Sport and Cinema.com

In a genre dominated by testosterone, sports movies certainly have plenty of room for the ladies. As a matter of fact, down through the years Hollywood has produced some terrific titles with women at the center of the story. With a little luck we will see more make it to the silver screen. In the meantime, in chronological order, here are the Lucky 13.

National Velvet (1945) Eleven-year-old Elizabeth Taylor charms embittered young ex-jockey Mickey Rooney, whose riding career has been ended by an accident, into helping her prepare to ride a wild but gifted horse for England’s Grand National Sweepstakes. National Velvet won two Academy Awards.

Pat and Mike (1952) Pat and Mike is a classic Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy romantic film in which Hepburn portrays a university physical education teacher who also plays golf and tennis professionally. Tracy is a somewhat shady sports promoter who becomes her manager. The problem is that whenever Hepburn’s fiancé is around, be it tennis or golf, she loses her focus. Appearances by real-life personalities include Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Alice Marble, Gussie Moran.

Babe (1975) Susan Clark won an Emmy for her portrayal of Babe Didrickson, the multi-talented athlete from Texas who won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Olympics and returned to become a world champion golfer. Director Buzz Kulick also helmed another made-for-tv sports film, Brian’s Song.

Wilma (1977)            Written and directed by the preeminent Olympic documentarian, Bud Greenspan, this is the true story of one of America’s greatest Olympic athletes. Sprinter Wilma Rudolph overcame physical handicaps to win three gold medals in the 1960 Olympics. This was Denzel Washington’s first television appearance and where he met his future wife, Paulette.

Ice Castles (1979) Crazy but true, at 16 Alexis (Lynn-Holly Johnson) is considered too old for a professional ice-skating career. Despite the critics she succeeds in becoming one of the world’s best ice skaters. Then tragically, she falls and suffers a concussive brain injury that leaves her nearly blind. With the help of her father and her boyfriend, Alexis reemerges against all odds and attempts once again to become a top-ranked skater.

Personal Best (1982) Robert Towne directs this story about the intertwined lives and loves of two female athletes, their coach and a male athlete (portrayed by Mariel Hemingway, Patrice Donnelly, Scott Glenn and Kenny Moore respectively) as they all strive for success in the athletics field. At its core, the story looks at how the women pentathletes are attracted to one another almost at first sight, and what begins as a tentative exploration develops into a love relationship. What follows is their romance getting tangled up with the intensity that comes from top-level sports competition.

Heart Like a Wheel (1983) Bonne Bedelia slips into the driver’s seat and takes the checkered flag as Shirley Muldowney, a young woman who is determined to be a top-fuel drag racer, although no woman has ever raced them before. A fine example of how a low budget production turns into an emotionally involving, superbly made drama.

Bull Durham (1988) One of the great original characters of all-time, Susan Sarandon is Annie Savoy, a fan who has an affair with one minor-league baseball player each season and meets an up-and-coming pitcher (Tim Robbins) and the seasoned catcher (Kevin Costner) assigned to him.

The Cutting Edge (1992) The King of the Rink is about to meet America’s Ice Queen- the film’s tagline pretty much sums it all up. NHL prospect Doug Dorsey (D.B. Sweeney) is injured in an Olympic hockey game which leaves him unable to play professionally. Pairs skater Kate Moseley (Moira Kelly) is an ill-tempered figure skater who is having trouble finding a partner after a nasty fall. The sparks fly when they hook up.

A League of Their Own (1992) Based on a true story, Geena Davis and Lori Petty star as sisters pulled off the farm to be part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League since the rank and file of Major League Baseball have gone to fight WWII, yet America still wants to watch baseball. Tom Hanks plays a washed up, self-pitying, alcoholic former player who is reduced to “managing” the Rockford Peaches. He delivers the film’s most memorable line – “There’s no crying in baseball”.

Love and Basketball (2000) Love and Basketball is an interesting twist on the boy-girl growing-up-together love hate relationship as both aspire to professional hoop careers.

Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan star in this story that is a good example that a sports film doesn’t have to end with the buzzer-beater in the Big Game.

Bend It Like Beckham (2002) A terrific bit of culture and generation clash with Parminder Nagra starring as Jess, the daughter of conservative Indian parents in England determined to follow her passion of becoming a soccer player. With the help of her new friend Juliet (Keira Knightley), Jess secretly joins a girls’ team under the guidance of a male coach (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). As the team starts to gain some attention, Jess’s secret is soon out and it eventually forces her parents to re-examine their traditional ways.

Million Dollar Baby (2004) Hilary Swank won a Best Actress Oscar for her role here as Maggie Fitzgerald, a poor thirty-one year old waitress from a dysfunctional loser family, who decides to make her mark through boxing. She convinces the experienced but hardened boxing trainer Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) to coach her and be her manager, along with the support of his old partner Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Morgan Freeman), who sees her potential as a boxer. It won an Academy Award for Best Picture.