DVD Release Date: April 24, 2013
Price: DVD $30.00
Studio: Ciesla Foundation
The dynamite 1998 documentary film The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg directed by Aviva Kempner (Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg) looks at the Detroit Tigers’ hard-hitting Hall of Fame first baseman whose accomplishments extended beyond the field as American’s first Jewish baseball star.
The movie depicts how during the Golden Age of Baseball, Hank Greenberg’s achievements rivaled those of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Additionally, it shows how Greenberg helped break down the barriers of discrimination in American sports and society and how he was a beacon of hope to American Jews who faced bigotry during the Depression and World War II.
Included in the film are some 47 interviews with Hank Greenberg and his family members; sports figures Ira Berkow, Ernie Harwell, Joe Falls and Dick Schaap; fellow players Bob Feller, Charlie Gehringer and Ralph Kiner; fans Alan Dershowitz, Congressman Sander Levin and Senator Carl Levin; and actors Walter Matthau, Michael Moriarty and Maury Povich.
The original DVD was released by Fox in 2001 but has been out of circulation for years. The 2-disc DVD re-issue by Ciesla can be purchased directly from their Hank Greenberg Shop.
The new DVD includes some two hours of new bonus features. Here’s a list of all the bonuses:
-Commentary by writer/producer/director Aviva Kempner
-Hank Greenberg stats and bio
-New vignettes about about fielding and hitting in the Golden Age of Baseball.
-An August 17, 1996 phone interview with Ted Williams when the slugger speaks warmly of Hank as a fellow slugger and friend.
-Additional interviews with sports greats Ira Berkow, Joe Falls, Ernie Harwell, Shriley Povich and Dick Schaap.
-Players Bob Feller, Ralph Kiner and Birdie Tebbetts recall how the game was played before enormous salaries and performance enhancement drugs changed the nation’s pastime.
– More family stories about Greenberg’s birth and childhood tricks; his World War II scarifies, managerial toughness and partnership with Bill Veeck and the hysterical lengths meshugenah fans would go to be near him.
-Additional fan stories come from Senator Carl Levin, Congressman Sander Levin, Alan Dershowitz and Walter Matthau and others.
-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg describes the Yom Kippur rule at the Supreme Court inspired by Greenberg.
– Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s coup getting Greenberg to umpire a game at law school.
-Scenes from A Kid From Cleveland with Hank Greenberg and Bill Veeck.
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