''Night Game'' is a 1989 American
crime thriller
Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...
filmed in
Galveston
Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...
and
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. It stars
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider (; November 10, 1932 – February 10, 2008) was an American actor and amateur boxer. Described by AllMovie as "one of the most unique and distinguished of all Hollywood actors", he gained fame for his leading and supporting ...
as a detective who must solve a series of murders. Released on September 15, 1989 by Epic Productions, the film was written by Spencer Eastman and directed by
Peter Masterson
Peter Masterson (born Carlos Bee Masterson Jr.; June 1, 1934 – December 18, 2018) was an American actor, director, producer, and writer.
Life and career
Masterson often worked with his cousin, writer Horton Foote. Acting from the mid-1960s ...
.
Plot
A number of young women are found dead on or around the beaches of Galveston and the one thing they all have in common is that they were murdered when
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
ace pitcher Silvio Baretto (an
amalgamation
Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form.
Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal
**Pan am ...
of real-life pitchers
Bob Knepper
Robert Wesley Knepper (born May 25, 1954) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. From 1976 to 1990, he pitched 15 seasons for the San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros, earning two All-Star appearances as well as the 1981 NL Come ...
and
Juan Agosto
Juan Roberto Agosto Gonzalez (born February 23, 1958) is a Puerto Rican former relief pitcher who played for the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals and the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). In 13 ...
) pitches and wins a night game at the
Astrodome
The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...
. Additionally, each victim had her throat slashed by some sort of knife or hook.
Scheider plays former
minor league baseball player turned Galveston homicide detective Mike Seaver. Seaver is a staunch
Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division, having moved to the div ...
fan and is the only person on the case who begins to realize the coincidence of the deaths coming after Sil Barretto's night game wins in the Dome.
After 95 minutes of sleuthing, Seaver ultimately realizes that the murderer is a disgruntled former Astros pitcher named Floyd Epps. Epps had lost his pitching hand in a minor league bus accident and now wears a hook. He personally, if illogically, blames Sil Baretto for his misfortune and decides that his murders on the same night as Baretto's wins will steal the headlines from his former teammate.
The penultimate scene features Seaver shooting and killing Epps at a
Galveston beach front restaurant. Epps has been attempting to murder Seaver's fiancee, Roxy, but the swings of his hook prove to be as wild as his mental state, and he fails. The final scene of the film features Sil Barretto walking off the mound before the start of a game in the Astrodome to lead the entire stadium in a standing ovation for the newly married Seaver and Roxy who are standing behind the dugout.
Cast
*
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider (; November 10, 1932 – February 10, 2008) was an American actor and amateur boxer. Described by AllMovie as "one of the most unique and distinguished of all Hollywood actors", he gained fame for his leading and supporting ...
as Detective Mike Seaver
*
Karen Young as Roxy
*
Richard Bradford as Nelson
* Matt Carlson as Diddee
* Michelle Cochran as Cindy Baretto
* Alex Garcia as Sil Baretto
*
Paul Gleason
Paul Xavier Gleason (May 4, 1939 – May 27, 2006) was an American film and television actor. He was known for his roles on television series such as ''All My Children'' and films such as ''The Breakfast Club'', ''Trading Places'', and ''Die ...
as Broussard
*
Carlin Glynn
Carlin Glynn (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer and retired actress. She is the mother of actress Mary Stuart Masterson.
Life and career
Glynn was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended Mirabeau B. Lamar High School in Houston, Texas ...
as Alma
*
Rex Linn
Rex Maynard Linn (born November 13, 1956) is an American film and television actor. He is best known domestically for playing the role of Sgt. Frank Tripp in the CBS drama ''CSI: Miami'' and more recently for playing Kevin Wachtell in the televi ...
as Epps
* Alex Morris as Gries
* Anthony Palmer as Mendoza
*
Lane Smith
Walter Lane Smith III (April 29, 1936 – June 13, 2005) was an American actor. His well-known roles included newspaper editor Perry White in the ABC series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', Walter Warner in ''Son in Law'', coll ...
as Witty
*
Renee O'Connor
Evelyn Renee O'Connor (born February 15, 1971) is an American actress, producer, and director, known for the role of Gabrielle on the television series '' Xena: Warrior Princess''.
Early life
Born in Houston, and raised in suburban Katy, Texas, ...
as Lorraine Beasley
* James Black as Dale
Critical reception
Upon its release, ''Night Game'' was neither a critical nor a box office success. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' review of the movie on September 16, 1989 read, "Maybe Roy Scheider should go back to chasing sharks. His career has taken a long, slow dive from his days as the harassed police chief in ''
Jaws
Jaws or Jaw may refer to:
Anatomy
* Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth
** Mandible, the lower jaw
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker''
* ...
'' and the tortured Broadway director in ''
All That Jazz''. In fact, it seems to have hit bottom in ''Night Game''." The review further stated, "It's hard to see what could have been done to liven up ''Night Game'', short of having someone run into the Galveston Police Department yelling 'Shark!' Too bad no one does."
Notes
The movie was filmed entirely in Galveston and Houston and features such landmarks as the
Galveston Seawall
The Galveston Seawall is a seawall in Galveston, Texas, that was built after the Galveston hurricane of 1900 for protection from future hurricanes. Construction began in September 1902, and the initial segment was completed on July 29, 1904. From ...
, Galveston Cotton Exchange (which is seen as the fictional Galveston Police headquarters), the San Luis Hotel, the
Balinese Room
The Balinese Room was a famous nightclub in Galveston, Texas, United States built on a pier stretching 600 feet (183 m) from the Galveston Seawall over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. For decades a dance hall and illegal casino, the Baline ...
(where Epps is killed),
Galveston County Daily News
''The Daily News'', formerly the ''Galveston County Daily News'' and ''Galveston Daily News'', is a newspaper published in Galveston, Texas, United States. It was first published April 11, 1842, making it the oldest newspaper in the U.S. state of ...
compound (including some of the police station scenes depicting the detective office space), the former Broadway Theater, and the
Gulf Freeway
Interstate 45 (I-45) is a major Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Texas. While most Interstate routes which have numbers ending in "5" are cross-country north–south routes, I-45 is comparatively short, with the ...
. The poster for the movie features a shot of
Tiger Stadium in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
during the 1984
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
instead of the Houston Astrodome. Roy Scheider portrayed a Detroit player in a prior baseball film, ''
Tiger Town
''Tiger Town'' is a 1983 American made-for-television sports drama film and is the first television film produced for the Disney Channel. It was awarded a CableACE Award in 1984 for Best Dramatic Film. The film stars Roy Scheider as Billy Young, ...
''.
Behind the scenes
The movie was covered in the July 1989 Houston Astros program on pages 58 and 59. An author is not listed.
''"
Glenn Davis has proven repeatedly that he has a flair for the dramatic. With his consistent game-winning RBIs, one might say he almost performs on cue. And in August, he will prove it again, not only to Astros fans, but across America, when he belts a homer in the upcoming movie, ''Night Game''. Parts of the movie were filmed in the Astrodome last year and director Peter Masterson says Davis proved to be the man he needed for a tricky plot twist. 'We needed an Astro to hit a home run and Davis was the one that hit it, so he got in the movie,' laughed Masterson in a call from his New York home."''
''"Night Game" was the first movie in years to be filmed in the Astrodome, joining "
Brewster McCloud
''Brewster McCloud'' is a 1970 American black comedy film directed by Robert Altman. The film follows a young recluse (Bud Cort, as the title character) who lives in a fallout shelter of the Houston Astrodome, where he is building a pair of wing ...
", a peculiar 1971
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New H ...
film largely shot in the stadium, "
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training
''The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training'' is a 1977 American sports comedy-drama film and a sequel to the 1976 feature film '' The Bad News Bears''.
Plot
This film picks up the Bears' career a year after their infamous second-place finish i ...
", and "Murder at the World Series", an
ABC-TV movie of the week that featured the Astros in a World Series before they had even won a division championship. This newest movie is also a murder mystery. Roy Scheider plays a Galveston detective who is cheering for the Astros in the midst of a tight pennant race. But one problem, he is assigned to track down a serial killer. And Scheider is discovering that the murders take place on the same night that Houston wins games.''
''"Night Game" was originally scripted to be set in San Francisco, but Masterson, a Houston native, who has also made "
The Trip to Bountiful
''The Trip to Bountiful'' is a 1985 American drama film directed by Peter Masterson and starring Geraldine Page, John Heard, Carlin Glynn, Richard Bradford and Rebecca De Mornay. It was adapted by Horton Foote from his 1953 play of the same ...
" and wrote "
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'' is a musical with a book by Texas author Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall. It is based on a story by King that was inspired by the real-life Chicken Ranch in La Grange ...
", decided to bring the movie to Texas. 'It seemed more interesting to bring it to Houston. A lot of movies are made in San Francisco and not as many in Houston or Galveston,' the director said. 'I think it worked out better; it's a different kind of locale.' Critical to the movie was the availability of the Dome, he said. Filming during the games was limited to capturing crowd reaction, wide-angle shots of the teams and the occasional player at bat.
Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
outfielder
Mike Marshall was, like Davis, expected to hit a homer, Masterson said. But the director found that dingers in the Dome aren't all that common. 'We tried our best, but he didn't cooperate,' Masterson smiled, admitting that he had to resort to footage of a Marshall single and 'we cut real quick after the crack of the bat to crowd shots.
''Much more Dome footage will involve players no one is familiar with though. Masterson said former Astro Norm Miller, now a team executive, arranged for squads of amateur players to imitate the pros. 'After games ended, we got the field. We simulated some on-the-field stuff and got the close ups we needed,' Masterson recalled. 'We worked until dawn every night. As soon as it got too light, we'd have to quit.' In addition to present and past Astro stars, Houstonians will also recognize one more local figure in the movie. Bob Allen, the sports director at
KTRK-TV
KTRK-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on Bissonnet Street ...
Channel 13 plays the Astros' play-by-play broadcaster. Masterson said the anchorman 'did a really good job.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
Night Game trailer
{{Houston Astros
Films directed by Peter Masterson
1989 films
1989 crime drama films
1980s sports films
American crime drama films
American baseball films
Films set in Houston
Films set in Texas
Films shot in Houston
Films shot in Texas
Galveston, Texas
Houston Astros
American police detective films
Films scored by Pino Donaggio
1980s English-language films
1980s American films