The House That Ruth Built (Funny Name for a Man…Ruth)
Posted on Jan 25, 2010 10:38 pm
By Alex Belth
Want a good look at the original Yankee Stadium? Well, check out this scene from Buster Keaton’s first MGM picture–and arguably his last great one–The Cameraman (1928).
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11 Responses to “The House That Ruth Built (Funny Name for a Man…Ruth)”
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Cool! The bleacher sections are huge. Great shot early in the clip of the extensive dirt area beyond the OF grass, too. Also note: no monuments. This was 1928, Miller Huggins died in 1929 and received the first monument.
Wow, it looks like center field is just miles away! How many taters did Joe D lose over his career in YS?? The whole stadium just looks huge..my dad told me when he visited in the early 60s it was already in need of repair, but I wish they had never “renovated” it.
What the hell kind of slide was that?
The best part if the subway train riding buy just as it did for the entire life of the old place. I also love the image of Concourse Plaza Hotel, majestically looming in the distance. Both the hotel and the Stadium were built in 1923, so they were basically brothers in the South Bronx skyline, and only infant 5 year olds in the footage taken by Keaton.
Never realized the batter would have seen so much of the subway passing outside. To see from both the prespoective of the batter and pitcher is terrific.
Great, thanks Alex!
Yeah, the subway. And I never thought of Ruth and Keaton as contemporaries, although if I’d ever thought about it I would have realized they were.
Oh, and: Albert Brooks, right?
B)
Harold Lloyd has a film called “Speedy” in which he plays a baseball fanatic who actually drives Babe Ruth to a game in his horse-drawn taxi. Ruth makes a cameo as himself.
And from Buster’s actions on the mound you can tell that it starts off with runners at first & third, with no outs.
7) You betcha that was Albert. The LOST ALBUM! “A Star is Bought” was never released on cd. From what I know, it is because Brooks had a falling out with co-creator Harry Shearer, but I think the record is great, setting the stage for SPINAL TAP, and everything that followed that…THE SIMPSONS, THE OFFICE, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, etc.
I love Moradaunt Hill’s review of the movie in the Times (as per Wikipedia):
“Mr. Keaton’s latest effort is “The Cameraman,” which is filled with guffaws and grins, the sort of thing with many original and adroitly worked-out gags. But whether they belong to the story is immaterial…There are other sections that are wild and watery, but nonetheless humorous.”
Move over Pauline Kael!!