Jackson: Bombing in the Bronx: The Babe Ruth story

From SABR member Frank Jackson at The Hardball Times on October 28, 2014:

From 1945 through 1948, there were three bombs of historic import. Harry Truman gave the order to drop the first two, Fat Man and Little Boy, on Japan; the third was dropped by Allied Artists Pictures. It was a motion picture known as The Babe Ruth Story. The fallout continues to this day.

Now is a fitting time to take a closer look at this feature film, since the year 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of Babe Ruth’s major league debut. Not that the behemoth Bambino could ever disappear entirely from America’s national consciousness, but there has been a noticeable uptick in articles about the man and the legend this year.

Casting an actor to play the title role in any biographical picture is a tricky proposition. This is magnified when the subject is a living legend, as was the case with Babe Ruth. Makeup and costuming help to some degree, but a character who was bigger than life with gargantuan appetites demands an actor cut from the same cloth.

The topic of a Babe Ruth biopic was first broached in August 1941. World War II likely put that project on the back burner, as the studios were drafted to churn out features, shorts and documentaries as part of the war effort.

Read the full article here: http://www.hardballtimes.com/bombing-in-the-bronx-the-babe-ruth-story/



Originally published: October 28, 2014. Last Updated: October 28, 2014.