Hoosiers (1986) on Netflix
In 1951, Norman Dale takes over as coach at a small Indiana high school whose best player has quit, leaving seven players. A teacher wants Jimmy Chitwood left to his studies.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.4/1057,791 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes91%
Trailer
Plot summary
Norman Dale arrives in the rural Indiana town of Hickory, hired by Cletus Summers, the school principal, to teach civics and history and to coach the basketball team. The townspeople, passionate about the game, are sorry that their best player, Jimmy Chitwood, quit the team after the death of the coach who had been a father figure to him. Myra Fleener, another teacher, urges Norman not to recruit Jimmy, wanting him to concentrate on his studies and a future away from Hickory. Only seven players remain on the squad. Norman drills them in fundamentals and conditioning, with no scrimmages or shooting, and requires four passes before a shot. With Cletus recovering from a heart attack, Norman asks Wilbur "Shooter" Flatch, Everett's father and a former Husker, to assist him, provided he stays sober during games and practices.
Cast
- Brad Boyleas Whit Butcher (#43)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Hoosiers (1986)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Shortly after the film's release, five of the actors who portrayed basketball players in it were suspended by the NCAA from their real-life college basketball teams for three games, the NCAA having determined that they had been paid to play basketball, making them ineligible.
- The movie's final game was filmed in Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse, the same gymnasium that hosted the 1954 Indiana state championship, and the last basket in the film was made from virtually the same spot on the floor as Bobby Plump's actual game-winner.
- Unlike the film's plot, the 1954 Milan Indians came into the season as heavy favorites and finished the regular season at 19-2, and the 1952-1953 team had gone to the state semifinals and was considered a powerhouse despite the school's small enrollment.
- Unable to secure enough extras for the final scenes even after casting calls through the Indianapolis media, the filmmakers invited two local high schools to move a game to Hinkle Fieldhouse; Broad Ripple and Chatard, the alma mater of Maris Valainis who played Jimmy Chitwood, obliged.
- Angelo Pizzo and David Anspaugh shopped the script for two years before finding investment, and the financiers then approved a budget of only $6 million, forcing the crew to hire most of the cast playing the Hickory team locally; Gene Hackman predicted the film would be a "career killer".
- Jerry Goldsmith scored the film with a hybrid of orchestral and electronic elements set against its 1950s setting, and tied the music to the action by using recorded hits of basketballs on a gymnasium floor as additional percussion sounds.
- The score gained Jerry Goldsmith an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score, though he ultimately lost to Herbie Hancock for Round Midnight.
