The church of baseball : the making of Bull Durham : home runs, bad calls, crazy fights, big swings, and a hit Cover Image

Book

The church of baseball : the making of Bull Durham : home runs, bad calls, crazy fights, big swings, and a hit

Shelton, Ron 1945- (author.).

Summary: "Bull Durham, the breakthrough 1988 film about a minor league baseball team, is widely revered as the best sports movie of all time. But back in 1987, Ron Shelton was a first-time director and no one was willing to finance a movie about baseball-especially a story set in the minors. The jury was still out on Kevin Costner's leading man potential, while Susan Sarandon was already a has-been. There were doubts. But something miraculous happened, and The Church of Baseball attempts to capture why. From organizing a baseball camp for the actors and rewriting key scenes while on set, to dealing with a short production schedule and overcoming the challenge of filming the sport, Shelton brings to life the making of this beloved American movie. As he tells the story of Bull Durham, Shelton also explains the rarely revealed ins-and-outs of moviemaking, from a film's inception and financing, screenwriting, casting, the nuts-and-bolts of directing, the post-production process, and even through its release. But this is also a book about baseball and its singular romance in the world of sports. Shelton himself spent six years in the minor leagues before making this film, and his experiences resonate throughout this book. Full of wry humor and insight, The Church of Baseball tells the remarkable story behind an iconic film"--

Record details

ISBN: 9780593319772
ISBN: 059331977X
ISBN: 9780593313961
ISBN: 0593313968
ISBN: 9780593319789
Physical Description: print
xii, 241 pages ; 25 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2022.
Copyright: ©2022

Content descriptions

General Note:

"This is a Borzoi book published by Alfred A. Knopf."

Formatted Contents Note:

Introduction -- Part one: Development. Forbidden fruit -- Dalko, Altobelli, and number 136 -- Lysistrata in the minor leagues -- Edith Piaf and the Texas Playboys (act one) -- It don't get no better than this (act two, part one) -- Aristophanes and the Bermuda triangle (act two, part two) -- Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains -- "Can't anybody here play this game?" -- Casey Stengel -- Part two: Preproduction. Building the tow train set -- "I thought my body of work would be enough" -- Practice -- Part three: Production. There's a hat on the bus -- A thousand pigeons -- Sixty-minute man -- Part four: Postproduction. The third time you make the movie -- Kill your darlings -- Those Baptist whorehouse chords -- The numbers never lie -- Why baseball? -- Afterword.