[NFBofSC] If you Build It They Will Come

[Steve Cook]

Hi All, 

 

Do you like baseball? How about movies about baseball? Well here is your
chance to relive a classic movie! 

 

Date: Friday, March 4, 2022

Time: 8:00 PM Eastern

Event: Field of Dreams Audio Described

Location: Federation Center Zoom

 

Below is the Zoom information you will need to join us. Be sure to read the
material after the Zoom information to find out more about the movie. 

 

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National Federation of the Blind of SC 2021 PSA!

 

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Plot

Ray Kinsella, who is 36, lives with his wife, Annie, and daughter, Karin, on
their Dyersville, Iowa corn farm. Troubled by his broken relationship with
his late father, John Kinsella, a devoted baseball fan, he fears growing old
without achieving anything.

 

While walking through his cornfield one evening, he hears a voice
whispering, "If you build it, he will come." He sees a vision of a baseball
diamond in the cornfield and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson standing in the middle.
Believing in him, Annie lets him plow under part of their corn crop to build
a baseball field, at risk of financial hardship.

 

As Ray builds the field, he tells Karin about the 1919 Black Sox Scandal.
Several months pass and just as Ray is beginning to doubt himself, Shoeless
Joe reappears, asking if others can play and returns with the seven other
Black Sox players. Annie's brother, Mark, can't see the players. He warns
the couple they are going bankrupt and offers to buy their land. The voice,
meanwhile, urges Ray to "ease his pain."

 

Ray and Annie attend a PTA meeting, where she argues against someone who is
trying to ban books by Terrence Mann. Ray deduces the voice was referring to
Mann, who had named one of his characters "John Kinsella" and had once
professed a childhood dream of playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. When Ray
and Annie have identical dreams about Ray and Mann attending a game at
Fenway Park, Ray finds Mann in Boston. Mann, a recluse, agrees to attend one
game. There Ray hears the voice urging him to "go the distance", seeing
statistics on the scoreboard for Archie "Moonlight" Graham, who played in
one game for the New York Giants in 1922 but never got to bat. Mann also
admits to hearing the voice and seeing the scoreboard.

 

They drive to Minnesota, learning that Graham, who was a physician, had died
years earlier. Ray finds himself in 1972, encountering an elderly Graham,
who says he happily left baseball for a satisfying medical career. During
the drive back to Iowa, Ray picks up young hitchhiker Archie Graham (Frank
Whaley), who is looking for a baseball team to join. Ray later tells Mann
that his father dreamed of being a baseball player then tried to make him
pick up the sport instead. At 14, after reading one of Mann's books, Ray
stopped playing catch with his father, and they became estranged after he
mocked John for having "a hero who was a criminal." Ray admits that his
greatest regret is that his father died before they could reconcile.
Arriving at the farm, they see various all-star players have arrived,
fielding a second team. A game is played and Graham finally gets his turn at
bat.

 

The next morning, Mark returns, demanding that Ray sell the farm or the bank
will foreclose on him. Karin insists that people will pay to watch the
ballgames. Mann agrees, saying that "people will come" to relive their
childhood innocence. Ray and Mark scuffle, knocking Karin off the bleachers.
Graham - despite knowing he will be unable to return after stepping off the
field - saves her. Having become old Dr. Graham again, he reassures Ray that
he has no regrets. He is commended by the other players, and then disappears
into the corn field. Suddenly, Mark too can see the players and urges Ray to
keep the farm.

 

Shoeless Joe invites Mann to enter the corn and Mann disappears into it. Ray
is angry at not being invited but Joe rebukes him, glancing towards the
catcher at home plate, saying, "If you build it, he will come." When the
catcher removes his mask, Ray recognizes him as his father as a young man.
Ray realizes "ease his pain" referred to his own regrets.

 

Ray introduces John to his wife and daughter, initially without referring to
him as his father. As John begins to head towards the cornfield, Ray,
calling him "Dad", asks if he wants to have a catch. John gladly accepts as
hundreds of cars are seen approaching the field, fulfilling the prophecy
that people will come to watch baseball.

 

Cast

Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella

Amy Madigan as Annie Kinsella

Gaby Hoffmann as Karin Kinsella

James Earl Jones as Terence Mann

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson

Timothy Busfield as Mark

Burt Lancaster as Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham

Frank Whaley as young Archibald Graham

Dwier Brown as John Kinsella

Lee Garlington as Beulah Gasnick

Michael Milhoan as Buck Weaver (3B)

Steve Eastin as Eddie Cicotte (P)

Charles Hoyes as Swede Risberg (C)

Art LaFleur as Chick Gandil (1B)

In addition, Anne Seymour, who died four months before the film's release,
makes her final film appearance as the kindly Chisholm publisher who helps
Ray and Mann. The identity of the actor who provided "The Voice", who speaks
to Ray throughout the film, has remained unconfirmed since the film's
release. Some believe it is Costner or Liotta, but the book's author W. P.
Kinsella said he was told it was Ed Harris (Madigan's husband).
Then-teenagers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were extras in the Fenway Park
scene.[6][7]

 

Production

Phil Alden Robinson read Shoeless Joe in 1981 and liked it so much that he
brought it to producers Lawrence Gordon and Charles Gordon. Lawrence Gordon
worked for 20th Century Fox, part of the time as its president, and
repeatedly mentioned that the book should be adapted into a film, but the
studio always turned down the suggestion because they felt the project was
too esoteric and noncommercial. Meanwhile, Robinson went ahead with his
script, frequently consulting Kinsella for advice on the adaptation.
Lawrence Gordon left Fox in 1986 and started pitching the adaptation to
other studios. Universal Pictures accepted the project in 1987 and hired USC
coach Rod Dedeaux as baseball advisor. Dedeaux brought along World Series
champion and USC alumnus Don Buford to coach the actors.[8]

 

The film was shot using the novel's title; eventually, an executive decision
was made to rename it Field of Dreams. Robinson did not like the name,
saying he loved Shoeless Joe, and that the new title was better suited for
one about dreams deferred. Kinsella told Robinson after the fact that his
original title for the book had been The Dream Field and that the publisher
had imposed the title Shoeless Joe.[9]

 

Casting

Robinson and the producers did not originally consider Kevin Costner for the
part of Ray Kinsella because they did not think that he would want to follow
Bull Durham with another baseball film. The role of Ray was first offered to
Tom Hanks but he turned it down.[10] He did, however, end up reading the
script and became interested in the project, stating that he felt it would
be "this generation's It's a Wonderful Life". Since Robinson's directing
debut In the Mood had been a commercial failure, Costner also said that he
would help him with the production. Amy Madigan, a fan of the book, joined
the cast as Ray's wife, Annie. In the book, the writer Ray seeks out its
real-life author J.D. Salinger. When Salinger threatened the production with
a lawsuit if his name was used, Robinson decided to rewrite the character as
reclusive Terence Mann. He wrote with James Earl Jones in mind because he
thought it would be fun to see Ray trying to kidnap such a big man. Robinson
had originally envisioned Shoeless Joe Jackson as being played by an actor
in his 40s, someone who would be older than Costner and who could thereby
act as a father surrogate. Ray Liotta did not fit that criterion, but
Robinson thought he would be a better fit for the part because he had the
"sense of danger" and ambiguity which Robinson wanted in the character. The
role of Moonlight Graham was offered to James Stewart but he turned it
down.[11] Burt Lancaster had originally turned down the part of Moonlight
Graham, but changed his mind after a friend, who was also a baseball fan,
told him that he had to work on the film.[8]

 

Filming

Filming began on May 25, 1988. The shooting schedule was built around
Costner's availability because he would be leaving in August to film
Revenge. Except for some weather delays and other time constraints,
production rolled six days a week. The interior scenes were the first ones
shot because the cornfield planted by the filmmakers was taking too long to
grow. Irrigation had to be used to quickly grow the corn to Costner's
height. Primary shot locations were in Dubuque County, Iowa; a farm near
Dyersville was used for the Kinsella home; an empty warehouse in Dubuque was
used to build various interior sets. Galena, Illinois, served as Moonlight
Graham's Chisholm, Minnesota.[8] One week was spent on location shots in
Boston, most notably Fenway Park.[12]

 

Robinson, despite having a sufficient budget as well as the cast and crew he
wanted, constantly felt tense and depressed during filming. He felt that he
was under too much pressure to create an outstanding film, and that he was
not doing justice to the original novel. Lawrence Gordon convinced him that
the end product would be effective.[8]

 

During a lunch with the Iowa Chamber of Commerce, Robinson broached his idea
of a final scene in which headlights could be seen for miles along the
horizon. The Chamber folks replied that it could be done and the shooting of
the final scene became a community event. The film crew was hidden on the
farm to make sure the aerial shots did not reveal them. A production
assistant drove from the set into town and measured the distance between,
deducing it would require 2,500 cars to fill the shot.[13] Dyersville was
then blacked out and local extras drove their vehicles to the field. In
order to give the illusion of movement, the drivers were instructed to
continuously switch between their low and high beams.

 

Field

 

The Field of Dreams, Dyersville, Iowa, 2012

Main article: Field of Dreams (Dubuque County, Iowa)

Scenes of the Kinsella farm were taken on the property of Don Lansing in
Dyersville, Iowa; some of the baseball field scenes were shot on the
neighboring farm of Al Ameskamp. Because the shooting schedule was too short
for grass to naturally grow, the experts on sod laying responsible for
Dodger Stadium and the Rose Bowl were hired to create the baseball field.
Part of the process involved painting the turf green.[8]

 

After shooting, Ameskamp again grew corn on his property; Lansing maintained
his as a tourist destination.[8] He did not charge for admission or parking,
deriving revenue solely from the souvenir shop. By the film's twentieth
anniversary, approximately 65,000 people visited annually.[14] In July 2010,
the farm containing the "Field" was listed as for sale.[15] It was sold on
October 31, 2011, to Go The Distance Baseball, LLC, for an undisclosed fee,
believed to be around $5.4 million.[16]

 

MLB at Field of Dreams

Main article: MLB at Field of Dreams

In 2019, Major League Baseball announced that it would hold a special
neutral-site regular season game between the Chicago White Sox and New York
Yankees at the Dyersville site on August 13, 2020, playing on an 8,000-seat
field constructed adjacent to the original, with a pathway connecting the
two. The field would be modeled upon the White Sox's former field, Comiskey
Park (which was used from 1910 to 1990).[17] As of July 1, 2020, the game
was to still be played on August 13, 2020, but because of the shortened 2020
Major League Baseball season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the White Sox
would play the St. Louis Cardinals.[18] On August 3, 2020, Major League
Baseball announced that the game was cancelled due to logistical
difficulties. It was later postponed to 2021.[19]

 

The game was eventually held on the field on August 12, 2021, with the
originally announced matchup of the White Sox and Yankees.[20][21] In the
pre-game show, Kevin Costner emerged from the cornfield onto the outfield,
followed by the players and managers from both teams. At the old-fashioned
microphone in the diamond, Costner said, "Is this heaven? Yes, it is."[22]
The White Sox beat the Yankees 9-8, following a walk-off home run in the
bottom of the 9th inning by Tim Anderson, after the Yankees had scored four
runs in the top of the inning to take an 8-7 lead.[23]

 

A second Field of Dreams game is scheduled for August 11, 2022, with the
Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs as the participants. The Reds, who won the
1919 World Series that was marred by the Black Sox Scandal, will serve as
the home team for the game.[24]

 

Music

Leonard Bernstein was the first choice to compose the score for the film but
he was overbooked.[11] At first, James Horner was unsure if he could work on
the film due to scheduling restrictions until he watched a rough cut and was
so moved that he accepted the job of scoring it. Robinson had created a temp
track which was disliked by Universal executives. When the announcement of
Horner as composer was made, the executives felt more positive because they
expected a big orchestral score, similar to Horner's work for An American
Tail. Horner, in contrast, liked the temporary score, finding it "quiet and
kind of ghostly". He decided to follow the idea of the temp track, creating
an atmospheric soundtrack which would "focus on the emotions".[8] The score
was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score but lost to the
Alan Menken score for The Little Mermaid.[25] In addition to Horner's score,
portions of several pop songs are heard during the film. They are listed in
the following order in the closing credits:

 

"Crazy", written by Willie Nelson and performed by Beverly D'Angelo

"Daydream", written by John Sebastian and performed by The Lovin' Spoonful

"Jessica", written by Dickey Betts and performed by The Allman Brothers Band

"China Grove", written by Tom Johnston and performed by The Doobie Brothers

"Lotus Blossom", written by Billy Strayhorn and performed by Duke Ellington

The soundtrack was mastered by Greg Fulginiti.

 

Historical connections

The character played by Burt Lancaster and Frank Whaley, Archibald
"Moonlight" Graham, is based on an actual baseball player with the same
name. His character is largely true to life except for a few factual
liberties taken for artistic reasons. For instance, the real Graham's lone
major league game occurred in June 1905,[26] rather than on the final day of
the 1922 season. The real Graham died in 1965, as opposed to 1972 as the
film depicts. In the film, Terence Mann interviews a number of people about
Graham. The DVD special points out that the facts they gave him were taken
from articles written about the real man.

 

Release

Universal scheduled Field of Dreams to open in the U.S. on April 21, 1989.
The film debuted in just a few theaters and was gradually released to more
screens so that it would have a spot among the summer blockbusters. It ended
up playing until December.[8] The film was released in the Philippines by
Eastern Films on November 1, 1989.[27]

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