It Happened In Brooklyn

Rating: 9/10 (21 April 2013)

I was born on September 26, 1947 and at that time when I made my earthly debut in Brooklyn, the Dodgers had clinched the National League pennant that year. Just about the time that Branch Rickey's great experiment was concluded and America's national pastime was integrated. I grew up with the Brooklyn Dodgers and well remember how in 1958 they and the New York Giants moved to the West Coast. Jackie Robinson had retired at the end of the 1956 season so forever he was a Brooklyn Dodger.
The story behind 42 needs to be told to a new generation to appreciate what we in Brooklyn lived during those years. Jackie, Gil Hodges, Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo, Pee Wee Reese, these were the best and some of the best players at their positions during their careers. Because Branch Rickey stepped up to the plate so to speak and led in the integration of baseball, the Brooklyn Dodgers dominated their league for the ten years after the breakthrough year of 1947. And the other teams that won pennants in those years the Braves and Giants were those that closely followed the Dodgers in signing that untapped pool of talent that were in the Negro Leagues.
Many years ago Denzel Washington played Jackie Robinson in a made for television film about his bad experiences in the US Army before all the action in this film took place. Denzel would have been perfect for this film had he been younger. However the relatively unknown Chadwick Boseman is both suggestive of Denzel Washington and truly steps into the character of Jackie Robinson who bore a lot more of a burden than the normal angst of a team sport athlete trying to see if he has the right stuff to play at the highest level of his chosen sport.
One thing I was glad to see in 42 was the emphasis on Rachel Robinson's character and her support of her husband. When Branch Rickey was looking for the right black athlete to be the great experiment he placed a great emphasis on character. A couple guys did not get to be the first because they led some playboy lives. Rickey worried and rightly so that those opposed to what he was doing wouldn't hesitate to dig up any kind of personal dirt on whomever he chose. Robinson was a deeply religious man and the story he and the former Rachel Isum is one of the great love stories of the last century. Nicole Beharie plays Rachel and by all accounts she also captured the character of the woman who is still alive and has made sure that his memory and achievements are not forgotten. 42 earns its highest commendation from me for making sure that Rachel is not relegated to the sidelines.
You will look in vain for a trace of Indiana Jones in Harrison Ford's portrayal of Branch Rickey. With a little bit of makeup Ford also becomes the character whom some called the Mahatma of baseball after another guy who was freeing his people. Rickey whose other major achievement in the sport was developing the farm system was as you see Ford on the screen. A man who was a Methodist lay minister he and Robinson bonded over the religious faith they shared. Rickey left Brooklyn in 1950 after a front office power play forced him out and gave control of the Dodgers to Walter O'Malley who was the one who moved them to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. Rickey signed on with Pittsburgh as their general manager and integrated a rather lack luster outfit. His work would start to bear fruit in the late Fifties after he had left the Pirates.
42, Robinson's uniform number was retired in all of baseball some years ago in tribute from one generation to a pioneer who made it possible for people like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks to enjoy the star careers they had in my childhood. We who grew up in Brooklyn and idolized the Dodgers are also custodians of a legacy as well. 42 is a film that should be seen and seen again by those who want to know what the post World War II civil rights struggle was all about.
And remember, it all happened in Brooklyn.