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The spirit of sport on celluloid
V. K. PARTHASARATHY
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Film-makers, now and then, turn their attention to sports and produce movies that revolve round popular games and sportspersons. Some of these films became hits and still continue to entertain viewers.
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CLASSIC ENTERTAINER: Thanks to `Lagaan,' cricket on celluloid has received a shot in the arm.
HOW COLOURLESS life would be without movies and sports! These two diversions, however, have little in common. Movies take the viewers to a make-believe world, pleasantly away from grim reality. Of course, when the show is over, they fall down to earth with a thud. Sports, on the other hand, throbs with life and reality; its essence is competition, with the outcome held in the balance, till the last magical moment.
There are, however, any number of experts to predict and speculate on the results but one is not sure till the final whistle is blown. It is this aura of suspense that attracts millions to sports and any attempt to tamper with the results and make competition not bona fide will make a mockery of sporting traditions built up over a century.
Film-makers, now and then, turn their attention to sports and produce sports movies, some of which have become blockbusters. Martial sports such as boxing, can be adapted more easily to films. The famous Rocky series with Sylvester Stallone has shown boxing in the most dramatic and thrilling manner that people see these films over and over again with relish.
The forerunner to Rocky was Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) with Paul Newman acting as Rocky Graziano. In movies, sport is just not a game - it is a matter of life and death, a contest to settle serious issues, a battle between good and evil. Escape To Victory (1981) was a great football war film. It was set in World War II during the German occupation of France. The Nazi propaganda machine, sure of victory, organised a football match in Paris between the German national team and a team of Allied prisoners of war to flaunt its invincibility. The Germans, of course, were not aware that among the Allied prisoners were the legendary footballers - Pele and Bobby Moore! Indeed, the real Pele and Bobby Moore acted in the movie with Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone and together they made the football match enthralling. After a breathtaking climax, the Allied team won and, in the ensuing euphoric melee, the members of the Allied team escaped to freedom.
Some of the light-hearted sports movies are a treat to watch. Here, thanks to cinematography, various games are shown in an absurd and ludicrous manner, which makes viewing all the more enjoyable. Among the films on horse racing, A Day At The Races (1937) has remained a favourite for decades. It is a classic Marx Brothers' comedy, with a dazzling and hilarious climax. Disney's Absent-Minded Professor (1961) continues to charm audiences with an unbelievable basketball match. It is a simple story of a small-town professor of chemistry (Fred Macmurray), who accidentally invents `flubber', an anti-gravity substance. He uses it to make a flying model T and to help the University's losing basketball team beat its rival. The basketball match is crazy but unforgettable. Golf is known to be a gentleman's game of etiquette but not so in Happy Gilmore (1996) in which it is portrayed as more human and earthly. Adam Sandler, who plays the hero, is a rustic golfer with an uncanny ability to strike the ball. What is more, he freely gives vent to his feelings and makes the game as colourful as his own personality. The climax is superb, with the ball miraculously falling into the hole after a roller coaster ride. Again, Adam Sandler plays an American footballer with extraordinary tackling ability in Disney's Water Boy (1998). The movie is rollicking fun.
The craze for cricket in the Commonwealth countries is as great as it is for soccer in South America. Especially, on the sub-continent, during important matches, life comes to a virtual standstill. Cricket, however, does not easily lend itself to movies and the studios have been turning a blind eye to its existence. Thanks to Bollywood's classic entertainer Lagaan, cricket has received a shot in the arm. Lagaan is an internationally acclaimed movie and it missed an Oscar by a whisker. The story takes you back to the heyday of the Raj, when the inhabitants of Champaner, a village in Central India, undaunted in the face of adversity, agree to play a cricket match against the British, to resolve a contentious issue concerning an unjust tax imposed on them. The assembling of an eclectic team, it's training, and finally, the match with its breath-taking climax, have been so excellently shown as to create a patriotic fervour in the audience. The British, of course, bite the dust but narrowly escape being disgraced by two redeeming factors: Elizabeth, a charming and compassionate British woman, aids and support the villagers in their match against her own clan; and the redoubtable British umpire who calls a spade more than a bloody shovel.
KNOCK OUT: Slyvester Stallone in `Rocky.'
Few games are as universally popular as tennis; yet it struggles for attention and offers only an occasional temptation to movie-makers. Thus tennis films are not easy to come by.
Four-time Oscar winner, Katharine Hepburn, displays her tennis skills in a romantic comedy Pat and Mike (1952). Spencer Tracy, who plays the lead role in this film, is an enterprising sports promoter, who overtly prepares Hepburn to win matches and covertly labours to win her heart. The two stars, with a unique and fascinating chemistry between them, were the most popular romantic pair of their time. Gorgeous Gussy Moran, who in 1949 stunned the Wimbledon crowd by wearing a pair of rayon knickers trimmed with lace beneath her skirt, lends a glamorous touch to this movie.
Ali McGraw of Love Story fame, acted in a romantic tennis movie Players, with Dean-Paul Martin (son of famous actor Dean Martin) and Vitas Gerulatis, a top player of the 1970s. Some of the tennis scenes in the film were actually shot on the Wimbledon courts just before the 1978 women's final between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. Martina won 7-5 in the third set in what turned out to be an epic final. Naturally, the movie was a tame affair compared to this great match.
Alfred Hitchcock, who had an excessive pre-occupation with diabolic and gruesome matters, had a dim view of mankind. He even believed that tennis players had a villainous streak in them. Farley Granger, acting as a tennis champion in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951), plans to have his wife killed on the day of his tennis match so that he will have a perfect alibi. The movie is based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith and is considered among Hitchcock's best films.
In another Hitchcock masterpiece, Dial M for Murder (1954), Ray Milland, acting as a former tennis champion, blackmails a man to kill his wife, Grace Kelly. When the plans go awry, Milland tries to frame her for the murder of the would-be assassin. The film is based on a successful play by Frederick Knott. In reality, where wives are concerned, tennis players are not made of sterner stuff; they are like all husbands: shaky, irresolute and weak-kneed.
Richard Ruskind could be described as someone who has had the best of two worlds! He was a tennis champion, a naval officer, and an eye surgeon. He was married and had a son. He caused a sensation by becoming a woman, who called herself Dr. Renee Richards. She was permitted to participate in women's events. She won the 1977 U.S. Open Doubles Championship for Women, partnering Betty-Ann Stuart and subsequently, joined the entourage of Martina Navratilova as a coach. Renee Richards' remarkable life has been beautifully portrayed by the none other than Vanessa Redgrave in the television film Second Serve (1986).
One can also look forward to the next tennis movie titled Wimbledon, which is under way.
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