Hoosiers is a 1986 sports film about a small-town
IndianaIndiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
high school
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team that wins the state championship. It is loosely based on the Milan High School team that
won the 1954 state championshipThe 1954 Milan High School Indians were the Indiana state high school basketball champions in 1954. With an enrollment of only 161, the Indians were the smallest school ever to win a single-class state basketball title in Indiana. The team and town are the inspiration for the 1986 film Hoosiers...
.
Gene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
stars as Norman Dale, a new coach with a spotty past. The film co-stars
Barbara HersheyBarbara Hershey , also known as Barbara Seagull, is an American actress. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema, in several genres including westerns and comedies...
and
Sheb WooleyShelby F. "Sheb" Wooley was a character actor and singer, best known for his 1958 novelty song "Purple People Eater"...
, and features
Dennis HopperDennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
as the basketball-loving town drunkard. His performance earned him an
OscarAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
nomination.
The movie was written by
Angelo PizzoAngelo Pizzo is an American screen writer and film producer, best known for Hoosiers and Rudy. Pizzo grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, the son of a Sicilian immigrant, and attended Indiana University where he received his bachelor degree in political science. He and his family lived in Ojai,...
and was directed by
David AnspaughDavid Anspaugh is an American television and film director.Born in Decatur, Indiana, Anspaugh studied at Indiana University and the USC School of Cinematic Arts, after which he taught high school in Colorado. His work as an associate producer on television movies led to his producing and directing...
. Pizzo next co-produced the underdog sports movie
RudyRudy is a 1993 American sports film directed by David Anspaugh. It is an account of the life of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who harbored dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite significant obstacles...
(1993), which was also directed by Anspaugh.
Jerry GoldsmithJerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
was nominated for an
OscarAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for his
scoreA film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
of
Hoosiers. When released in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the film was re-titled as
Best Shot.
Plot
Norman Dale arrives in the rural Indiana town of Hickory to be a high school teacher and basketball coach. He had lost a previous coaching position after striking a student, so is under pressure to succeed.
Like much of the state, Hickory's community is passionate about basketball. People are aware that the best player in town, Jimmy Chitwood, does not intend to play on this season's team. Faculty member Myra Fleener warns the new coach not to try to persuade Jimmy to change his mind; she believes he needs to focus on school work in order to get a scholarship to attend college and have a better future.
The school enrollment is so small that Dale has only a few players on his squad. Built on a five pass offense, Dale sticks to his guns when a player disobeys him in an early season game, keeping him on the bench and playing with four players after another fouls out. The coach alienates the community with a slow, defensive style that does not immediately produce results and by losing his temper, which causes him to be ejected from more than one game. Dale needs a new assistant coach and invites knowledgeable basketball fan Shooter, the alcoholic father of one of his players, to join him on the bench. This, too, confounds the town, including Shooter's son.
By the middle of the season, an emergency town meeting is called to vote on whether Dale should be dismissed. Fleener appreciates the coach's staying away from Chitwood and sides with him, but the town votes him out. At the last minute, Chitwood asks permission to speak: he says he's ready to begin playing basketball again, but only if Dale remains as coach.
From this point, Hickory becomes an unstoppable team. Despite a setback in which Shooter arrives drunk to a game and ends up in a hospital, the team advances through tournament play, with contributions from unsung players, such as the pint-sized Ollie and devoutly religious Strap.
Hickory shocks the state by reaching the state championship game. In a large arena and before a crowd bigger than any they've seen, the Hickory players face long odds to defeat a team from
South BendThe city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
, whose players are taller and more athletic. But with Chitwood scoring at the last second, tiny Hickory takes home the 1952 Indiana state championship.
Cast
- Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
as Norman Dale
- Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey , also known as Barbara Seagull, is an American actress. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema, in several genres including westerns and comedies...
as Myra Fleener
- Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
as Shooter
- Sheb Wooley
Shelby F. "Sheb" Wooley was a character actor and singer, best known for his 1958 novelty song "Purple People Eater"...
as Cletus
- Maris Valainis
Maris Valainis is an American construction consultant and a former actor, best known for his role in the 1986 film Hoosiers, in which he played the character of Jimmy Chitwood, a basketball player who makes a last-second shot to win the Indiana state high school championship...
as Jimmy Chitwood
- Brad Long
Brad Long is a professional speaker and former actor. He is best known for his role in the 1986 film Hoosiers where he played the character of basketball team captain "Buddy" Walker, a role that he saw as much like himself....
as Buddy
- Steve Hollar
Steve Hollar is an American actor known for his role as Rade Butcher in the 1986 film Hoosiers starring Gene Hackman.Hollar was actually playing college basketball in 1986 for DePauw University at the time of the filming of Hoosiers. This caused an investigation by the NCAA, as it is illegal for...
as Rade
- David Neidorf as Everett
- Kent Poole as Merle
- Brad Boyle as Whit
- Scott Summers as Strap
- Wade Schenck as Ollie
- Patricia Sprague as Woman in Background
Basis
The film is very loosely based on the story of the
1954 Indiana state championsThe 1954 Milan High School Indians were the Indiana state high school basketball champions in 1954. With an enrollment of only 161, the Indians were the smallest school ever to win a single-class state basketball title in Indiana. The team and town are the inspiration for the 1986 film Hoosiers...
, Milan High School (icon ), but the term "inspired by a true story" may be more appropriate, as there was little the two teams had in common.
In most US states, high school athletic teams are divided into different classes, usually based on the number of enrolled students, with separate state championship tournaments held for each classification. At the time, Indiana conducted a single state basketball championship for all of its high schools, and continued to do so until 1997.
Some elements of the film do match closely with those of Milan's real story. Like the movie's Hickory High School, Milan was a very small high school in a rural, southern Indiana town. Both schools had undersized teams. Both Hickory and Milan won the state finals by two points: Hickory won 42–40, and Milan won 32–30. The final seconds of the
Hoosiers state final hold fairly closely to the details of Milan's 1954 final; the final shot in the movie was taken from virtually the same spot on the floor as
Bobby PlumpBobby Plump was a member of the Milan High School basketball team that won the Indiana High School Athletic Association State Tournament in 1954. Plump was named one of the Most Noteworthy Hoosiers of the 20th century by Indianapolis Monthly Magazine...
's actual game-winner. The movie's final game was shot in the same building that hosted the 1954 Indiana final,
Butler UniversityButler University is a private university located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university offers 60 degree programs to 4,400 students through six colleges: business, communication, education, liberal Arts and sciences, pharmacy and health...
's
Hinkle FieldhouseHinkle Fieldhouse is a basketball arena located on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. When it was built in 1928, it was the largest basketball arena in the United States, and it retained that distinction until 1950. It is the sixth-oldest college basketball arena still in...
(called Butler Fieldhouse in 1954) in
IndianapolisIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
.
Production
During filming on location at Hinkle Fieldhouse, directors were unable to secure enough extras for shooting the final scenes even after casting calls through the Indianapolis media. To help fill the stands, they invited two local high schools to move a game to the Fieldhouse.
Broad RippleBroad Ripple Magnet High School for the Arts & Humanities, established in 1886, is a magnet school of the Indianapolis Public Schools.-History:...
and
ChatardBishop Chatard High School is a Catholic co-educational preparatory high school located in the Broad Ripple district of Indianapolis, Indiana in the United States...
, the alma mater of
Maris ValainisMaris Valainis is an American construction consultant and a former actor, best known for his role in the 1986 film Hoosiers, in which he played the character of Jimmy Chitwood, a basketball player who makes a last-second shot to win the Indiana state high school championship...
who played the role of Jimmy Chitwood, obliged, and crowd shots were filmed during their actual game. Fans of both schools came out in period costumes to serve as extras and to supplement the hundreds of locals who had answered the call. At halftime and following the game, actors took to the court to shoot footage of the state championship scenes, including the game-winning shot by Hickory.
Speculation exists that the character of Norman Dale was named for
Norm EllenbergerNorm Ellenberger was the head coach of the University of New Mexico Lobo basketball team from 1972 to 1979, when he was forced to resign due to a recruiting scandal known as Lobo-gate....
, whose middle name is Dale. A longtime assistant coach for Bob Knight at Indiana, he once played basketball for coach
Tony Hinkle at Butler.
The film's producers chose
New Richmond, IndianaNew Richmond is a town in Coal Creek Township, Montgomery County, Indiana, United States. The population was 333 at the 2010 census.-Geography:New Richmond is located at ....
to serve as the fictional town of Hickory, and recorded most of the film's location shots in and around the community. Signs on the roads into New Richmond still recall its role in the film. In addition, the old schoolhouse in Nineveh, Indiana was used for the majority of the classroom scenes and many other scenes throughout the movie.
The home court of Hickory is located in Knightstown and is now known as the "Hoosier Gym."
Pizzo & Anspaugh shopped the script for two years before they finally found investment for the project. Despite this seeming approval, the financiers only approved a production budget of $6 million, forcing the crew to hire most of the cast playing the Hickory basketball team and many of the extras from the local community around New Richmond. Gene Hackman also predicted that the movie was going to be a "career killer". Despite the small budget, dire predictions, and little help from distributor
Orion PicturesOrion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
,
Hoosiers grossed over $28 million and received two Oscar nominations (Dennis Hopper for Best Supporting Actor and Jerry Goldsmith for Best Original Score).
Soundtrack
The music to
Hoosiers was written by veteran composer
Jerry GoldsmithJerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
. Goldsmith used a hybrid of orchestral and electronic elements in juxtaposition of the 1950s setting to score the film. He also helped tie the music to the movie by using recorded hits of basketballs on a gymnasium floor to serve as additional percussion sounds. The score would go on to garner Goldsmith an Oscar nomination for
Best Original ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
, though he ultimately lost to
Herbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
for
Round MidnightRound Midnight is a 1986 film directed by Bertrand Tavernier and written by David Rayfiel and Bertrand Tavernier. It tells the story of an African American tenor saxophone player in Paris in the 1950s who is befriended by an unsuccessful French graphic designer who idolizes the musician and who...
. Since the soundtrack has never been released in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on
compact discThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, it can primarily be found under the European title
Best Shot.
- "Best Shot (Theme from Hoosiers)" - 4:25
- "You Did Good" - 7:02
- "Coach Stays" - 2:42
- "Pivot" - 3:29
- "Get the Ball" - 1:49
- "Town Meeting" - 4:47
- "Finals" - 15:19
Goldsmith would later work with filmmakers Angelo Pizzo and David Anspaugh again on their successful 1993 sports film
RudyRudy is a 1993 American sports film directed by David Anspaugh. It is an account of the life of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who harbored dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite significant obstacles...
.
Honors
Hoosiers has been listed by many publications as one of the best sports movies ever made.
Hoosiers was ranked number 13 by the
American Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
on its
100 Years... 100 Cheers100 Years…100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies is a list of the most inspiring films as determined by the American Film Institute. It is part of the AFI 100 Years… series, which has been compiling lists of the greatest films of all time in various categories since 1998...
list of most inspirational films. The film was the choice of the readers of
USA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
as the best sports movie of all time. In 2001,
Hoosiers was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film RegistryThe National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the
Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten" — the best ten films in ten classic American film genres — after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community.
Hoosiers was acknowledged as the fourth best film in the sports genre.
A museum to commemorate the real life achievements of the 1954 Milan team has been established.
American Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Lists
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills - Nominated
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers - #13
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) - Nominated
- AFI's 10 Top 10
AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
- #4 Sports Film
External links