Regardless of your personal opinion on it, there is no denying that Citizen Kane is one of the most iconic films in industry history. Besides being considered the greatest movie of all time by many, it maintained a strong 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Until now, anyway. Recently, the site uncovered a contemporary, negative review of the film by the Chicago Tribune's Mae Tinée headlined "Citizen Kane Fails to Impress Critic as Greatest Ever Filmed", which has since dropped it down to a mere 99% Fresh as Paddington 2 claims its rightful throne.
What does this have to do with football, you ask? Well, nothing. But since this is a football sub, let's connect it to the sport we love.
In 1926, Tinée had more positive thoughts about a certain film. Titled One Minute to Play, it was a football movie that marked the acting debut for a young NFL superstar named Red Grange.
Before diving into this, let's clear one thing up: Mae Tinée was not an actual person. "Mae Tinée" is a pseudonym used by film critics at the Chicago Tribune for their reviews (get it? Matinee?); one reviewer who used the title was Maurine Dallas Watkins, who went on to write the stage play Chicago that would become an award-winning musical.[1] In other words, the Mae Tinée that reviewed Citizen Kane might not be the same who covered One Minute to Play. That being said, we're going to roll with this story anyway because football is football.
Grange, Barnstorming Tours, and the Movies
The year was 1926. Red Grange had just finished a grueling rookie season in the NFL that saw him play 10 games in an 18-day stretch as part of a nationwide barnstorming tour, followed by a second tour in the winter. The tours would go down in NFL history as the spark that brought the league into national prominence (though its actual importance is debated, but that's a story for another time), and Grange spearheaded the charge with his superstar status.
But Grange had long possessed the acting potential even before he put on a Bears uniform. During his senior year at Illinois, rumors circulated about what he was going to do after graduation which included going into Hollywood or even running for Congress. Eventually, he chose to head into the NFL and signed with the Bears shortly after his final college game. Incidentally, the pro opportunity came before his senior year when he went to a movie theater to watch a film and met its owner C.C. Pyle, who would also work as his agent in the NFL.[2]
Grange's decision excited some but pissed off others (especially in the college football world). For Tribune writer Westbrook Pegler, he expressed support for his decision and wrote, "To be an imitation writer or a fake movie actor would surely be less virtuous than becoming a real football player." Ironically, Grange would be a player, a writer, and an actor in his life.
In December 1925, shortly after Grange's sixth pro game against the New York Giants (a game that would help save the Giants franchise with just his name recognition), he and Pyle stayed in the city to check out endorsement deals. In a publicity stunt, Pyle pulled out a blank check and wrote in $300,000 before revealing it was a movie contract; the next day, The New York Times reported the Arrow Production Company was interested in teaming up with Grange.[3]
As the fall tour wore on, however, things started to fall apart because—believe it or not—10 games in 18 days is a lot of football for the body. In a shutout loss to the Pittsburgh All-Stars just four days after the Giants game, Grange's arm (which had ballooned to nearly twice its size) ruptured a blood vessel and tore a ligament. The next day, the Motion Picture Owners' Association of America announced that $300,000 check had bounced, meaning Grange's newest movie project would be prohibited from playing in theaters.[4] The Bears got sued after skipping a game to heal up the injured roster, a blood clot formed in Grange's arm that almost killed him, and the tour ended in shambles.[2]
After actually having time to rest, the winter tour in Florida and westward went significantly better for Grange and the Bears. When they reached California in mid-January, the Bears took on the Los Angeles Tigers in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum; the Tigers were led by Washington star George "Wildcat" Wilson, who idolized Grange and signed up for the Tigers just to get a chance to play against him. Grange and Wilson struck up a friendly rivalry of sort as they would play each other three more times on the tour, with Wilson being the captain of a different team in each meeting.
I covered the tours in closer detail in a three-part series back in 2019, so interested readers will be directed there: Part 1 (Grange's final college season and joining the NFL), Part 2 (the fall tour), Part 3 (the winter tour).
Lights, Camera, Action
When the winter tour ended, Grange returned to his hometown of Wheaton before heading back to LA to begin movie production.[2]
Titled One Minute to Play and produced by FBO Studios (which later became RKO Pictures), Grange played Red Wade, a high school football star who finds himself attending the wrong college and defying his father's orders to quit the sport. Yes, there is romance. Yes, the dad has a change of heart.[2]
Wilson also joined the filming, when it was under the working title The Halfback, as one of the opposing players in the climactic game. Since the movie takes place in the Midwest and in the fall but it was filmed in California in the summer, director Sam Wood was unsure on how to get proper extras in the right attire. Pyle helped out by advertising the "game" as a genuine matchup between Grange and Wilson and adding fans who showed up in fall clothing would receive free admission; 15,000 showed up.[2][5]
To quote Grange's autobiography on the filming process:[2]
When I reported for work at the old FBO Studios, now known as RKO, Ed King, the head man in charge of production, really put out the welcome mat. After I was assigned to a comfortable dressing room, he took me on a personally conducted tour of the lot. Except for King and the other studio officials at FBO, no one else in Hollywood paid much attention to me. Several big names from the athletic world had already appeared in films, but failed to make much of an impression on the movie-going public. There were many who did not expect me to fare any better.
[...]
The people at FBO were all very considerate and co-operative. Our director, Sam Wood, and script writer, Byron Morgan, were especially helpful. Wood and Morgan teamed up to do many of the early screen successes which starred such big names as Gloria Swanson and Wallace Reid. I became particularly fond of Sam Wood and often thought he would have made a great football coach because he could get a lot out of you the easy way. During my first summer in Hollywood I rarely did anything but work. The only relaxation I had was when Director Wood let me off early a few afternoons to watch the Los Angeles Angels play ball.
Making One Minute To Play was the worst drudgery I'd ever experienced. It took us a little better than four weeks of actual shooting time to complete the movie. To do the football sequences I spent ten straight scorching hot days in front of the cameras from dawn to sundown in full football regalia. By the time I got back to the hotel at night I cared about nothing except falling into bed. I was so tired and bored that I counted the days until the film was completed so I could get back to Wheaton.
While working in the picture I had no idea how it was turning out. I performed my job every day without keeping an account of the story line. Although I was shown a few of the rushes, I didn't see the finished product until it premiered at Chicago's Rialto Theatre on October 4, 1926, some three months later. The Rialto was a top movie-vaudeville house in those days, and I appeared in person on the stage for four shows in place of the regularly scheduled acts the first day the film played there.
The movie would turn out to be "surprisingly good", as Grange wrote, and did well at the box office.[2] While the off-field storyline received some criticism, the football scenes garnered unanimous praise, with a writer at the Hartford Courant deeming it "unquestionably the most authentic and thrilling college film ever made."[6][7]
As for Mae Tinée:[8]
Red Proves Screen Star as Well as Football
This picture definitely places "Red" Grange as one who doeth all things well. He can play football, he can deliver ice, AND, you followers of the pigskin, he can ACT!
Maybe you thought that, because he is shy—he is, you know—the clicking camera would make him faint, or cut up didoes. Well, it doesn't. He takes to movie acting like a baby to its bottle, and is, I'm sure all the girls will agree, just as un-self-conscious and sweet as that baby. (Which is where I become unpopular with "Red." One sacrifices much to truth.)
"One Minute to Play" is from the story by Byron Morgan, and is an up and coming football film that keeps your interest on its toes. It details the adventures of a youth whose football record at high school has been better than his class marks and whose father sends him away to college only after the lad has agreed to play no football there.
Because—well, for several reasons—he breaks his word and at the most crucial moment of the team's career, Father descends on the scene and starts in working havoc, succeeding well, up to a given point, but after that—no mo'! The picture ends with an honest to goodness game that is considerable of a sensation.
Mr. Grange has had splendid direction and his supporting cast is fine. I liked everybody in it immensely, including one dog that is SOME dog!
If you've never seen "Red" Grange play football, now's your chance, for he plays it like everything in this picture[.]
The success of One Minute to Play led to some inquiries about Grange going into acting for good, but he was adamant about sticking to football. As he wrote:[2]
Shortly after I returned home from Hollywood after completing One Minute To Play, I had a pretty good indication of how the picture turned out. I received several congratulatory wires from the top studio brass telling me how pleased they were with my work and that in their opinion the film was one of the best they had ever produced. After the movie was released in the fall, Mr. Joseph P. Kennedy, who had a control ling interest in FBO, tried to talk me into giving up football to devote full time to making movies for his company. I refused his flattering offer on the grounds that I considered myself a football player by profession and not an actor. Besides, I still had a contract to play another year of football for Charlie Pyle and had no intention of running out on him. Mr. Kennedy was disappointed in my decision, but did not press me further.
Still, he would make some more movies over the next few years including the motorsports-focused A Racing Romeo and the action serial The Galloping Ghost. Grange concluded his autobiography's chapter about moviemaking with the following:[2]
In looking back upon my experiences making motion pictures and appearing briefly in vaudeville, I've always felt it represents one of the most memorable and worth-while chapters in my life. When I first reported for work in the film capital back in 1926, I was a shy, bashful, small-town boy despite the national prominence I had achieved for my football playing. Facing cameras, live audiences in the theaters, and mixing with all the stimulating people connected with show business did something for me. It gave me confidence and poise and made me feel a little bit more like a man of the world.
References
[1] 10 things you might not know about film critics by Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkofer, Chicago Tribune, April 14, 2013
[2] The Red Grange Story: An Autobiography by Red Grange and Ira Morton (1953)
[3] Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football by John M. Carroll (1999)
[4] Illinois Star Booed as He Is Taken From Game; Pittsburgh Wins, 24-0 by the United News and Associated Press, The Daily Times, December 11, 1925
[5] Grange Faces Wilson Again on Gridiron from the Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1926
[6] Football Star Scores in Fast Moving Film; 'Paradise' at Garrick by Agnes Taaffe, The Minneapolis Star, October 15, 1926
[7] "One Minute to Play" Stars 'Red' Grange At The Capitol from the Hartford Courant, October 10, 1926
[8] "Men of Purpose" Is War in All of Its Horror and Heroism by Mae Tinée, Chicago Tribune, October 4, 1926
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