In baseball, they say the numbers don’t lie. But former minor league baseball player Ron Shelton learned how different Hollywood was when he made his first film, Bull Durham.
Today, an instant hit and instant classic, Bull Durham, which starred Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon and launched the career of Tim Robbins, is perhaps the greatest baseball film of all time. but it wasn’t an obvious home run. As Shelton recounts in his new book about the making of the film, The Church of Baseball, he had to overcome studio management’s indifference and interference only to clear one final hurdle when the film was shown to audiences: “The Numbers were a disaster.”
In the book, he notes that the audience laughed and clapped but then gave bad marks, potentially jeopardizing the film’s release. Fortunately, studio head Mike Medavoy liked the end product, and the film became a box-office hit and critical all-star. “Numbers don’t lie unless they do,” Shelton said in a recent phone interview about the film and book.
The story not only deals with the hardships faced by the “no-name manager” who made life miserable (and resulted in Shelton’s cameraman being fired as a sacrificial lamb), but also the joyous moments of film magic and the weird interludes in In-Between: Kurt Russell pranks Shelton, the real Crash Davis shows up on set after hearing a fictional character shares his name, and cameos from the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter , each of which made last-minute contributions The score.
Shelton, who wants to make another baseball movie, says he’s learned not to trust scouting numbers. “The only film I did that was highly tested was ‘White Men Can’t Jump,’ which did great in a black theater but did terribly well in a white theater in Woodland Hills. But the marketing manager said if it was a hit in black rooms, clean rooms would sell out because it would be a hot thing,” Shelton said. “That’s exactly what happened.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: In the book you describe the casting process that could have ended with Kurt Russell as Crash Davis, Charlie Sheen as Nuke LaLoosh, Laura San Giacomo as Millie and JT Walsh as the managerial crew. If you still had Susan Sarandon as the focus of the film, would this casting have worked?
A. I never thought of it. These are very good casting ideas. It would just have been a different film. Charlie was a really good baseball player and had this weirdness before it got really crazy. Laura is a very good actress and Kurt is one of the great American actors and I don’t think he gets credit for that. He’s also a very good baseball player.
Walsh would have been great – Trey Wilson, who played manager, is more hot-blooded, but JT would have been the manager who would never get upset about anything, even if the team played horribly.
Kevin Costner waves to fans as he arrives for a 2008 concert with his band Modern West during a celebration July 4 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina, marking the 20th anniversary of the film “Durham Bull.” (Photo by Sara D Davis/Getty Images)
Not only was F. Costner great as Davis, they paint him as a true partner and behind-the-scenes defender.
A. Kevin has been very supportive from the start and has been an important partner. When Kevin’s in, he’s all in. He goes into the trenches with everyone. He stays up until 3am to do an off-camera line for another actor; he is very generous.
Q. The Natural, with its Hollywood finish—Robert Redford’s race track and explosive momentum—came out a few years before you made your film. Did you see your film as a dark, realistic antidote?
A. I wasn’t trying to compete with him, it was so far from reality that I just ignored him. Barry Levinson is a good director, but I thought no one was playing baseball in this film. And the character is true in the story of Malamud.
A buddy of the filmmaker and former junior baseball player called to say he’d worked on it with Redford, and Redford had just called to say he’d met one in batting practice. And I said, “I played at the War Memorial in Buffalo, and that’s only 240 feet away.” But he’s a movie star, so let him be.
Despite overcoming a few obstacles, “Bull Durham” became a hit and is now considered a classic baseball film.
Q. You note in the book that certain scenes, like Crash’s “I believe in…” speech, strained the credulity on the page. Still, it’s a memorable moment on screen. Why did it work?
A. Sometimes you don’t know if something will work, but you take risks. I was nervous about that. But I shot it casually – I didn’t backlit it nicely like in The Natural, or I used music and a close-up. I just let him throw it away and walk out the door. And I didn’t shoot an extra take. That’s why it works.
Q. Another fan favorite is when the players are gathered on the pitching mound and Robert Wuhl comes out as Larry to find out what’s taking so long. When Crash mentions the debate about a wedding gift for a teammate, Wuhl improvises his response: “Okay, well, candlesticks are always a nice gift, and uh, maybe you could find out where it’s listed and maybe a cutlery or maybe a cutlery model.” . OK, let’s take two! Get her.
A. I loved the scene. I was a little serious when I said it, so that’s why I wrote the script. Those are the moments I love in baseball. It was just a take and I knew it would be in the film. Robert was surprised I kept it because directors can be territorial about who wrote what, but I don’t care – you find a good line, it’s in the film. He’s very inventive.
Director Ron Shelton says he loves the scene in “Bull Durham” where the players gather for a meeting at the pitcher’s mound to discuss buying a wedding present for a teammate. (Photo by Valerie Macon, AFT via Getty Images)
Q. You talk about writing rules in the book and that a good script should have three acts, but then you wrote a great movie with no real third act. Has it changed your perception of your period?
A. It’s good to have rules and then break them when you can. Structure is especially important in storylines. Then you can throw out one of the lintels and the foundation will overhang but hold on.
Q. You dedicate a chapter to a cut scene. It’s too long, but would you like to have kept parts of it?
A. I would have played with it longer if I had the right because there are really touching things in there. I would have tested it three more times in variations of the assembly. But we still have one shot.
Q. You have a lot of great minor league stories in the book. could you have recorded more?
A. I didn’t want to dwell on my humble career. But I have many more stories. When we have a few drinks, I relax and share them. I actually have another baseball picture I’m trying to take and there is room for some of my other baseball stories.
The film is about a pitcher who finds himself in the Latin American leagues or in Colombia trying to return to the majors. We have a wonderful story about this out of water experience with fish. It’s a different vibe, it’s less corporate, but these Americans are still fighting for their baseball lives. It’s excruciating but also exciting because they’re still playing the game and keeping the dream alive.
Source: www.ocregister.com
