Director/Writer: Robert
Altman
This little movie has been
sweeping the web over the past few days. What makes an instructional industrial
designed to recruit kids to play high school football in 1951 that was
sponsored by Wheaties and Wilson Sporting Goods so special? The simple reason
is that it may very well be the first movie ever directed by master filmmaker
Robert Altman.
Altman is the directing
legend responsible for such cinematic classics as “M*A*S*H”, “McCabe & Mrs.
Miller”, “ Nashville”, “The Long Goodbye”, “The Player”, and “Gosford Park”.
Altman got his start directing industrials such as this one before moving on to
television for 20 years and then feature films. His movies are distinguished by
his frequent use of large casts and overlapping dialogue.
While “Modern Football”
doesn’t have any specific signatures of Altman’s later film work, it is a
surprisingly innovative industrial in terms of artistic style. There’s a
wonderful shot right in the beginning of the short film where Altman zooms in
on the logo for the High School Athletic Association on the arm of a
letterman’s jacket. The football sequences also show a profound understanding
of the game. This is knowledge that served Altman in directing the football
game for the movie “M*A*S*H”.
For a current modern
football fan, this movie is also fascinating to see for the not so modern
practices that were standards in football in 1951. Many of the rules and
terminologies from that time period have changed. I saw a few I’d like to see
brought back. There were many that were just humorous, while others are still
quite common in the day today.
“Modern Football” certainly
isn’t a film announcing the entrance of a man who will eventually become one of
the greatest filmmakers to ever live, but it’s a nice time capsule. Watch it
below.
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