The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (1998)

Director:

Aviva Kempner

Writer:

Aviva Kempner (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | Sport

Tagline:

When America Needed Heroes, A Jewish Slugger Stepped To The Plate.

Plot:

The life and career of Hank Greenberg, the first major Jewish baseball star in the Major Leagues.

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | 1930s | Jewish Community | Jew | Jewish Culture

Awards:

12 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Rabbi Reeve Brenner	...	Himself - interviewee
Hank Greenberg	...	Himself (archive footage)
Walter Matthau	...	Himself - interviewee
Alan M. Dershowitz	...	Himself - interviewee (as Alan Dershowitz)
Carl Levin	...	Himself - interviewee (as Senator Carl Levin)
Stephen Greenberg	...	Himself - interviewee
Joseph Greenberg	...	Himself - interviewee (as Joe Greenberg)
Rabbi Max Ticktin	...	Himself - interviewee
Bill Mead	...	Himself - interviewee
Lou Gehrig	...	Himself (archive footage)
Basil 'Mickey' Briggs	...	Himself - interviewee
Don Shapiro	...	Himself - interviewee
Bert Gordon	...	Himself - interviewee
Joe Falls	...	Himself - interviewee
Henry Ford	...	Himself (archive footage)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements and mild language.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Color

Certification:

USA:PG

Company:

Ciesla Foundation

Movie Connections:

Features The Pride of the Yankees (1942)

Soundtrack:

Night and Day

Grand Slam Treatment

A sprightly, lovingly researched, rather misty eyed sports documentary that steeped in ethnic pride. At first the movie is inspiring in a conventional, hero-treads-a-national-icon way. Greenberg, the towering Jewish slugger from the Bronx, joins the Detroit Tigers as a first baseman in the early '30s and becomes a power-hitting warhorse, leading the team from one World Series to the next.

Greenberg defines the image of fearless, cleft-chinned American invincibility.