Hank Greenberg was the first great Jewish star in baseball; at a time when the game was still racially segregated, Greenberg became a first-class hitter for the Detroit Tigers (a host city not always known for its tolerance, as the career of Father Charles Coughlin will prove), nearly beating Babe Ruth's home run record and becoming one of the game's best loved figures (he was also a friend and confidant to Jackie Robinson as he was breaking baseball's color barrier). Hank Greenberg became a
powerful role model in America's Jewish community, and this documentary follows his life and career up to his death in 1986. Director Aviva Kempner includes extensive interview footage of Greenberg filmed in the year before his passing, as well as newsreel footage of Greenberg in action, reminiscences from his teammates and testimonials from his family, friends and fans, including Alan Dershowitz and Walter Matthau. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
It seems too much to ask a movie to entertain, inform and inspire. For it to also work as sports story, social history and biography is a home run with men on base.
Emphasizes the positive moments in his career, and the film is loose-limbed and ingratiatingâ"much like Greenberg himself, who appears in interviews throughout his career.
A fine, straightforward tribute to a sports giant who faced blatant prejudice and paved away for the likes Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron and other minorities...
An excellent example of the kind of sound, conventional documentary that's consistently interesting and informative, even if it never tries anything new.
Kempner is content not to question his heroism, which is usually a suspicious practice for a documentary, but a myth as powerful and sustaining as Greenberg's is better left unpunctured.
Outstanding story of legendary Jewish slugger Hank Greenberg who excelled at the sport of baseball in a time when many people held his religion against him. The film features many interviews with prominent fans like Walter Matthau & Alan Dershowitz, as well as family, teammates, and Hammerin' Hank himself in archive
footage interviews. Being from Michigan, it is also a nice historical look back at Detroit and it's professional ballclub.
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