Mickey Mantle: The American Dream Comes To Life

It has often been noted--but it bears repeating--that sports stars rarely good interviewees make. Somehow the ability to send a ball over the left field fence, or throw the long bomb for a game winning touchdown, does not, ipso facto, make one a sparkling personality in front of the camera. Or, to put it another way: Sir John Gielgud talking about knitting would still be interesting. Mickey Mantle, on the subject of anything other than baseball, would not be. To its credit, this program is not a talking heads interview. On the contrary, it is a very slick, and fairly entertaining production. Footage from the '50s and early '60s, together with songs from the period, help offset Mantle's rather lusterless stories. All of the highlights of Mantle's impressive career are covered here, as well as footage of his retirement from baseball on March 1, 1969. With the popularity of the book The Mick, this video is bound to share the same popularity; and if general audiences might not find it to their liking, baseball fans are sure to love the adolescent stories about Billy (Martin), Whitey (Ford), Casey (Stengel), and Mickey (Mantle). Recommended. (Available from: Baseball Legend Video, 120 Montgomery St., Suite 2350, San Francisco, CA 94111.)