Major League
Short description
Rachel Phelps inherits the Cleveland Indians baseball team after her husband's death and wants to move the club to Miami. The lease she is bound by makes that possible only if attendance collapses, so she sets out to assemble a roster bad enough to finish last. She hires Lou Brown, a manager whose teams have spent decades in the minor leagues, and he brings in a group of castoffs: a veteran catcher with bad knees, a gifted but wild pitcher with legal troubles, a third baseman more concerned with his image, and a fast outfielder with little sense of the game. What she does not count on is that the players, once they learn what she wants, start winning instead of losing.
Major League was released in 1989 and runs 107 minutes. It is the second of five films directed by David S. Ward, following Cannery Row and preceding King Ralph, Major League II and Down Periscope; Ward also wrote the screenplay. Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Margaret Whitton, James Gammon and Rene Russo lead a cast of 49 credited performers. Made for about 11 million dollars, it took roughly 50 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.2/10 from 83,000 votes, while TMDB shows 6.9/10 from 915 votes; a critics' rating of 6.9/10 from 41 reviews sits close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- In an interview with the weekly sports magazine Sports Illustrated, Charlie Sheen admitted that he had been taking steroids while preparing for the filming. The actor stated that this allowed him to increase the ball's speed to 136 km/h when throwing.
- Various tricks were used to demonstrate the athletic abilities of the actors. For example, the pitcher's mound from which Charlie Sheen threw was moved closer to home base, and the camera was positioned so that this was not visible to the audience. Wesley Snipes' running was shown in slow motion.
- Director David S. Ward is a genuine fan of the Cleveland Indians baseball team. He was motivated to make the film by the thought that this was the only way he could see his favorite team win at least once.
- Most of the filming took place in the summer of 1988, and that summer in the state of Milwaukee was one of the hottest in meteorological history. This is noticeable in the final playoff game, when almost all the players are wearing long-sleeved uniforms (the action takes place in cool autumn weather), while the spectators in the stands are wearing t-shirts and shorts.
- In the original ending of the film, Margaret Whitton's character (1950-2016) confesses before the final game that she only pretends to be a shrew to encourage the players. Audiences at preview screenings preferred to see this character as a genuine shrew, so the ending was reshot and showed her upset that the "Cleveland Indians" had won. The original ending can be seen on the DVD release.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
