Print Resources
- Alpert, Rebecca. "Jackie Robinson, Jewish Icon." Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 26.2 (2008): 42-58.
- Alpert discusses the similarities in treatment of early Jewish baseball players and that of Jackie Robinson as he broke the color barrier: “The story of Jackie Robinson’s integration of baseball in 1947 provided Jews with a myth representative of their experience of assimilation into American society in the era following World War II. Popular Jewish accounts of this story, found in children’s literature and adult fiction, essay and memoir, reveal three themes: identification with Robinson as a victim of oppression, idealization of Robinson as a heroic figure whose success announced the possibility of an end to all bigotry, and glorification of the role Jews played in bringing about Robinson’s triumph. The ways in which Jewish writers tell this story reveal how the Jewish ideal of a special relationship between Blacks and Jews derived from drawing connections, based primarily in the Jewish imagination, between Jewish and Black experiences of integration and assimilation.†On an individual level, Hank Greenberg, one of the first Jewish major leaguers, and Jackie acknowledge their connection in various personal accounts, which is described in depth in the article. From a social perspective, this article provides quality insight into the difficulties those outside of the American status quo had in the time period and the social constructs that discouraged them from living a high quality life.
- Ardolino, Frank. "Breaking the Color Line: Five Film Representations of Jackie Robinson 1950-1992." Aethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature 13.2 (1996): 49-60.
- Ardolino writes that, “in this essay, I would like to analyze five films which concern Robinson’s career and his symbolic meanings. These films span forty-two years from 1950 to 1992 -- quite fortuitously the number that Jackie made famous â€" and through their respective viewpoints they reflect the time in which they were made and the preoccupations of the people who made them. Overall, these films present optimistic texts which demonstrate the salutary effects on baseball and the country of Robinson’s crusading career.†He thus makes his way through each film, giving a description of the plot, followed by its social impact and how it was affected by the social norms of the specific time period in which it was made. He also goes into detailed explanations of the symbolism in the film and the meaning each director aims to achieve within the film’s context. The five films are: The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), Brooklyn Bridge (1992), The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson (1990), A Homerun for Love (1978), and Rhubarb (1951).
- Bogle, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. New York: Continuum, 1994.
- Bogle focuses on the social construction of blacks in popular culture and those actors who had to perform as such in films. Many of these are stereotypes that film creators bought into as a viable representation of the race and would use as portrayals in their films. He makes his way chronologically through each decade of the last one hundred years and highlights what the popular stereotype was of the black at the time in society and henceforth in film as well. He also does in-depth analysis of the most influential black actors of the time period. Originally inspired as a child by the fact that there “was not one reference work in the library that I could go to for information,†Bogle was thus “subconsciously writing a history of movie blacks in my head†throughout his childhood and into adulthood. This book is the culmination of his life’s work. Bogle has put together a comprehensive history of black actors in films from the very invention of the video camera as well as the social impact they had on each subsequent decade.
- Cripps, Thomas. Slow Fade to Black: The Negro in American Film, 1900-1942. New York: Oxford UP, 1993.
- Cripps makes his way chronologically through the history of African Americans in Hollywood films. He begins with the racial portrayals of African Americans, played by whites, in many early films. Continues with descriptions of early attempts for Black actors to break into the film industry and the first successful on-screen actors. Ending with the “politics†of the film industry. All throughout the book he provides commentary on society’s view of the black actor. Cripps acknowledges what W.E.B. DuBois referred to as the “twoness†of American life and explains “there would be no need for the book were it not for the peculiar American racial arrangements in which a highly visible yet numerically inferior ‘black’ group has been customarily, and often legally, ostracized from, exploited by, and occasionally patronized by, a numerically and politically dominant ‘white’ group. Because of this dynamic, “this book is taken up so much with the preconditions of strong black interest in movies, the growth of power sufficient to alter movie images, and the growth of a cadre of black film creators its emphasis is broadly social rather than focused on the black film genre that would eventually emerge.â€
- Edelman, Rob. "The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of Its Era." Nine: A Journal of Baseball History & Culture 20.1 (2011): 40-55.
- Edelman’s article examines the 1950 movie The Jackie Robinson Story, starring Robinson as himself, through the lens of movie production of the day. Edelman points out that the film was significantly bound by social norms and expectations of the day, specifically how blacks were expected to act on screen. Furthermore, the film must be viewed with the Red Scare in mind. Hollywood spent a large part of the 1950’s under intense scrutiny from HUAC (the House Un-American Activities Committee) because of accusations of being corrupted by Communist influence. Edelman points of that even the Cold War mentality had influence on the final product that is this 1950 film.
- Guerrero, Edward. Framing Blackness: The African-American Image in Film. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1993.
- Guerrero’s book expresses his life-long search to understand how race and color has been represented in in cinema, media, and literature throughout American history. His discussion approaches race from the “symbolic, mythical, and political†implications of the portrayal of minorities in film.
- Saunders, James Robert. "'I Done Seen a Hundred Niggers Play Baseball Better Than Jackie Robinson': Troy Maxson's Plea in August Wilson's Fences." Baseball/Literature/Culture: Essays, 2004-2005. Ed. Peter Carino. Jefferson: McFarland, 2006. 46-52.
- This section of Saunders’ book examines the uniqueness of Robinson’s arrival in Major League Baseball. The reality of the day was that there were numerous negro-leaguers that many thought had more talent than Robinson. Saunders refers to Fences, a play written by August Wilson, which portrays the “exploits of Josh Gibson, the black Babe Ruth†(47) and uses him as an example of just one of the black baseball players who never got his chance in white baseball.
See Also
Raengo, Alessandra. "A Necessary Signifier: The Adaptation of Robinson's Body-Image in 'The Jackie Robinson Story'." Adaptation: The Journal of Literature on Screen Studies 1.2 (2008): 79-105.
Rollins, Peter C. The Columbia Companion to American History on Film: How the Movies Have Portrayed the American Past. New York: Columbia UP, 2003.
Video/Audio Resources
- Jackie Robinson: My Story. Los Angeles: Shout Factory, 2013, 2012.
- "A docudrama starring Stephen Hill as the sports legend narrating his story, that blends storytelling with interviews, newsreels, and historical archival footage."
- Thank You, Jackie Robinson. Santa Monica: New Kid Home Video, 1998, ©1977.
- "A young boy tries to get a baseball autographed by Jackie Robinson for an elderly African American cook who shares his love of baseball and the Dodgers."
Online Resources
- Brian Helgeland Bio http://www.tribute.ca/people/brian-helgeland/1355/
- Basic information.
- Getting it right in '42': The Jackie Robinson film was a nonstop two-year project for Brian Helgeland. ESPN April 12, 2013. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9161338/
- Helgeland: "Whether you're white, black or Hispanic, you follow Jackie Robinson and you root for him. I tried to do it in a way where you experience what he experienced as a human being. When he's being harangued by the Philly manager, I think the audience will feel for him and feel with him because they're traveling the movie with him. If anything, you want to feel the humanity of it. Here's a guy who, under difficult circumstances, did everything in his power to do the right thing. Branch Rickey can't be the guy on the field suffering the abuse, but he's also trying to do the right thing. It doesn't have to be some monumental moment. The story just reminds everyone that there's a right way to go through life. Hopefully, it will inspire everyone on a day-to-day basis."
- Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=jackie+robinson
- Collection of Robinson pictures from various sources.
