LONG GONE

US, 1987, 113 minutes, Colour.
William L.Peterson, Henry Gibson, Virginia Madsen, Dermot Mulroney.
Directed by Martin Davidson.

Long Gone is a telemovie made for Home Box Office. It capitalises on Americans' love for baseball, Set in the late '50s in Florida, it shows a small local team and their lack of success, their being coached to victory, the threat to their winning the pennant by the greedy owners of another club.

While the material is familiar, it is done with some verve and genial tone. William L. Peterson (To Live and Die in L.A., Manhunter, Cousins) is effective as the coach who enjoys winning, has a macho philosophy of life, is faced with a personal and conscience crisis. Virginia Madsen (Electric Dreams, Third Degree Burn, Gotham) is the southern girl who helps Peterson make a stand. The supporting cast includes Henry Gibson as the owner of the team and Dermot Mulrooney (Blue Iguana, Young Guns) as a star player.

The film echoes the atmosphere of the times, shows us the intricacies of baseball - and finally shows us a stance for personal integrity and personal relationships - with a final baseball American flourish. Direction is by Martin Davidson (The Lords of Flatbush, Boardwalk).

1.Enjoyable baseball film? The '50s? Re-creating the atmosphere of the times? Of the perennial traditions of baseball?

2.The Florida settings, the atmosphere of the '50s? The team, the baseball sequences? Musical score?

3.The title, nostalgia - and the reference to the characters and the issues?

4.American love of baseball? Its part of the American tradition, integrity and dishonesty? Money, the owners? The players and their dedication, possibilities of temptation? The fans? The need for integrity?

5.Stud Cantrell and his reputation, his past, personality, the meeting with Dixie, his relationship with her? Coaching the team, their failures? The owner and his son and their comic style? Building up the team, the enjoyment of the victories? Relationship with Jamie and Brown and their success? His macho philosophy? His friend taking him to see the owners of the rival team, their proposition and condition, his accepting? Dixie's reaction and walking out? Brown and his bribe? Jamie and his disgust? Listening to the match, with Brown, bashing Brown's bribe car, the return, playing with integrity, reunited with Dixie? Even the owner's enjoying the victory, the fans? The new philosophy of life? The wedding?

6.Dixie, from the south, loud style? Meeting Stud, relationship with him? Supporting him? Her disappointment at his choice, her decision to leave him? The story of her father, of her life? Her enjoying his change of heart? The wedding?

7.The owner and his son, their working together? The comic style? Bribed? Worried? Enjoying the victory? The contrast with the owners of the opposition, their smug presumption, bribing Brown, the proposition for Cantrell? Their watching the match, directing the coach, the coach's disgust, their losing?

8.Jamie, his skills, listening to Stud? Friendship with Esther, the tenderness between them, the news of her pregnancy, his harsh reaction, her going to Mobile? Dixie's attack on him? His disappointment about Cantrell's stand? Trying to rally the team? The match, the success? Stud's new philosophy? Going to Mobile? The wedding?

9.Brown, the black player in those times? The pressure on him, his skill? Being bribed, staying away? His disgust, bashing the car? His skill in the game?

10.The players, the joy of playing, the team, the victories? The opposition and their exasperation?

11.Well-drawn characters? The touch of sentiment and humour? Themes of integrity? American sport and the baseball traditions?