Spring 1972. L’équipe de base-ball Chicago Cubs est bien placée pour remporter le Championnait, surtout grâce à leur joueur star, un Canadien Noir nommé Ferguson Jenkins. Portrait de l’homme et de ce sport.

1974, 56 min 50 s

réalisé par
William Canning & Donald Brittain

Produit par
William Canning

Production
Office National du Film du Canada (NFB / ONF)

Spring 1972. The Chicago Cubs are poised to win the National League’s Pennant race, lead by their star pitcher, a Black Canadian named Ferguson Jenkins, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. Out of all the major league players in the history of the game, only a handful had come from Canada, and none had risen as high as the « golden » right-hander from Chatham, Ontario. The first Cubs pitcher to win the Cy Young award, Jenkins had tied a team record by winning 20 or more games, six seasons in a row. He stands poised on the threshold of greatness as he enters a season that will challenge the limits of his astonishing talents. Follow Jenkins and the Cubs through the trials and frustrations of the 1972-73 seasons, from the hope and innocence of spring training, to the dog days of an August slump. The camera gets up close to the skirmishes at home plate, and records the intimate chatter on the mound, in the dugout, and in the locker room. KING OF THE HILL offers a view of baseball as seen from the inside. This must-have video for all serious baseball fans captures the human side of the game. It provides a glimpse into the rewards and pressures of sports stardom, in an affectionate testament to the sacred traditions and the easy cameraderie of the quintessential summer sport.

1974, 56 min 50 s

Directed by
William Canning & Donald Brittain

Produced by
William Canning

Production Agency
National Film Board of Canada (NFB / ONF)

Director
William Canning
Donald Brittain

Producer
William Canning

Executive producer
Colin Low

Script
Donald Brittain

Narrator
Donald Brittain

Photography
David De Volpi

Sound
Hans Oomes

Editing
Marrin Canell

Sound editing
Karl Duplessis
André Galbrand
Roger Hart

Re-recording
Jean-Pierre Joutel
Michel Descombes

Music
Eldon Rathburn

Themes: Sports and Leisure | Ball Games | Portraits


Awards
Main Prize by the Inernational Jury for Cinema and Television Films – accompanied with a cash award of 1000DM
International Sport Film Festival
October 26 to 30 1975, Oberhausen – Germany