Los Pequenos Gigantes (The Little Giants) tells the story of the 1957 Little League World Series champions, a team from Monterrey, Mexico, the first from outside the United States to take home that trophy. Filmed in Mexico and the US two years after the events it depicts, the movie is unusual for featuring the children and coach as actors playing themselves. While poor performances might be expected, in fact the only cringe-worthy turn comes from the team’s American-expat “manager,” who speaks in tin-eared English-accented Spanish. The boys do a fine job representing themselves, as does the coach, the drama’s central character, whose background and motivations unfold slowly and provide a drama within the larger drama.
The film is unusual in a couple of other ways. The director and co-author of the screenplay, Hugo Butler, was an academy-award nominated screenwriter who served in the US military in World War II before falling victim to America's post-war Communist witch-hunt. Blacklisted in Hollywood, he moved to Mexico and worked on a number of projects such as this, as well as teaming-up with another expatriate filmmaker, one of the world’s great auteurs, Luis Buñuel. In putting this film together, Butler was able to take liberal advantage of stock footage featuring his actors, such as clips from real games, a meeting at the White House with President Dwight Eisenhower, the homecoming airport reception and parade in Monterey, and a meeting with Mexican President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines.
Butler avoids sentimentality and jingoism and in his presentation of themes of purpose, resolve, resilience, camaraderie, and national pride is deliberately understated. This stands in contrast to the excessively melodramatic English-language Disney remake (The Perfect Game, 2008), featuring a cast of children seemingly wise beyond their years. For a more sensitive and genuine presentation of this story, seek out Los Pequenos Gigantes.
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