Mound Glory

1998·PG-13·2h 8m

AIMDb Rating

7.6/10

41K

Your Rating

Popularity

2,841

“He threw against the wind for twenty years.”

Across two decades in the Negro Leagues, a left-handed pitcher from rural Tennessee carves out a quietly extraordinary career while the world that should have known his name looks the other way. Told largely through the eyes of the wife who watches him give and give and give to a game that never quite gives back, the film closes on the year he was finally invited to try out for the major leagues — at forty-one, two years too late.

Director: Marshall Kaminski
Writers: Marshall Kaminski · Cornell Pratt
Stars: Curtis Harlow · Adaora Greaves · Marcus Bell

Top Cast (5)

Curtis Harlow
Eli "Lefty" Booker
Adaora Greaves
Pearl Booker
Marcus Bell
Catcher Roy Joyner
Jacob Tashjian
Sportswriter Hal Vance
Lonnie Fairchild
Coach Stennett

User Reviews

5 reviews

9.0

The biopic this story deserved

by baseball_historian

Kaminski wisely avoids the temptation to invent dramatic flourishes the real story didn't need. Curtis Harlow's central performance is full of contained, earned dignity. The road-game sequences across the Negro Leagues circuit are beautifully observed.

8.0

Adaora Greaves is the heart

by sports_drama_fan

She plays Pearl Booker as the witness, the conscience, and the cost. The film is technically about the pitcher but she's the one you remember. Wonderful work.

7.0

Solid, a little long

by casual_movie_fan

Twenty-eight minutes could probably come out of this and not be missed. But the moments that work, really work. The final shot is unforgettable.

6.0

Conventional in form

by modernist_picks

Hits every biopic beat — small-town beginnings, road struggles, missed-it-by-that-much ending. Executed well, but if you've seen one prestige sports biopic you'll see this coming. Performances are very strong.

9.0

Finally

by negro_leagues_fan

These stories deserve films and rarely get them. Kaminski did his homework and it shows in every small detail — the uniforms, the buses, the lighting on small-town fields at dusk. Important and moving.

Details

Release date: September 11, 1998 (United States)
Country of origin: United States
Language: English
Also known as: Gloria del Montículo · Gloire du Monticule · Stolz auf dem Hügel
Filming locations: Memphis, Tennessee, USA · Birmingham, Alabama, USA · Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Kansas City, Missouri, USA · Rickwood Field, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Production companies: Twin Mound Pictures · Birmingham Light Films · Crescent Hills Productions