"Bang the Drum Slowly," Young Robert De Niro

One of my favorite movies is "Bang The Drum Slowly." When I was in college many years ago, one of the nearby movie theaters had matinee specials, I believe it was on Wednesdays. I had a long spell between classes then, and I'd frequently take in the matinee special. That's how I saw this movie. It wasn't really advertised, nor did it have any big names in starring roles (at that time), but it was about baseball, and I loved baseball; plus, if I remember right, the matinee special only cost fifty cents (remember, that was 1973 pricing and money value). One of the main actors in the movie went on to become fairly well known years later in the first several seasons of "Law and Order;" this was Michael Moriarty, who played Assistant District Attorney Ben Stone on the television series. The other main actor became a Hollywood staple and is known to anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for decades; that actor is Robert De Niro. The movie was based on a novel written in the mid 1950s by Mark Harris,* and the movie prompted me to read the book. I believe I bought it in paperback, which in those times was likely 50 or 75 cents, but don't trust my memory.

The movie centers around a mediocre major league baseball player, a catcher, Bruce Pearson, played by Robert DeNiro, who is a bit slow on the uptake, and the target of many jokes from the other players. He receives a death sentence diagnosis from doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota (he is from Georgia). His roommate during the season, a star pitcher and an insurance salesman, Henry Wiggin** (played by Michael Moriarty), had accompanied Pearson to Minnesota, and he wants to give his friend a final season. Pearson's diagnosis makes Henry look at Bruce in a whole new way, causing him to forget the poorly educated farm boy, the non-hip, mismatched clothes, the poor hair style and the incessant tobacco chewing (and spitting) of the forlorn catcher. Maybe he doesn't really forget, but he comes to see that these things aren't actually so important after all, and that a hip image can't save a person from one of the experiences common to all living things .... death.

The team, from New York City, but given the fictional name, the "New York Mammoths," is expected to be one of the top teams in baseball, and a possible World Series champion. Henry, also known by the nickname, "Author," because of his writings,*** plots to keep Bruce on the team as spring training begins, and he also tries to get the players to stop making fun of Pearson, but he dares not tell them why; knowing full well that the team manager, Dutch, played by Vincent Gardenia, would never put a dying player on the roster. The thing is, by accident, Dutch hears that Pearson and Wiggin were in Minnesota over the winter, and he tries to find out why, which leads to some hilarious scenes and dialogue, as the cantankerous and dry Dutch tries to unravel the story of the two players. Yes, while the basis of the story is about a dying man, the story is also part comedy, and Vincent Gardenia was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Dutch.**** At one point, Dutch utters a great line in reference to himself, "When I die, the newspapers will write in their headlines, 'Sonofabitches of the world have lost their leader.' "

I can't go further without giving away too much of the story and, therefore, ruining the movie for those who haven't seen it. The movie combines seriousness, comedy and sadness, all in one. If I remember right, then "Today Show" movie critic, Gene Shalit, gave the movie a special mention, as a film worth seeing, even though it then had no major stars, but the movie helped showcase De Niro's and Moriarty's talents, thus aiding their careers. Check this movie out, it will make you laugh, and it just might make you shed a tear.   

*There was also a television production of the book done in the 1950s, starring a then little known actor from Cleveland ... Paul Newman.

** Remember, the book was written in the 1950s and the movie was made in the early 1970s, both before anything like the astronomical player salaries of more recent decades. Players often had, and needed, off season jobs to supplement their incomes.

*** Pearson always mistakenly calls him "Arthur."

**** Gardenia appeared occasionally on CBS's hit comedy series, "All in the Family," in those days of the early 1970s. He played Frank Lorenzo, the husband of Edith's friend and neighbor, Irene, who was a feminist and a Catholic, who drove Archie up the wall.  

Photo of the Paramount Home Entertainment DVD

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WORD HISTORY:
Death-This word is closely related to "dead" and "die," both from the Germanic roots of English, but with "die's" use in English perhaps coming from Old Norse(?) "Death" goes back to Indo European "dheu," which meant "to die." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "dauthos," which meant, "the state of being dead, not being alive, death." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) the noun "deaþ" (þ="th"), with the same meaning. This later came to be spelled "death." Relatives in the other Germanic languages, many of which mean "dead": German "Tot," ^ Low German Saxon and Dutch "dood," West Frisian "dea," Danish and Norwegian "død," Icelandic "dauði" (ð, also essentially equivalent to "th") and Swedish "död."

^ The high Germanic dialects underwent what are called "sound shifts," and one of those shifts often made the "d" sound into a "t" sound; thus, Low German and Dutch "dood," is rendered in standard German, which is heavily based on Old High German, "Tot," a grammatically masculine noun; thus, "der Tot." Interestingly, many German dialects use the "d" spelling, with even southern Bavarian having "doud."