Bang the Drum Slowly

Nothing is more important than friendship. Not game, not money, not death.
Nothing is more important than friendship. Not game, not money, not death.
BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY (15)
D: John Hancock
Paramount (Maurice Rosenfield & Lois Rosenfield)
USA 🇺🇸 1973
96 mins

Sports/Drama

W: Mark Harris [based on his novel]
DP: Richard Shore
Ed: Richard Marks
Mus: Stephen Lawrence
PD: Robert Gundlach

Michael Moriarty (Henry Wiggen), Robert DeNiro (Bruce Pearson), Vincent Gardenia (Dutch Schnell), Phil Foster (Joe Jaros), Ann Wedgeworth (Katie), Pat McVey (Mr Pearson), Heather MacRae (Holly Wiggen)

An interesting hybrid of a sports movie and an old-fashioned tearjerker centred around a baseball star who is diagnosed with leukaemia, and his team mates who rally around in support for his plight.
It has a handful of very strong supporting performances, especially Robert DeNiro in one of his very early roles, and Vincent Gardenia, whose performance garnered him an Oscar nomination.
There's no crying in baseball??? Yeah, sure.
7/10

Robert DeNiro in Bang The Drum Slowly
Robert DeNiro in Bang The Drum Slowly
Did You Know:
To prepare for his role, Robert De Niro went to Florida to watch baseball teams in spring training, then travelled to Georgia and tape recorded conversations to study their accents.