Beyond The Frame: A League of Their Own
Miroslav Ondříček, ASC, ACK's camera team captures a tracking shot on star Geena Davis for this inspiring 1992 sports drama.
Play ball!
Here’s a shot from the period sports drama A League of Their Own (1992) — directed by Penny Marshall and photographed by Miroslav Ondříček, ASC, ACK — as the cinematographer’s camera team captures a tracking shot on star Geena Davis.
Ondříček and Marshall also collaborated on three others features: Awakenings, The Preacher’s Wife and Riding in Cars with Boys. “Penny has a strong understanding of dialogue, and she recognizes immediately any kind of false tone,” he told American Cinematographer. “She is an excellent listener, and that makes her unusual.”
Marshall presented Ondříček with the ASC International Award in 2004.
In 2012, A League of Their Own was selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry as an important cultural, artistic and historic achievement in filmmaking:
Director Penny Marshall used the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-1954) as a backdrop for this heartfelt comedy-drama. A League of Their Own, featuring an ensemble cast that includes Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell, not only illuminates this fascinating, under-reported aspect of American sports history, but also effectively examines women’s changing roles during wartime. Rich with period detail and equally complex performances—especially Davis as a team ringer and Hanks as the down-on-his-luck coach—Marshall and her company delivered an enjoyably nostalgic film about women’s choices and solidarity during World War II that was both funny and feminist.
