Sport has always served as a splendid backdrop for film.
From "Raging Bull" to "The Natural" to "The Longest Yard", (the 1974 original, not the terrible 2005 remake) Hollywood has delighted audiences with stories of professional athletes overcoming the odds, fighting the system and battling personal demons. Though in most cases, these films centre around Boxers, Stock Car Racers as well as an endless list of Baseball & Football players.
Over the years it seemed hockey was a sport "Tinsel Town" had little interest in exploring. It's only feature film offering had been 1953's "White Lightning", which tells the tale of a corrupt hockey team owner taking bribes from mobsters. With a run time of just 61 minutes, to call it a feature film would be something of an exaggeration.
Which brings us to the winter of 1977 and Universal Pictures' feature film, "Slap Shot".
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| Theatrical Poster art by Craig Nelson Credit: Christian Tobin |
Released on February 25, the film was written by little known screen writer, Nancy Dowd and inspired by real life events.
One afternoon Dowd received a phone call from her brother Ned, a left winger for the Johnstown Jets of the North American Hockey League. Ned revealed that the Jets were being sold due to the area's economic down turn and that he was unsure where he would be playing the following season as a result. Concerned, Dowd asked if team ownership had spoken to him or any of the players regarding the situation, but her brother said that hadn't happened. Surprised by this, Dowd chirped, "Well, whose the owner?" After a brief pause, her brother answered, "I don't know".
Inspired by her brother's situation, Dowd began writing"Slap Shot" and moved east from her home in California to be near Ned and his Jets team mates. When the film was being cast, Dowd helped recruit various minor pro hockey players for small roles in the film. Ned Dowd himself portrayed infamous Syracuse Bulldogs goon, Ogie Olgilthorpe.
Nancy, who would win the 1978 best original screenplay Academy Award (along with Robert C. Jones and Waldo Salt) for "Coming Home", could never have imagined that her story of a lack-luster hockey team would become a cult classic. Even in film, hockey is full of surprises.
Set in the fictional industrial city of Charlestown, "Slap Shot" tells the story of the "Chiefs" a financial troubled and poorly managed minor pro hockey team struggling to find an audience. When it's revealed the city's mill is going to close, laying off more than 10 Thousand workers in the process, the team announces that it will cease operations at the end of the season.
Hollywood icon Paul Newman portrays Chiefs player/coach Reggie Dunlop; a well past his prime forward, unable to move on from the game. When informed of the Chiefs' demise he initially joins his teammates in commiserating, growing increasingly uncomfortable with the concept of life after hockey. Fearful of the future and letting down his players, Dunlop schemes to salvage the Chiefs by planting a fake story in the media that the team is to be sold and relocated.
Upon hearing the "news" of their apparent move to Florida, the players start taking their work ethic more seriously, eager to impress their coach. Dunlop however, is scrambling to make his fantasy a reality by trying to track down the Chiefs' owner and convince him the relocation must happen.
Feeling the need to showcase a stronger team in order to force a sale, Dunlop employs multiple strategies to get the most out of his players including psychological manipulation and encouraging them to fight. He puts the Hanson Brothers, a trio of goons whose on ice brawls win over fans, into the regular line up. The tactics while under handed, prove successful. Attendance skyrockets as fans flock to see the toughest team in the Federal League.
As the playoffs draw near, Dunlop grows concerned as his efforts to find the Chiefs' owner are routinely stymied by General Manager, Joe McGrath (Strother Martin). Out of options and with his back against the wall, Dunlop resorts to blackmail. Recalling a drunken, homosexual advance made by McGrath years earlier, compelling him to provide the owner's name.
Dunlop tracks down the owner who as it turns out, has little interest in hockey and wants the Chiefs to fold in order to claim a tidy tax write off. Outraged at the owner's indifference, Dunlop storms off and confesses to his players that he is responsible for the team's relocation rumour. Deeply remorseful, he admits that the team is doomed and that he wants that nights' championship game to be his last. The players agree and hit the ice in an effort to go out in style by playing "old time hockey".
Being the movie purest I am, I won't spoil the ending for you. Assuming of course you are one of the few who have never seen it. Which would be quite rare as watching "Slap Shot" is a requirement for fans and players alike. That is of course, once they are old enough to see an R rated film.
Over time the film has spawned a wide array of merchandise, two sequel films, (which were god-awful and taint the purity of the original so I will stop talking about them) and catch phrases that are now part of the hockey lexicon, like "Yeah, old time hockey, like Eddie Shore".
In a 1984 Time Magazine interview, Paul Newman singled out "Slap Shot" as the film he had the most fun making. Adding that "Reggie Dunlop" was one of his favourite characters to play. Newman also admitted that playing Dunlop resulted in him cursing more than he had previously. "Since Slap Shot, my language is right out of the locker room!" he exclaimed.
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| Sales of Chiefs jerseys are still brisk |
In the end, some would argue that the true measure of a film's longevity is how often it is quoted by fans. I for one, hear and utter, "Slap Shot" quotes on a regular basis. This is why even 40 years later, a film about a "has-been" coach and his rag-tag collection of goons and wannabe stars, still stands as the best hockey film ever made.
Am I being a tad overly dramatic in my article? Maybe, but as a great hockey writer once intoned, "I was just trying to capture the spirit of the thing."
@HockeyCynic
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