Nothing was going to stop Roy Hobbs from fulfilling his boyhood dream of baseball superstardom. Robert Redford stars in this inspiring fable that begins when 14-year-old Hobbs (Redford) fashions a powerful bat from a fallen oak tree.
Based upon the bizarre shooting incident and subsequent comeback of Philadelphia Phillies player Eddie Waitkus, the story of Roy Hobbs takes some poetic license and embellishes what was truly a strange, but memorable, account of a career lost too soon.
The Natural focuses on the redemption of Roy Hobbs, who figures out that he has something to prove - and sets out to do it. And, as he rounds the bases amidst a shower of sparks in a scene that could only happen in a Hollywood-born field of dreams, he knows he has accomplished his goal and fulfilled his dream.
Roy Hobbs, fictional character, the ambitious and talented but flawed baseball player who is the protagonist of The Natural (1952), the first novel by American writer Bernard Malamud. The character was portrayed by Robert Redford in the 1984 film version of the novel.
The Final Homerun - The Natural (8/8) Movie CLIP (1984) HD
Why did Roy Hobbs stop playing?
Roy is tempted by a beautiful woman and, by allowing himself to be drawn from his “quest,” he is punished by being injured; disabling him from playing the game he loves.
*OK, I'll spoil it for you: Hobbs does strike out in the book version. So maybe having the umpire say “strike” on that first pitch was Levinson's homage to the book. I should ask him about that. *There are those who point out that before 1950, the home team had the option to bat first.
How old was Robert Redford during the filming of The Natural?
Robert Redford was 46 during filming, but he played Roy Hobbs at 19 and 35. In Reel Life: When Roy makes it to the majors, he's 35 years old. In Real Life: Redford was 46 when the film was made, and even plays Roy as a 19-year-old in the movie.
Did Robert Redford do his own hitting in The Natural?
I loved playing baseball and I loved the Boston Red Sox and Ted Williams and I wanted to go in that direction [as a ballplayer] if I could, but never could until this.” Johnson confirms that Redford did all of his own batting for the film, and made some solid hits.
It is significant that after Roy decides not to pursue Iris, he suddenly develops a great craving for food. He is attempting to fulfill himself in a way that Memo and his own self-centered playing cannot; only Iris has the ability to provide the true fulfillment that would end his desire for both food and Memo.
The two eras of the film show Roy Hobbs at age 19 and age 35. Robert Redford was 47 at the time of filming. The filmmakers scouted the country for a stadium to use in game scenes. They needed something nondescript with a pre-World War II feel, and found it in Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium.
When he was young, Redford didn't love school, so he pursued his interests in art and sports. He had a great talent for baseball and spent his years at Van Nuys High School on the baseball team, where his teammate was future pitching legend, Don Drysdale.
The 1984 film The Natural sees Robert Redford's Roy Hobbs shot by Harriet Bird, a mysterious woman who targets him. We break down Harriet's reasoning. The Natural had quite the surprising twist that saw Harriet Bird shoot Roy Hobbs before his big tryout with the Chicago Cubs.
On the way to a tryout with the Chicago Cubs, young baseball phenom Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is shot by the unstable Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey). After 16 years, Hobbs returns to pro baseball as a rookie for the last-place New York Knights.
'That's enough': Robert Redford announces his retirement from acting. Robert Redford is calling it a career after nearly 60 years as one of his generation's most iconic actors. Redford, 81, announced to Entertainment Weekly on Monday that his upcoming film, "The Old Man & The Gun," will be his final acting job.
2. Robert Redford earned a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado. As a boy, Redford had a natural aptitude for anything athletic, and sports were a main focus of his childhood (along with reading, which his parents both encouraged).
Robert Redford has been battling secret heartache many years before his son James Redford passed away last week. The 84-year-old Hollywood legend has now tragically outlived two of his four children, losing son Scott just two months after he was born in 1959.
For decades, Redford's permanent residence has been in Utah, home of his Sundance Institute. He and his artist wife, Sibylle Szaggars, also own a Napa Valley wine-country retreat where they enjoy hobbies and hosting family and friends.
The Natural is a 1984 American sports film based on Bernard Malamud's 1952 novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close, and Robert Duvall.
Finally, Hobbs has just found out from his old hometown girlfriend Iris (Glenn Close) that Hobbs is the father of her son Ted. With all that in place, here is the script to the final sequence in The Natural.
Over nearly 145 years of professional baseball, no player was tougher to strike out than Hall of Fame shortstop Joe Sewell. In 7,132 career at-bats, Sewell heard the umpire say “Strike three” just 114 times.
We then follow the flight of the ball to Hobbs back home on the farm, playing catch with his carbon-copy blonde son as Iris (Glenn Close), presumably now his wife, affectionately looks on. Roy smiles, finally content.
