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Tennis and Film
Besides watching (& writing about) classic movies, one of my other passions is playing (or watching) tennis! The most recent movie about tennis stars Kirsten Dunst & Paul Bettany and is called Wimbledon (2004). It's a competent story with plenty of court action; that this movie was even made is remarkable, because films about tennis are rare. In fact, there are only these few that include ANY tennis at all though, thankfully, some of them are very good films:
- Haunted Spooks (1920) - only a two reel Harold Lloyd silent comedy short, but it does feature some tennis action, however briefly, with uncredited actors playing doubles (only one side of the court is shown)
- Easy Virtue (1928) - Director Alfred Hitchcock, as you'll read, frequently incorporated tennis in his films. In this one, about 20 minutes in, he shows Robin Irvine's character hitting a few tennis balls before one of his strays hits Isabel Jeans's character (about whom the title refers) in the face. In fact, the director's cameo is court-side in this movie.
- The Kiss (1929) - MGM's (and Greta Garbo's) last silent picture features some tennis scenes with various silhouetted men & women "hitting" forehands, backhands, and serves against a backdrop overhead shot of several tennis courts
- Waterloo Bridge (1931) - no on-screen tennis action, but Bette Davis's character is heard thwacking balls with another person (Frederick Kerr) off-screen while characters played by Douglass Montgomery (with racquet in hand), Mae Clarke, and Enid Bennett sit courtside sipping lemonade (50 minutes into the drama)
- A Lost Lady (1934) - contains a short sequence about 20 minutes into the film with Barbara Stanwyck playing tennis (hitting a couple of forehands, though it appears the balls are going to go WAY long) with Lyle Talbot
- A Woman Rebels (1936) - brief scene of a couple of points played between Doris Dudley's character and her young beau Jerry (the actor for which is uncredited).
- Stella Dallas (1937) - has a scene or two with Barbara Stanwyck's "daughter" playing tennis with the "in crowd" at the country club where she later embarrasses her.
- Flight Command (1940) - a little more than an hour into the story, Robert Taylor's and Ruth Hussey's characters are briefly shown playing tennis in a montage which conveys their growing relationship.
- Now, Voyager (1942) - includes a scene with Bette Davis hitting balls with Paul Henreid's "daughter " before they're interrupted by Claude Rains.
- Stand By For Action (1942) - features a scene within the first five minutes of Robert Taylor playing tennis with a Commander (Theodore von Eltz, uncredited). He plays one point with a forehand approach shot followed by an overhead smash, then serves the last point at 40-love to win the match, again with an overhead at the net.
- Quartet (1948) - brief tennis scene at Wimbledon, with Basil Radford's character discussing his son (a player) with James Robertson Justice's character (in the days when the winner would jump over the net to greet his opponent vs. fall to his knees or onto his back), within the first 10 minutes of the first story.
- Come to the Stable (1949) - though I haven't seen this one, a friend mentioned to me that Celeste Holm plays a nun/former tennis pro who must win a match/bet to raise money for her hospital.
- The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) - Fred (Astaire) & Ginger (Rogers) in their first Technicolor, and their last, film together after 10 years apart, playing tennis on a grass court no less
- Task Force (1949) - about an hour into the film, as the attack on Pearl Harbor (by the Japanese during World War II) is underway, three ladies (including Jane Wyatt's character) with tennis racquets in hand are taking to the court to play when one is strafed by an enemy fighter
- Bedtime for Bonzo (1951) - at the end of the picture, before Ronald Reagan's character and his bride drive away, there are tennis courts in the background with two persons hitting and/or retrieving balls
- Hard, Fast, and Beautiful (1951) - Directed by Ida Lupino and starring (Academy Award winner) Claire Trevor, Sally Forrest, and Carleton Young; one of the only true tennis movies
- Strangers on a Train (1951) - a very good Alfred Hitchcock film which includes some pretty good tennis action (with tension) involving Farley Granger's playboy character. The director seemed to have an affinity for tennis, including a tennis racquet in an earlier film, Lifeboat (1944); it is retrieved from the sinking ship and used by John Hodiak to break a floating baby's bottle.
- Pat and Mike (1952) - A Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy romantic comedy that includes a lot of footage of the actress playing various sports and a funny tennis match with (e.g.) the net getting higher, her racquet getting smaller, etc.
- Mr Hulot's Holiday (1953) - wacky French film about the title character (played by actor Jacques Tati) taking a vacation and inadvertently disrupting everyone else's good time. Includes a scene where Hulot, using an unusual method of serving (as if his racquet were a fly swatter, beats several opponents before they lose the ball.
- Dial M for Murder (1954) - another good Hitchcock which shows no tennis, but Ray Milland's character was an ex-tennis player
- Tea and Sympathy (1956) - John Kerr's "sister boy" character plays a couple of points in a match, wooden racquets and white balls, even though he serves from the deuce court at 40-30;-)
- Gigi (1958) - Leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan play tennis at the beach, she falls down laughing, he climbs over the net
- Blowup (1966) - includes a fascinating tennis match played entirely in pantomime
- Belle de jour (1967) - Catherine Deneuve is seen walking away from some red clay courts where people are playing tennis. She is dressed in tennis attire, presumably because she just played, before she walks up some steps and into the club.
- The Arrangement (1969) - within the last 10 minutes of the film, when Kirk Douglas's character has finally landed himself in a sanitorium, there is a brief scene of his fellow "inmates" playing tennis in the background
- The Way We Were (1973) - contains a scene in and around a tennis club & courts
- The Exorcist (1973) - about an hour into the film, right after the introduction of Lee J. Cobb's character, he and Jason Miller are discussing the mysterious death while walking. Behind them, as a backdrop, are people playing tennis. The scene lasts for several minutes and three different twosomes are seen playing.
- Annie Hall (1977) - Woody Allen and Diane Keaton first meet and start dating after playing mixed doubles
- Players (1979) - an awful film starring Dean Martin's son (before he died tragically) is about the only one (besides Hard, Fast and Beautiful (1951) & Wimbledon (2004)) that I know of with a story which revolves around tennis, the game, and/or those who play it.
- The Witches of Eastwick (1987) - fantasy threesome for Jack Nicholson, playing doubles with Susan Sarandon against Michele Pfeiffer and Cher; some magic enhanced points which include the ball stopping and traveling in slow motion
- Wimbledon (2004) - plenty of court action and a thrilling climactic match, playing much like a boxing movie, a sport which compares metaphorically with tennis on many levels. The love story that holds it together isn't better or worse than any other, it fills the bill much like the one in Titanic (1997) did (plus, this one throws in a bonus, a sweet reconciliation involving an older couple). It could, and probably should have excluded the egregious stereotypes (e.g. gay women players, etc.) but, thankfully, precious little time is given to them. It seems as if the filmmakers felt obligated to throw in a few scenes that otherwise don't belong just to include these though; how sad. Plus, it was kind of funny to have little Kirsten Dunst play a female version of John McEnroe (who's also in the film, along with Chris Evert & Mary Carillo, as a commentator) - "chalk flew up". Overall, fans of the sport should be pleased that (finally) a decent film about tennis has been made. It's a real shame that it was a financial failure though; this may have contributed to its snub by the Academy (no special effects Oscar nomination?).
- Match Point (2005) has got some tennis action in it (at the beginning), though it's mostly an instructor hitting to a student. Otherwise, it's an above average drama from director Woody Allen. The film opens with a shot of a tennis net over which a yellow ball is passing, though one can't see much of the court and certainly not the players. A narrator says that "we" don't realize how important luck is in our lives, and relates it to when a tennis ball hits the tape and, for a brief moment, appears as if it can fall on either side. This is significant later in the movie. The main character (who's been narrating) is a former tennis pro from Ireland who finds himself a job teaching students how to play or improve their game at a club in London (hardcourts not grass). One of his students is a wealthy young man of similar age; they become friends based upon a mutual interest in opera! After that, the former pro meets his new friend's sister, who shows more than a casual interest such that he finds himself being set-up in the business world by her father and would-be in-law. Unfortunately for the pro, his wealthy friend's fiancee is a stunningly sexy blonde, a wannabe actress, with whom he's soon hopelessly obsessed. And so it goes ... I'd recommend this (almost) Hitchcock-like thriller which, though flawed, is compelling for nearly all of its two hour running time. However, I don't think that women will find it particularly interesting, even if they do play tennis, unless they find Jonathan Rhys Meyers (the tennis pro) so attractive that they're willing to forgive his character's actions and (well, I don't want to spoil it) the film's message.
I can't think of anymore at the moment, and I've excluded those which include just a picture of a tennis racquet, or one in the background.
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