Product Details
ASIN : B00005NTOI
Editorial Reviews
From Amazon.com
Aviva Kempner's Oscar-nominated documentary is about baseball like Field of Dreams is about cornfields. Kempner efficiently covers all the bases of Detroit Tigers Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg's magnificent career with archival footage and talking heads, including family members, former teammates and baseball legends, broadcasters and sportswriters, and such unabashed fans as Alan Dershowitz and Walter Matthau. If this biography's style is not remarkable, its subject certainly was. Greenberg, the son of immigrant parents, was a beacon of hope to Jews. As one observer notes, baseball was a way of "showing we were as American as everybody else." To see one of their own succeed in the national pastime at a time of virulent anti-Semitism was a source of pride and inspiration. One lifelong fan, a rabbi, states, "He was the baseball Moses." Winner of several critics association awards for Best Documentary, this is a stirring film for all seasons. --Donald Liebenson
Customer Reviews
An exceptional documentary (2004-06-26)  I think this is a truly exceptional documentary on many different levels. First, it tells the story of one of the best baseball players in history, who often goes unrecognized for his skills. I consider myself a big baseball fan, especially in the history of baseball and stars of the past. Yet before this movie, I knew very little about Hank Greenberg. Despite being one of the best hitters at that time, Greenberg isn't talked about very often. This DVD gets his story out, and shows how dominant of a ball player he was. A major reason that Greenberg is often overlooked when people talk about great ball players is that he spent many of his prime years serving the war effort and was away from baseball. This has kept his lifetime stats and therefore his notoriety down. Another major reason this movie was so good was how it showed Greenberg's career in baseball as a Jewish baseball player. Although his abuse was less than what Jackie Robinson would later recieve, he still did suffer abuse. Also, he was watched and revered by the Jewish community. He was respected and admired as a Jewish man who was just as good as other American ball players, giving Jews a sense of pride. One of the best parts of the film is when the viewer learns that Greenberg talked to Jackie Robinson about playing in baseball as a minority, and gave him support. Whether he was helping Detroit win the World Series, serving his country in the war, being a symbol of pride for the Jewish population, or giving Jackie Robinson advice, we can see that he meant a lot to a lot of people. This is a remarkable story about a remarkable man, through the lens of baseball. If you like baseball and baseball history, this movie is a must-see.
Important Ballplayer for many reasons. (2003-05-02)  Hank Greenberg seemed like a pretty decent fellow and a whale of a ballplayer. Like many, he lost his prime years fighting those jerks in the Pacific. No telling how good his career number would have been if he could have been back in the states poking at the pill. Even with that handicap he still played in three World Series and won 2 MVP awards. This move does a pretty good job of documenting his life, but it seems to define him too much by his religion. Greenberg wasn't even a religious person, but the film continues to go back to the subject. I'm sure that he found discrimination along the way, but when you see the actual footage of him interviewed in 1983, you get the impression that he would be very uncomfortable with his life being told through that lens. He seems too no nonsense for that. It's interesting when he collides with rookie Jackie Robinson in 1947, and offers him encouragement. It's really a poetic moment in baseball history. The movie is good enough that it seems too short. A shame that there isn't more baseball footage from that time period.
OVERCOMING BIGOTRY IN BASEBALL'S GOLDEN YEARS (2002-03-26)  As far as baseball history goes, Hank Greenberg was a giant of a ballplayer. The way this man could hit and field, and his physical size made a big impact on the Great American Pastime between the 1930s and 1950s ... called by some American baseball's golden years. Players were well paid, but not astronomically as today. They were more in it for the game than for the money. Playing for the Detroit Tigers , Greenberg had a tough time because of his Jewish background. As the documenetary movie tells us, often in Greenberg's own words on camera, he was attacked more often by baseball fans' bigotry than the other players simply because he was the only Jew on his team. Other players had to endure ethnic slurs: but there were several players from each ethnic group, but only one Jew - Hank Greenberg. He seems to have taken it in stride. At one point, Greenberg says that he used these taunts to motivatre his home run batting. That's the way he hit back. There are some humerous anecdotes told us by Greenberg, such as when a New York City cop stopped him during the early part of his career, for a traffic violation. The cop couldn't believe it when Greenberg said that his occupation is professional baseball player. The policemen had not yet heard that there was a Jewish baseball player. I can still recall Hank Greenberg while he was playing baseball, during my boyhood (I was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan). The documentary movie evokes the earlier, simpler days of baseball. As movies go, this documnetary's presentation style leaves something to be desired. It's a little lackluster. But the archival footage and on camera comments by Greenberg, his family members, and the likes of Greenberg fans actor Walter Matthau and Alan Dershowitz make it very entertaining and informative. The point is also made several times in the movie that Greenberg was a trail blazer for all "minority" baseball players, such as Jackie Robinson. You don't need to be a baseball fan to be entertained and educated by "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg." This movie certainly earned its Academy Award nomination.
A Great Video About a Real Star of Baseball (2002-03-17) A well produced documentary about one of baseball's greats. He overcame bigotry and paved the way for the great Black ball players who succeeded him. Perhaps it was size or perhaps his demeanor which he used to overcome rampant anti-semitism of the time, but he wanted one thing...to be a great baseball player and make in the majors, or the "show" as it was called then. As the film portrays, he was a great individual, and certainly a patriot, given that he gave up his career early to enlist in the WW2 war effort. The great mystery left unsettled was did anti semitism play a part in coming so close to Babe Ruth's 60 home run record (59 home runs) that the opposing teams wouldn't pitch to him when he was within striking distance with a few games yet to play. A great documentary.
Intelligent and moving (2002-02-05) I grew up in a Jewish household in the 1960s, well after Greenberg's playing days but he still was an icon for me. The film touches on a lot of points: biography, sports in America, institutionalized anti-Semitism and racism. Yet the viewer is never overwhelmed; this film really evokes a man, an era and a unique look at a unique American legend. My only quibble: I wish it had been longer and delved into Greenberg's efforts at desegregating professional baseball after his playing days.
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