A LOVE AFFAIR: THE ELEANOR AND LOU GEHRIG STORY

US, 1978, 100 minutes, Colour.
Edward Herrmann, Blythe Danner, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Jane Wyatt, Ramon Bieri, Patricia Neal, Gail Strickland, Valerie Curtin, Georgia Engel, David Ogden Stiers, Lanie Kazan.
Directed by Fielder Cook.

Love Affair is a Pleasing romantic drama. It is also a memoir of famed baseball player and hero Lou Gehrig. It is based on the memoirs and tribute of his wife Eleanor. Gehrig made an impact in baseball, along with Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees in the '30s. He was to die at the age of 36 from a rare blood disease. There was a famous tribute to him in Pride of the Yankees (1942 -directed by Sam Wood) which starred Gary Cooper as Gehrig and Teresa Wright as his wife. The film received many Oscar nominations. It was a sentimental patriotic biography of the time - a tribute to a recently dead hero and morale-boosting during World War Two.

This film takes a more realistic outlook and remembers the past with the tone of the '70s. Blythe Danner is excellent as Eleanor - made up very well for the old lady remembering, with a strong tenderness in her scenes with her husband. Edward Hermann is quite effective as a gawky Gehrig - somewhat in the Gary Cooper tradition. There is a good supporting cast including Ramon Bieri as Babe Ruth, Jane Wyatt as Eleanor's mother and a very strong performance by Patricia Neal in a guest role as Mrs. Gehrig. A pleasant memoir, a tribute to an American hero of the past - and a reminder that heroes were coming to the fore in the late '70s.

1. An interesting and enjoyable telemovie? Emotional impact? A piece of Americana? A '70s look at 30s history and heroes?

2. A '30s setting? The memories of the past, memories within memories? Baseball and the American pastime? Professional sport? The Pride of the Yankees? The Perennial interest of the sports film? The sports personality and his private life? The use of newsreels and photos of the past? The perspective of the '70s?

3. Quality of colour photography, musical score and atmosphere? The re-creation of the period and decor of the '30s? The contribution of the stars?

4. Lou Gehrig as a hero of the '20s and '30s? The status of baseball? the New York Yankees, the atmosphere of New York, Babe Ruth and his place in the American Hall of Fame? American sports heroes - their talents, careers? The American dream and its fulfilment?

5. The memoir structure of the film - the ageing Eleanor and her tribute to her husband? Her memories of his illness and death? The further memories of their life together? The Yankee Stadium setting and the sense of presence of Gehrig? Her feel for his memory, her interview and discussion with the reporter? Her not remarrying?

6. The portrait of Lou Gehrig - use of newsreel material, re-created scenes? His place in sport, skill? His place in the team? The coach? Babe Ruth and his reputation and friendship with the family? Mrs. Gehrig and her hard reputation, her manner of speaking, her authoritarianism, spurning of her husband, questions of money? Gehrig's' shyness? The forced date with Eleanor? Their walking home and escaping from the party, writing letters? The arranged dinner and his not speaking? The phone call in the middle of the night and the return call? The plan to marry? Mrs Gehrig's hostility? The elopement before the baseball match? The coming home to the prepared house and the beginning of a happy marriage?

7. The sketching in of his career? Two thousand consecutive games and the final tribute? Games, training? The significance of the feud with Babe Ruth? The voyage to Japan? The wives trying to mend the feud? Gehrig's suspicions on the ship? The later reconciliation? Gehrig's fault in the feud?

8. The awareness of his illness, the discussion with the doctor? Eleanor and Lou protecting one another from the truth? His going home, his speech on his retirement and his tribute to his friends, the summary of his happiness? His mother's visit before his death? The quietness of his death?

9. The portrait of Eleanor - as a young woman, her friends and the arranging of dates, their card-playing, parties? Their support of Eleanor in hooking Lou? The dinner and its failure? The proposal? The preparations for marriage - the clash on the visit to Mrs. Gehrig? Her own mother's support? Her supporting Lou throughout his career, trying to learn to play baseball? Friendship with Mrs. Ruth? The trip to Japan? Her outbursts with the doctors? Her care of Lou and watching him die?

10. The portrait of families? The Gehrigs and the Ruths?

11. The American dream - migrant families and their poverty, dreams of success, the possibility of success for anyone in the American nation, skills and talents, achievement? The American dream in the early 20th. century -looked at with nostalgia by later generations?