After watching The Way Back I decided to do a whole series on basketball movies, given there are a couple I’d always wanted to see but hadn’t.
Basketball movies have been much less prevalent than baseball movies, historically, and my knowledge is further limited by the fact that I’m not even a basketball fan and wouldn’t care to notice movies about it much. I did find a Wikipedia page listing basketball movies throughout history. though.
While such films don’t go back to the dawn of film history (maybe because basketball wasn’t invented – I don’t even know) there still seemed enough for me to create a good decade-by-decade list, similar to the murder mystery one.
Unfortunately I couldn’t find any way to watch The Fair Co-Ed or Campus Confessions, the only basketball films from the 20s and 30s, respectively. That meant I had to start with the 40s, where Big Town Scandal was an option.
I’d never heard of Big Town before but apparently it was quite a big deal for a couple of decades. Consisting of stories about a reporter named Steve Wilson who fought hard for justice alongside his colleague Lorelei Kilbourne, it was originally a popular radio show for 15 years and went on to inspire a TV show that lasted six years, a comic book series that lasted seven years, and four feature films!
While the films didn’t get any name talent the caliber of Edward G. Robinson, who originally played Steve on the radio series, this one did have Carl Switzer, LOL. I knew him as Alfalfa from those ancient Our Gang shorts, the hapless guy in that one It’s A Wonderful Life scene, and someone who got murdered in his early 40s. Apparently he had a fourth claim to fame!
In all seriousness, it’s a great movie. Nowadays the youths certainly would not be all white, but the film remains very timely.
Steve and Lorelei learn about some youths arrested for petty crime, but have enough social science knowledge to know that teens often turn to delinquency out of sheer boredom. Sports programs are a great way to clean up the streets, and these kids are given the chance to play in a basketball league for boys their age. As a result, they terrifically gain confidence, comradery, and purpose, but one boy feels dark forces from his old life pulling him back. Will those succeed, and what will our crusading main characters have to say about it?
Back in the days before television, a low-budget film such as this would have been the “B-movie” preceding whatever main feature of Paramount’s drew in theatergoers. They would have gotten a great bargain because it would have even been worth the ticket price by itself.
Bottom Line: Legit.
Up Next: Skipping a decade.
Questions? Comments? Feel free to write below.
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