The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
| 12 January 2000 (USA)
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg Trailers

The story of Baseball Hall-of-Famer Hank Greenberg, the first major Jewish baseball star in the Major Leagues, is told through archival film footage and interviews with fans, former teammates, friends, and family. As a great first baseman with the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg endured antisemitism and became a hero and source of inspiration throughout the Jewish community, not incidentally leading the Tigers to Major League dominance in the 1930s.

Reviews
pacholeknbnj

Admittedly, this movie is not for everyone. It is for baseball nuts, people with an interest in Jewish life in America (even if they aren't Jewish themselves), people interested in 20th Century American history, and Tigers fans. I fit the first three categories (I'm a Yankee fan but with a lot of respect for the Tiger franchise), and I thought this movie was terrific. Greenberg was not the first Jewish baseball player, but he was the first to become a star and a hero to non-Jews, paving the way for Sandy Koufax and current Dodger star Shawn Green (as well as Rod Carew, who married a Jewish woman and, as Adam Sandler has pointed out in song, converted). The often terrible anti-Semitism that was often faced in pre-World War II America has been obscured -- it's almost as if the Nazi Holocaust was the only indignity that Jews have suffered. Ms. Kempner did a fantastic job bringing this era of baseball, Jewish life and Detroit life to someone not part of that place, time and faith. And I didn't think this film it was much like the Ken Burns miniseries at all. For one thing, the music was better than in the Burns film, at least until you got to the 1950s songs in "Seventh Inning"! And except for covering Ty Cobb thoroughly, Burns paid little attention to the Tigers. He covered Greenberg's 58-homer season (1938) and mentioned that Denny McLain won 31 games in 1968, but that's it. He didn't even mention Al Kaline except in a story that Bill "Spaceman" Lee told. He didn't cover post-Black Sox Chicago baseball very well either, or California except to discuss Koufax. But what can you do with over 100 years of baseball in 19 hours? Kempner did very well with 75 years of life, and what amounted to 10 full seasons of baseball, in an hour and a half. Greenberg may not have lasted as long in the game as some of its other stars, but his seasons, in baseball and out, were full indeed, and the movie shows this excellently.

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howard-30

This is a superbly done movie. It covers not only his career but his effects on the Jewish community. From the opening Yiddish "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" through the interviews with the men who were influenced by his life and became very successful, the movie is exceedingly well done.

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profshel

This film is deserving of at least as much publicity as other films receive. I saw no publicity at all on it in Westchester County (NY) and only stumbled upon it out of curiosity when I saw the two words, "HANK GREENBERG", on the theater marquee on my way home from work. I learned that it was the last night that it would be shown anywhere in Westchester and that the movie had already started. I decided to go in and catch the last 2/3 of the picture, which I found to be excellent. It was very well done with sentimental and stirring musical background. I learned a great deal about Hank Greenberg from it, but I also found it to be a nostalgic period-piece, of great historical and cultural value. You do not have to know anything about baseball to truly appreciate and enjoy this film. It is inspirational, sentimental, and exciting, especially for Jewish people or anyone interested in 20th century American Jewish culture. I think that this film will serve as a classic documentary and is truly exceptional. I hope that my family and friends may have a chance to see it sometime in the future, and I highly recommend this film to anyone, especially as a family film. It is rated "G", but I would rate it "A".

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geoff-39

I'm not American, I'm not Jewish, and I don't like (or understand) baseball. But this film is perfect. For the first time, I can understand the connection between baseball and the American psyche. Every American kid (of any age) should see this. Thank you, Aviva.

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