Life's Greatest Game is a 1924 American silent melodrama directed by Emory Johnson. FBO released the film in October 1924. The film's "All-Star" cast included Johnnie Walker, Tom Santschi, Jane Thomas, David Kirby, and Gertrude Olmstead. Emilie Johnson, Johnson's mother, wrote both the story and screenplay. She was inspired by the 1919 World Series Black Sox Scandal. Life's Greatest Game was the sixth film in Johnson's eight-picture contract with FBO.
The plot unfolds as Jack Donovan, the pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, refuses to throw a game for gambler Mike Moran. Moran retaliates by breaking up Donovan's family. Believing that his wife and son died in the sinking of an ocean liner, Donovan remains in baseball and, 18 years later, becomes the manager of the New York Giants. Senior does not know that his family did not perish in the shipwreck, and his son, Jack Jr., is a grown man and star baseball player for a college team. The Giants hire Jackie Jr. to play for the club. Fate brings them together for a crucial world series game, just as Jackie Jr. discovers his birth father.
On September 28, 1924, FBO premiered Life's Greatest Game at the Cameo Theatre in New York City. In a serendipitous twist of fate, the Giants started a two-game series with the Phillies on September 27, 1924. The winner would become the National League champion. Before the start of the game, a Giants player approached a Phillies shortstop. He offers money to avoid "bearing down hard" during the game. Thus, a real baseball scandal occurred during the premiere of a film about a baseball scandal.
The 1924 World Series started on Saturday, October 4, 1924. They officially released Life's Greatest Game one day later on Sunday, October 5, 1924.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
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