Biography of Babe Ruth, popular name of GEORGE HERMAN RUTH, nicknames THE BABE, THE BAMBINO, THE SULTAN OF SWAT (1895-1948). Baseball player, born in Baltimore, MD. Pitcher for the Boston Red Sox 1914-1920, joined New York Yankees in 1920, the year he scored 54 home runs in one season. In 1927 he swatted 60 home runs. Retired in 1935. Career total of 714 HRs.
Opening montage: CU of babe in NY Yankee uniform; MS and LS's of him at bat, scoring run, running bases; LS's of Yankee Stadium crowd standing, cheering; MS of Babe clowning w/ local Hawaiian friends on Waikikii Beach (has a pineapple core on his head); MS of Babe passing out baseballs to crowd of frantic kids reaching out to him. CU Babe with a kid haniging onto his neck.
DO NOT USE Opening credits and intro by Mike Wallace
CU's of Babe winking and smiling for camera; MS of him wearing oversized king's crown, smoking cigar.
MS's of Babe w/ kids
MS's of Babe w/ kids, some of them ill (convalescent home). shaking hands with kids. CUs babe, with a bat.
DO NOT USE Montage of stills depicting Babe's early years. Still of his Baltimore tenement. Babe as a baby. His father and mother. Stills of the Catholic school (St. Mary's Industrial school for delinquents and orphans) where he studied, the priest he studied with. Stills of the St. Mary's baseball team, Babe as a young man. Still of Jack Dunn former manager for the Orioles. Still of 1914 Orioles team w/ Ruth.
Excellent newsreel of 1910's crowds gathering outside baseball parks on game day (a literal litany of Gatsby hats), followed by LS's of baseball players warming up, taking the field; good shot of the grounds crew rolling tarp over a field during rain delay. MS of President WOODROW WILSON sitting down in stadium, then throwing out the inaugural ball. Great MS of announcer in filed with huge megaphone. More stadium crowd shots. High angle LS's of players making hits, taking bases. Great MS of kids peeking through hole in wood fence; when home run ball sails over them they give chase. Great early baseball footage, nostalgia.
Panning MS of the 1914 RedSox. MS's of Babe in Red Sox uniform, catching and tossing ball for publicity shots. LS walking on field with huge entourage towards camera. MCU Babe kisses his girl - Helen Woodring.
MS of Babe in suit, dissolve to him in Yankee uniform. MS's and tight LS's of Babe fielding and batting during games (some shots w/ lettering on back of shirt, some without). MS of Babe shaking hands with "the great" TY COBB (in Tigers uniform). Great MS's of ROGERS HORNSBY, GROVER CLEVELAND ALEXANDER, WALTER JOHNSON, and LOU GEHRIG. LS-MS Babe entering Club office. Accepting trophies on the field in uniform. In driver's seat of car with a crown on his head "King of Baseball".
MS's of Babe at various publicity events, with kids on the field and off. Great MS's of Babe (chewing a cigar) knocking balls off of Yankee Stadium for the teeming mass of children below. MS's of Babe and Lou Gehrig barnstorming across America during the off-season (silly skits and baseball themed antics including Babe in cowboy outfit riding the hood of a car). CU's of Babe getting make-up applied at a movie studio and some behind the scenes shots.
DO NOT USE Excerpts from the super-silly silent baseball film Babe starred in. Probably the 1920 film "Heading Home"
Newsreel of the "House Ruth built", EXT WS Yankee Stadium (EXT and INT on game day). Good shots of crowds in stands. Babe getting dressed into uniform. More LS's of Babe batting, hitting homers, running the bases. Newsreel of the Yankees-Senators game in which Babe scored the record-setting 60th run. Crowd goes wild, Babe runs the bases, sea of fans in straw hats life him up on their shoulders.
DO NOT USE A clip from the 1937 film Home Run on the Keys. MS's of Babe in a tux, singing a baseball-themed song in a recording studio w/ a swing band.
Babe cisists kids in a hospital. MS's of Babe dressed as Santa Claus, making kids happy at an orphanage. CU young african-american boy takes a bite out of a huge turkey leg - much to the amusement of babe standing right next to him.
MS's of Babe and his second wife Claire Hodgson. Posing for the camera, cavorting in their home at the piano, reclining. CU of his wife telling the camera that Babe got to be where he was by "exercise and a proper diet". Babe cuts a giant piece of cake.
MS's of Babe working out w/ his fitness trainer, doing calistenics and boxing routines; Babe gets locked in a steam locker. Intentionally funny material.
Newsreel of Babe warming up at practice, later meeting & talking w/ kids.
Newsreel of the 1932 World Series, Babe hitting a home run (includes audio recollection by the Bambino himself). Good shots of the crowd. Good dugout shots. Cheering crowd. CU 3 ecstatic kids in the stands. Babe runs home.
Babe Ruth stepping off a luxury cruiser. Newsreel CU's of Babe talking w/ his wife and daughter before boarding a steamer for Florida just prior to spring training; also talks w/ the press. Reporter asks him about what he thinks about 'the new ball". Babe doesn't know "haven't hit it yet." Newsreel of Yankee spring training camp, of an overweight and decidely slower Babe pitching and catching and batting w/ much difficulty. MS's and LS's of Lou Gehrig batting during games. Great LS of Babe making bases after hitting a HR, Gehrig at bat and turning his back on his teammate (their purported rivalry). MS of Babe sealing an envelope announcing his written retirement.
Newsreel of 1935 opening day, Babe joining the Boston Braves. Poses for photos, signs baseballs.
MS of Babe putting on a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform, stepping up to bat, clowning around.
Newsreel of July 4, 1939 at Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig announcing his retirement (includes the famous audio echo of "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth" speech, also "I might have been given a bad break but I've got an awful lot ot live for" ending w/ MS of Lou and Babe standing arm in arm).
MS's of a retired Babe signing autographs in the stands. Newsreel of a visibly weakened Babe exiting a NYC hospital after his tracheotemy. Newsreel of Babe Ruth Day at Yankee Stadium on April 27, 1948, Babe walking to microphones, thanking the fans in a cancer-ravaged voice: "...many lovely things said about me, and I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to thank everybody. Thank you." Newsreel of babe's funeral, the coffin being carried out of St. Patrick's Cathedral. MS of his uniform and bats.
DO NOT USE Mike Wallace concludes the program. Ending credits.