Taglines: Once in a lifetime you get a chance to do something different.
A League of Their Own movie storyline. During World War II when all the men are fighting the war, most of the jobs that were left vacant because of their absence were filled in by women. The owners of the baseball teams, not wanting baseball to be dormant indefinitely, decide to form teams with women.
So scouts are sent all over the country to find women players. One of the scouts, passes through Oregon and finds a woman named Dottie Hinson, who is incredible. He approaches her and asks her to try out but she’s not interested. However, her sister, Kit who wants to get out of Oregon, offers to go. But he agrees only if she can get her sister to go. When they try out, they’re chosen and are on the same team. Jimmy Dugan, a former player, who’s now a drunk, is the team manager. But he doesn’t feel as if it’s a real job so he drinks and is not exactly doing his job.
A League of Their Own is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Lori Petty. The screenplay was written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel from a story by Kelly Candaele and Kim Wilson.
About the Story
In 1988, Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis) attends the opening of the new All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame. She sees many of her former teammates and friends, prompting a flashback to 1943.
When World War II threatens to shut down Major League Baseball, candy magnate and Cubs owner Walter Harvey (Garry Marshall) persuades his fellow owners to bankroll a women’s league. Ira Lowenstein (David Strathairn) is put in charge, and Ernie Capadino (Jon Lovitz) is sent out to recruit players. Capadino attends an industrial-league softball game in rural Oregon and likes what he sees in Dottie, the catcher for a local dairy’s team.
Dottie turns down Capadino’s offer, happy with her simple farm life while waiting for her husband Bob (Bill Pullman) to come back from the war. Her sister (and teammate) Kit (Lori Petty), however, is desperate to get away and make something of herself. Capadino is not impressed by Kit’s hitting performance, but agrees to take her along if she can change Dottie’s mind. Dottie agrees, but only for her sister’s sake.
Dottie and Kit head out to Harvey Field in Chicago for the tryout. There they meet a pair of New Yorkers, taxi dancer “All the Way” Mae Mordabito (Madonna) and her best friend, bouncer Doris Murphy (Rosie O’Donnell), along with soft-spoken right fielder Evelyn Gardner (Bitty Schram), illiterate, shy left fielder Shirley Baker (Ann Cusack), pitcher/shortstop and former Miss Georgia beauty queen Ellen Sue Gotlander (Freddie Simpson), gentle left field/relief pitcher Betty “Spaghetti” Horn (Tracy Reiner), homely second baseman Marla Hooch (Megan Cavanagh), who was scouted by Ernie, Dottie and Kit in Fort Collins, Colorado, and first baseman Helen Haley (Anne Ramsay), a native of Saskatchewan. They and eight others are selected to form the Rockford Peaches, while 48 others are split among the Racine Belles, Kenosha Comets, and South Bend Blue Sox.
The Peaches are managed by Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), a former marquee Cubs slugger who initially treats the whole thing as a joke. The league attracts little interest at first. With a Life magazine photographer in the stands, Lowenstein begs the players to do something spectacular. Dottie obliges when a ball is popped up behind home plate, catching it while doing a split. The resulting photograph makes the magazine cover. A publicity campaign draws more people to the ballgames, but the owners remain unconvinced. Due to Kit’s sibling rivalry with her sister, she is traded to the Peaches’ rival, the Racine Belles.
Soundtrack
A League of Their Own soundtrack was released on CD and cassette tape by Columbia Records on June 30, 1992. The album peaked at #159 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart on July 25, 1992.[15] Although Madonna contributed “This Used to Be My Playground” to the film, featured over the closing credits, her recording was not included on the soundtrack album for contractual reasons.[16]
Tracklisting
“Now and Forever” – Performed by Carole King
“Choo Choo Ch’Boogie” – Performed by The Manhattan Transfer
“It’s Only a Paper Moon” – Performed by James Taylor
“In a Sentimental Mood” – Performed by Billy Joel
“Two Sleepy People” – Performed by Art Garfunkel
“I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” – Performed by James Taylor
“On the Sunny Side of the Street” – Performed by The Manhattan Transfer
“Flying Home” – Performed by Doc’s Rhythm Cats
“Life Goes On” – Performed by Hans Zimmer
“The Final Game” – Performed by Hans Zimmer
“The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Song” – Performed by The Rockford Peaches
A League of Their Own (1992)
Directed by: Penny Marshall
Starring: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell, Megan Cavanagh, Tracy Reiner, Bitty Schram, Anne Ramsay, Renée Coleman, Ann Cusack
Screenplay by: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
Production Design by: Bill Groom
Cinematography by: Miroslav Ondrícek
Film Editing by: Adam Bernardi, George Bowers
Costume Design by: Cynthia Flynt
Set Decoration by: George DeTitta Jr.
Art Direction by: Tim Galvin
Music by: Hans Zimmer
MPAA Rating: PG for language.
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: July 1, 1992
Hits: 117
