This is the original review of North Dallas Forty by Siskel & Ebert on "Sneak Previews" in 1979. All of the segments pertaining to the movie have been included.
One of the best sports movies ever. The beginning of the movie where Nolte is stumbling out of bed in excruciating pain is as real as it gets. I worked in a bank on the ground floor and I believe upstairs had a few doctor's offices. One morning, I remember seeing Earl Campbell getting on an elevator and he had to be helped on by 2 people. Prime example of the costs of playing pro football.
Wow, what they said about North Dallas Forty is even more true of the NFL now. That movie sounds like it was way ahead of it's time. There was some good dialogue in the these clips. Interested in seeing the movie now.
Everyone knows this wasn’t fiction. They knew the players being represented by the actors. It exposed the dirty underside of pro football. It’s why you don’t see it anymore.
Wow, I didn't know these 2 went back this far. This was a great movie; much more so for football fans which Siskel & Ebert don't seem to be from the remark that this film could be about any other industry
Dave Meggyesy's "Out of their League" is an amazing book about a progressive intellectual who happened to be a linebacker for Syracuse and the Cardinals in the NFL. Can't recommend the book enough.
The book on which this film is based was written by a guy who played for Dallas in the mid to late 1960s, which is when they started to become successful. It is interesting that I recently happened to see a segment on the 1971 Super Bowl champion Cowboys where Bob Lilly, Duane Thomas and Roger Staubach each explained what they were paid and how Tex Schramm manipulated them to accept pay levels that were unbelievably low in comparison to other players on other teams…. This movie is very true to life….
