Nominally a baseball movie, this is actually more of a human interest story focusing on the relationship of a couple of teammates who hang together through the thick and thin of catcher Bruce Pearson's (Robert DeNiro) bout with Hodgkin's disease. You never get a clear idea of why New York Mammoth's pitcher Henry Wiggen (Michael Moriarty) takes a shine to his buddy but their loyalty to each other is convincing. I'm not sure if a real life ball player could have pulled off the contract demand that Wiggen did by forcing the owner and manager to agree to his terms for keeping 'Bill' employed, but this was made over forty years ago when money hadn't yet become that big a deal.

Now I'd never heard of Big League Tegwar before seeing this picture and I don't know if it was simply made up for the story, but it looks like it could be a lot of fun. With a little creativity you could almost convince a newcomer that the game was on the up and up as long as you didn't get too carried away. But getting too carried away is probably the whole point of it.

For DeNiro, this was his last picture before really coming on as an actor with an appearance in "Mean Streets" as Johnny Boy in the same year. After that his career took off like a rocket and is still going as strong as could be. Michael Moriarty, well I never really cared that much for him, probably because I've seen him in too many roles like Hull Barret in Eastwood's "Pale Rider" where he's too much of a doormat. In this picture his character is a commendable sort to stand up for Bruce but his non-aggressive demeanor for some reason bothers me a bit.

As for the baseball, there are a handful of scenes to give the picture it's flavor as a sports film, but if you're tuning in that's not the main reason to see it. It's the human drama that takes center stage here in a story that personifies the meaning of friendship and going the extra mile.

From the salad days of both Robert DeNiro and Michael Moriarty comes Bang The Drum Slowly, a novel about a star pitcher and his buddy, a dying catcher. Remember this is a story of baseball in the days before free agency so you'll have to be a bit of an historian in order to relate somewhat. Doesn't attract from the beauty of the performances.

Moriarty is the star pitcher and back in those days before big money for a year could set you up for life, ballplayers had to both have another income for the off season and a career plan once your playing days are over. Moriarty is selling insurance and that was not uncommon for players who after their athletic days were over could always sell a policy to fans in between talk of past glory days.

Pitchers, star pitchers that is, could always impose on a ballclub for a favorite catcher. In my youth I remember the Baltimore Orioles had a second string catcher like DeNiro's character named Joe Ginsberg. He was around because Hoyt Wilhelm wanted it so. Seems as though their star catcher Gus Triandos couldn't handle Wilhelm's knuckleball, few could, but Ginsberg better than most. The Orioles had Ginsberg for duty when Wilhelm pitched.

For this current season Moriarty has a clause put in his contract that DeNiro and he are a package item. Something that doesn't sit well with management, but he's a star and they have their quirks. What no one knows is DeNiro is dying of Hodgkin's Disease. Not noticeable at first, but he's getting more and more bad days.

Moriarty is also putting his future with Arcturus Insurance in jeopardy because he's pulling a stall on DeNiro who wants to change his beneficiary on a big life insurance policy to his gold digging girlfriend Ann Wedgworth. Still everyone in the world can see what she's all about except a simple trusting soul like DeNiro.

The worldly star pitcher and the simple Georgia country boy second string catcher are unlikely companions. But both DeNiro and Moriarty have a matchless chemistry. It's like they were giving two halves of one performance.

Vincent Gardenia plays their manager and he got a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The whole story of the film is their effort to keep DeNiro's condition a secret, but Gardenia knows something's up. One story after another they give him including a hilarious scene where they say DeNiro has had a bout of the clap, but he's better now.

The novel was written in the 50s, but updated for the early 70s as the men's dress would indicate. The New York Mammoths were really the New York Giants, but they were just a memory now as was their unusually contoured park the Polo Grounds. Which is why we saw Yankee style pinstripes and a home park that looked like old Yankee Stadium.

Bang The Drum Slowly is one of the finest baseball films ever done. And DeNiro's character Bruce Pearson is the first of many firmly etched starring roles he'd give us for two more generations.

Henry 'Author' Wiggen (Michael Moriarty) is a pitcher and his best friend Bruce Pearson (Robert De Niro) is a catcher on the major league baseball team New York Mammoths. Bruce is told that he's terminally ill. Henry can be pretty hard on the slow-witted Bruce but he's protective of Bruce especially from Bruce's gold-digging girlfriend Katie. Henry takes lower pay to keep Bruce on the team. Manager Dutch Schnell (Vincent Gardenia) is not happy but forced to accept it. It's a baseball season of ups and downs.

De Niro is still an unknown at this point. The on-screen friendship is fine. They would be better served with more screen time together. The baseball action isn't much. Vincent Gardenia is great although I would have liked some more compelling teammates.