We all love A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN right? Right?!!
Well, I certainly do. Penny Marshall's 1992 film on the All-American Girls Professional Baseball Team was my first real introduction to baseball, the homefront scene during WWII, and, via "This Used To Be My Playground," Madonna. Watching it now hits me harder than it would if it were a mere nostalgia trip; I still tear up when Straithairn takes over the team from Gary Marshall to keep it going, and when the old players scrimmage over the closing credits.
So it's great to hear that Marshall is directing another movie about an underexposed chapter in the history of women in American sports: EFFA, based on the life of the unfortunately named Effa Manley, the first woman to get inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame.
Manley, nee Louise, co-owned (with husband Abe Manley) and managed a Negro League team, the Newark (formerly Brooklyn) Eagles, from 1935 to 1948, even leading the team to the Negro League World Series in 1946. She was also heavily involved in civil rights early on, organizing boycotts and protests decades before MLK. She passed in 1981, nearly 25 years before she'd become the first woman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame for her trailblazing work in the first half of the century.
Marshall hasn't directed a feature since 2001's RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS, but I can hardly think of a more appropriate project to get her back in the saddle. I was able to enjoy LEAGUE as an infantile he-man woman hater, so I know Marshall can direct a female-driven baseball flick that's just as appealing to guys as it is to gals.
The script was written by actor/singer Byron Motley, and shooting is expected to get going this spring in Savannah, GA.
Marshall: "The story is a fascinating tale of a woman who broke through so many barriers and accomplished so much for the players and the game during a time when the face of baseball changed forever. I look forward to casting the film."
And I'm looking forward to see who she ends up casting, what about you?
