Pre-War documentaries ???
 

Wondering what else is out there for Pre-War documentaries. Obviously I've watched and listened to Ken Burns documentaries plenty of times.

Is there anything else out there similar??? I do know that some of the material in those documentaries are false but I still love them. Just looking for some new material.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Try the audio version of The Glory of Their Times.

Not documentaries, but some good some cheesy movies:

The Stratton Story
The Pride of St. Louis
Cobb
Pride of the Yankees
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
Eight Men Out
42? nope post war, but close
A League of Their Own (pre, no during, dangit another near miss)
A Winner Never Quits (another during WW2)
Field of Dreams (for ghost players only)
Alibi Ike
Elmer the Great
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings
Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige
Soul of the Game
The Winning Team
The Babe
The Babe Ruth Story

and finally a documentary (or 2)....

I See The Crowd Roar: The Story of William Dummy Hoy
Signs of the Time

Two Choices
 

"Only The Ball Was White" and "There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace" cover the Negro League experience, both prewar and postwar. Each documentary is now available in that new fangeled DVD format. The two offerings run somewhat parallel in historical film clips but, I would suggest , that they do stand independent of each other and are terrific. It is difficult to not be "caught up" in the commanding narration of James Earl Jones and Paul Winfield.

The three-part "When It Was a Game" is very good, though it straddles the pre-war and post-war periods. Part 1 consists entirely of color footage of major league players from the 1930s to the 1950s, mostly from home movies taken by fans or other players, with narration by James Earl Jones. Part 2 is mostly also color movies, but it includes some black & white footage going back to the 1920s. Part 3 focuses on the 1960s, so it's all postwar, but still very interesting for just about any baseball fan.

Nice list of movies I've never seen.

I am very pleased to add the newest documentary to the pre-war list. A new film by four-time Emmy winning documentarian Larry Foley debuted in October.

It is currently making the rounds of public television and is being offered on DVD. The title is THE FIRST BOYS OF SPRING, the birth of Spring Training in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

The film is narrated by Billy Bob Thornton with Peter Coyote providing the voice of Waite Hoyt and others. Also featured in the film are prominent historians Charles Alexander (Cobb, Hornsby, McGraw among others), Marty Appel (Slide Kelly Slide), Leigh Montville (The Big Bam), Gerald Wood (Joe Wood), Bill Jenkinson (The Year Babe Hit 104 Homeruns) and Tim Reid. There is at least one Net54er that shows up occasionally in the film too?

The hour long film covers the first trip of Spalding and Anson's Colts in 1886 through the 1920's with some additional material into the 1950's with some Negro League teams still heading to Hot Springs.

There is a nice trailer on youtube and the DVD is available through the University of Arkansas Press for $19.95. The first two printings of the DVD sold out and they now available the third printing.

Thanks for the heads up Mike. I'll be sure to check this one out!!!

Not. Prewar but the battered bastards of baseball on Netflix might be the best documentary I have ever seen. And I watch them fairly often

Go to this site :www.raresportsfilms.com. A lot great vintage films. I got "Play Ball ". This is a 1934 American League Film. Also World Series games from the 1930's etc, etc..

Also the "Home Run Derby" DVD's are great to watch.

Doak Ewing, the guy behing Rare Sportsfilms, is a vintage card collector with a great collection of rare T206 backs, among other things.

The University of South Carolina has an amazing collection of newsreel outtakes, including many of baseball from the 20s through 40s. Plug in "baseball" in the the search function and see what pops up.

http://mirc.sc.edu/