Dec. 19, 1963 - During a lifetime of movie-going, Lawrence Peter Berra has developed a critical sensitivity for the cinematic art. His taste normally runs toward Westerns. But this week he viewed a horror film, and he didn’t like it one bit. This was the New York premiere of that startling drama, “The 1963 World Series,” and it was shown the other day to a select group of baseball people at Toots Shor’s nightclub. “I thought it was a lousy picture,” said Yogi. “What happened to the usual happy ending?” asked Elston Howard. “They sure gave me a crummy role,” said Joe Pepitone, whose error at first base let in the winning run in the fourth and final game. In fact, this color documentary is one of the slickest photographic jobs yet produced, and the commentary is easily the best. It is supplied by Vin Scully, the onetime Fordham outfielder who is now the voice of the Dodgers. The overpowering effectiveness of Dodger pitching is as manifest on the screen as it was on the diamond. Sandy Koufax, Johnny Podres, Don Drysdale, and Koufax again mowed down the Yankee hitters, holding them to four runs in four games. The dominating individual, of course, was Koufax, who fanned 15 New York batsmen for a record in the first game and 8 more in the fourth. It was a short picture. But what else could anyone expect? It was a short series — embarrassingly so.
Comments