"The Greatest Game Ever Played"

I saw this film on Saturday, and found it pretty enjoyable. It's a Disney film, and very much a "feel good" kind of family movie. I think it gives a good glimpse of what the game was like at the beginning of the 20th century, and some of the class issues surrounding it. An interesting point in the film, near the beginning (this won't spoil anything, not that there are a lot of surprises) is when Harry Vardon, having won a U.S. Open for Britain, is offered an "opening" in an English golfing club for gentlemen (i.e., not for working men). Initially, this offer takes Vardon's breath away, since he is a professional who makes a living playing golf and would not normally be considered eligible for any gentlemen's club. Then as the offer is made clearer, it turns out that what he is being offered is not a "membership" but a "position" at the club: what today we would call "club pro." He's to run a shop and give lessons. So the offer is simultaneously an honor and a reminder of where his place is, in the scheme of things. Similar class issues play out in the American side of the story.

If you go see it, you'll also get to see some vintage golf equipment!

__________________
Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

Hi Todd,

I started to read the book but it didn't quite hold my interest. I would like to see the movie. It sounds good.

Is it better than my all time favorite golf movie; Tin Cup????

That is the best golf movie.......

So many golf buddies I know only know how to play golf like Roy McAvoy. To GO FOR IT. I agonized over the last scene when he just kept hitting balls over the late lake. I couldn't stand it....


A lesson in itself.

Chessbum...

I think that The Legend of Bagger Vance is better than Tin Cup - and Caddyshack is better than both!

It's a very different kind of movie from The Tin Cup. That movie is all about McAvoy wrestling with his demons. The Greatest Game Ever Played is about the emergence of golf as a pro sport from being an aristocrat's game. I think it's great that Vardon, who is something of a forgotten figure these days (except for his grip), is sympathetically portrayed.

#1.Bagger Vance, #2.Tin Cup, #3 Caddy Shack. But then, there aren't that many to choose from.

You forgot "Dead Solid Perfect"...great movie.

How about Happy Gilmore haha! 'Just Tap it in' And the Legend of Bobby Jones oh, and last but not least....Follow The Sun.