and his mother not quite the "Aunt Bea" type shown.

Babe Ruth was a larger-than-life persona, bawdy, irreverent, and a national icon which, in more recent times, have only seen perhaps Muhammed Ali and Michael Jordan afforded anything close to the equal amount of acclaim. And one must always remember these two have had the benefit of television, including dozens of cable/satellite venues, and far greater electronic and print media than Ruth ever knew.

There is an interesting film clip I've seen many times. Ruth (who batted third) is rounding third base and going to home plate after hitting a home run, while Gehrig (waiting to bat fourth), has his back completely turned, ignoring him, much less shaking his hand. These two were not on speaking terms for significant amounts of time while teammates - far different from the tone of either of their biographies.

This is quite a fictionalized movie, however, few biopics of this era - sports or otherwise - weren't. But it should be noted that Ruth, now well past a half century since his tragic illness and death, and much further beyond his prime - still has led "Athlete of the Century" and similar lists, with only fore-mentioned Ali and Jordan (along with Jim Thorpe) as close contenders.

I, for one, would like to see a film which would present both Ruth and Gehrig, in a realistic style, made today. Dennis Quaid, after putting on a few pounds, and a little padding and makeup, could portray Ruth. He's left-handed, and can portray a baseball athlete (ala "The Rookie," playing a role of a character a decade younger than he), with Costner as Gehrig. Kevin also can handle a bat and ball (Gary Cooper, playing Gehrig, had the baseball talent of a 12-year-old, and the film had to be shown in-reverse to make him appear left-handed. While Costner is right-handed, his athleticism and better techniques today could overcome this).

They are a little longer-in-tooth now (who isn't?), but both are in excellent shape, look younger than they are, and modern techniques and makeup should be able to overcome any problems of their playing "younger."

Personally, I think a first-class film with two major stars, playing Ruth and Gehrig, in a story presenting the harder edges of their personalities, relationship, family lives, etc. - as well as all the positive aspects we've seen before - could be an amazing flick.

Finally, this film is a lot better now, not because its story or presentation have improved - but for its nostalgic view of 1940's film, and the baseball locations and scenes as they were then.

I've seen this movie many times, since I was a little boy. By the time I was a little older, I learned more about baseball and the Babe, and realized the movie was full of exaggerations and myths, but I didn't care. An 'innocent' movie that conveniently skips out on some of the more distasteful aspects of Ruth's life (drinking, carousing, womanizing), I think it works. It's so corny, that you've gotta love it. One of my favorite parts is when Claire yells at Babe to remember about Johnny lying sick in the hospital, who will obviously die if Babe doesn't smash a homer. Amazingly, Babe hears Claire above 50,000 other screaming fans, makes incredibly outrageous gestures pointing to the centerfield bleachers, and socks the homer with a dreadful swing that would make a 6 year old girl embarrassed. How can you not love it? When the group of kids sing 'hymns' (ie take me out to the ballgame) outside his hospital window? I absolutely love this film because I take it for what it is - a fun film that tries to serve as a tribute to one of the greatest players ever.

As has been noted already here, this film is worse than mediocre; it is ludicrous at best. Why the film was as badly scripted as it was is anybody's guess at this late date. Scenes which should have come across as poignant come across as corny. The Miller Huggins death scene is especially bad, where "Babe" is talking to him thinking he is still alive, and the nurse pulls the sheet over the face because he is already dead. The jump from his youth in the orphanage to major league baseball is disconcerting. William Bendix wasn't a great actor in the sense of a Bogart or Tracy. But, he wasn't that inept either. The production was rushed to completion before Ruth's death and one can only wonder what he must have thought of it, given the chain of contrivances. This film could have been honest and inspiring, instead it is fraudulent and vapid.

This is often pointed to cynically by sportswriters and fans as the ultimate ridiculously sugarcoated sports-hero film. Who's to argue? If you know Babe Ruth and what he was like, you almost have to laugh at some of the stuff in here. That's not to say Ruth was a bad man, because he wasn't. He was extremely likable guy whom his teammates all loved, he was fantastic with kids and very, very generous man. But he also had a lot of faults, too, some of which got him in big trouble with his managers and league officials. His health was a problem at times, thanks, in part to his opulent lifestyle. He was a glutton and an adulterer and life wasn't fun for him as he got unfairly passed over to be a manager, something he desperately sought. Very few if any of these negative qualities are the in the film - just the good 'ole boy - the kind William Bendix played on his TV show, "The Life Of Riley."

Also unrealistic - and typical of sports movies in the "classic era" - is Bendix trying to throw and hit a baseball. Thank goodness modern-day movies don't have actors like this who are clueless on how to play the actual sport they are portraying.

Yet, as sweet and unrealistic as this film can be, it's a lot better than doing the reverse, which is what Hollywood did in 1992. Too bad you usually get two extremes when it comes biographies made in Hollywood. In the "classic era" films, our heroes could do no wrong. Since the '60s, our heroes are shown to be blemished more than anything else. Where is the middle ground.

The solution, obviously, is to be "fair and balanced," but don't look for that in most biographies made into movies, especially dealing with sports heroes.