“42” The True Story Of An American Legend, reveals that Jackie Robinson was not the best Black baseball player in terms of skill and raw talent when he broke the Major League Baseball color line in 1947, but that Robinson possessed the best temperament and ability to endure heckling laced with racial slurs from both teammates, opposing team members and baseball fans.
“42” stars Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson and Oscar nominee, Harrison Ford, who plays Branch Rickey, the trailblazing Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager. Brian Helgeland an Academy Award winner wrote and directed the film.
Helgeland disclosed that he met several times with Robinson’s widow, Rachel, to share his vision of telling her husband’s story. “I had to prove to her the way I wanted to tell the story was the right way to tell the story. Mrs. Robinson told me her concerns. I know initially she wanted a greater breath to the story as far as the time; to see Jackie after baseball and before baseball. You can make movies about both of those, but I said to her, the passage of time in a movie is the enemy of the drama of the movie. I talked with her about focusing on 1946 and 1947.”
The third weekend in March at the Los Angeles Sports Museum, Boseman, Ford and Helgeland spoke with the media about the film and shared their personal thoughts and reflections on the characters they played and historical impact of both Robinson and Rickey on baseball and society in general. Ford spoke in great detail about his character, Branch Rickey. “Early on I had the idea the film would be better served with a Brach Rickey look-a-like than a Harrison Ford look-a-like. I didn’t want the audience going into the film thinking they knew me from a previous experience.” Ford admitted he wore a fat suit to enhance the characteristics of his character.
Boseman, before stepping into the role of Jackie Robinson learned that prior to playing baseball Robison had already carved out a name for himself with his numerous accomplishments on and off the field. “Jackie Robinson was a Pasadena sports legend and a national legend. Robinson was a Hall of Fame football player, he lead the conference in scoring in basketball, his brother went to the Olympics and won a silver medal next to Jesse Owens. Robinson was already a person that was great. His legend before he ever reached this moment was amazing. I think it’s important to remember there wasn’t just White baseball, there was a Negro Baseball League. There were barnstorming games in which the White players played the Black players and most of the times the Black players won. There was already a competitive spirit and a desire for the game to become integrated on both sides.” Boseman went on to state that someone at some point other than Robinson would have broken baseballs color line, but it had to be someone who could endure the public and private strain. “Thank God that it was somebody who could not only play baseball, but could handle the pressure on the field and the politics and the social responsibility.”
Upon leaving the screening of “42,” I spoke with famed journalist and Brooklyn native, Larry King, who shared with me, he knew Jackie Robinson and had interviewed him a couple of times. King went to say that Robinson was the best baseball player to ever play the game.
After seeing “42,” I realized, neither Jackie Robinson nor Branch Rickey allowed history to pass them by.
By: Michael Reel
ReelUrbanNews.com
