In 2003, I was living in St. Louis Missouri; I’d relocated there after my job in the L.S. Ayres’ advertising department was eliminated when the store closed. My new job with Famous Barr, the St. Louis department store, was also in the advertising department. My apartment was 8 blocks from the store, so I often walked to work. One day, I found that the bar I passed on my way home from work had pool tables and Rolling Rock beer. It became my bar of choice. While on the way home from work one weary workday, I encountered a lot of excitement. Someone barred my passage, saying that “the set was closed.” I challenged that person: “Hey: This is a public street, and you’re impeding my progress to my home!” Then, I ducked into the bar to have a Rolling Rock.
The street had been blocked off to vehicle traffic because director David Anspaugh was filming a movie. I did not know who Anspaugh was, nor did I know the name of his film, but I saw vintage cars from the 1940s and 50s had been trucked in and distributed about the closed street, and some of the businesses were transformed to resemble 1950s establishments. Since the filming site was on my way home, I spent quite a bit of time on the set. I took pictures of the people filming and the sets, and of the actors, some of whom would step into the bar for an occasional libation. I have a picture of Gerard Butler, one of the stars of the film, and lots of pictures of the old cars, which were as shiny as if they were new. Two years later, in 2005, “The Game Of Their Lives” was released.
The 1950 FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) World Cup was held in the city of Belo Horizonte, in southeastern Brazil; The United States’ World Cup soccer team was an underdog entry into the competition. The filming of many parts of “The Game Of Their Lives” was in St. Louis ostensibly because five of the team members were from St. Louis, four of whom were from “The Hill,” an area in St. Louis where the inhabitants were primarily Italian. Many of the actors were chosen for their ability to play soccer. Gerard Butler, a Scotsman who grew up playing soccer, played goalkeeper Frank Borghi in the film. Borghi’s goalkeeping helped to seal the United States’ “1-nil” (one goal to none) victory over “soccer powerhouse” England.
David Anspaugh’s direction of the film was based on a screenplay written by a friend he had met when the two were students at Indiana University in Bloomington. Angelo Pizzo’s screenplay was based on the book, “The Game Of Their Lives,” written by Geoffrey Douglas. Pizzo also wrote the Indiana favorite “Hoosiers,” as well as “Rudy.”
On Friday, June 12th, the United States will go into soccer-battle against Paraguay, in a group D first round match for the 2026 World Cup. The game will be held at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood California. (I’ve lived there, too.) The U.S. is not favored in this match, but then: miracles, happen, right? In 1980, during the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid New York, the underdog United States’ hockey team defeated the powerful Soviet team. That game came to be called “The Miracle on Ice.”
I don’t know if my shenanigans at the filming site of “The Game Of Their Lives” affected the film; it was not well-received. But the story is uplifting, nonetheless; we can hope that it will be repeated in 2026.
cjon3acd@att.net