In the 1980's when people first began buying VCR's, and critics educated consumers by summarizing and rating hundreds of films, I enjoyed browsing in bookstores and reading comments about both my favorite and least favorite movies. When I could never find "Number One" in any video guide, I wondered if Charleton Heston hadn't interceded to demand that no company make this movie available on videotape.
I first saw "Number One" not long after its release in the fall of 1969. An 8th grader at the time and an avid professional sports fan, I sat in the theater and anxiously awaited the start of a film about a professional football team and its past-his-prime star quarterback. As the curtains began to part, professional football players, much larger than life on the movie screen, charged toward me and the rest of the audience. Feeling more like I was attending an NFL game than a full-length film, I excitedly named to myself the players that I recognized.
Unfortunately, those first few minutes proved to be the high point of the story. For the most part the attempt to blend NFL players and actual game footage with actors and created situations didn't succeed. Repeatedly, # 17, Ron Catlan (Charleton Heston), dropped back to pass, looked 20 yards down field for a receiver, set his feet, then drew back his right arm.
As he began to release the ball, though, he abruptly transformed into another #17, the true New Orleans Saints quarterback, Bill Kilmer, whose athleticism and spiraling passes contrasted noticeably with Catlan's mechanical style.
Catlan's undersized helmet and ill-fitting uniform contributed to Heston's awkwardness. If I remember correctly, his comparatively large body stood out even amongst some of those who blocked for him.
The makers of this movie did include some realism by showing that near the age of 40 an accomplished professional athlete, rather than quietly and humbly making the transition to the non-playing phase of his life, may endure much frustration, which he sometimes acts out recklessly. Ron Catlan, not unlike plenty of the professional athletes of that era and of any other, berated his wife and eventually betrayed her trust.
However, since the dialogue during these segments sounded less than believable -- "You can't even produce a damn baby!" he shouted at his wife during a quarrel as he pinned her against the kitchen table -- the scenes that did not require Charleton Heston to play football compensated little for the inauthenticity of the ones that did.
So... rather than make me believe that I was witnessing a legendary football player who is struggling to accept the end of his playing career, the movie constantly reminded me that I was observing a legendary actor, unsuited this time for the role he had agreed to play.
I first saw "Number One" not long after its release in the fall of 1969. An 8th grader at the time and an avid professional sports fan, I sat in the theater and anxiously awaited the start of a film about a professional football team and its past-his-prime star quarterback. As the curtains began to part, professional football players, much larger than life on the movie screen, charged toward me and the rest of the audience. Feeling more like I was attending an NFL game than a full-length film, I excitedly named to myself the players that I recognized.
Unfortunately, those first few minutes proved to be the high point of the story. For the most part the attempt to blend NFL players and actual game footage with actors and created situations didn't succeed. Repeatedly, # 17, Ron Catlan (Charleton Heston), dropped back to pass, looked 20 yards down field for a receiver, set his feet, then drew back his right arm.
As he began to release the ball, though, he abruptly transformed into another #17, the true New Orleans Saints quarterback, Bill Kilmer, whose athleticism and spiraling passes contrasted noticeably with Catlan's mechanical style.
Catlan's undersized helmet and ill-fitting uniform contributed to Heston's awkwardness. If I remember correctly, his comparatively large body stood out even amongst some of those who blocked for him.
The makers of this movie did include some realism by showing that near the age of 40 an accomplished professional athlete, rather than quietly and humbly making the transition to the non-playing phase of his life, may endure much frustration, which he sometimes acts out recklessly. Ron Catlan, not unlike plenty of the professional athletes of that era and of any other, berated his wife and eventually betrayed her trust.
However, since the dialogue during these segments sounded less than believable -- "You can't even produce a damn baby!" he shouted at his wife during a quarrel as he pinned her against the kitchen table -- the scenes that did not require Charleton Heston to play football compensated little for the inauthenticity of the ones that did.
So... rather than make me believe that I was witnessing a legendary football player who is struggling to accept the end of his playing career, the movie constantly reminded me that I was observing a legendary actor, unsuited this time for the role he had agreed to play.