Movies News Talk
With his dad, Pastor Hill, highly against Rickey's baseball aspirations, the film depicts a lot of conflict between the two. In actual life, however, Pastor Hill was actually quite helpful to Rickey even if he did not press his baseball career. According to Rickey's interview, every night his dad would always question him about his day involving baseball! The movie seems to have simply made their relationship somewhat more emotional.
Scott Glenn, 5'11", plays Red Murff, the venerable baseball scout in The Hill. The original Red Murff, nevertheless, was a towering 6'3". That's a significant variation! Although the actor does a decent job of depicting Red Murff's menacing demeanor, he lacks the actual physical presence of the real-life legend. Rickey even mentioned Red appeared to be "ten feet tall" on the mound!
The film presents Rickey and his father as having a major argument about Rickey's refusal to become a preacher. In actuality, though, Rickey did exhibit early interest in pastorial work when he was younger! He even gave his family really fervent sermons. Rickey's dad seemed most likely thinking he would follow in his footsteps, but his love of baseball grabbed front stage.
Indeed, Rickey's real-life ex-wife Sherran forms the basis for Gracie Shantz's role in the film. Though circumstances were somewhat different in real life, the film presents a love tale with a happy ending. Married for 11 years, Rickey and Sherran produced two children but finally filed for divorce. The film seems to have ended their romance in a more cheerful fashion than it really did.
That is a ridiculous narrative! Rickey indeed had to scale a 10-foot wall to enter the stadium and schedule an audition with Red. It demonstrates exactly how committed Rickey was to follow his baseball aspirations, even if it meant running some risks! That's an amazing narrative the film omitted!
Sadly, the dramatic sequence in which Pastor Hill at last sees Rickey play baseball in the film did not really come to pass. Real life, even during Rickey's four years in the minor leagues, Pastor Hill never got to see his son play. Though that's a sad truth, it reveals the degree of creative license the film used with the narrative.