No one can predict which films will, over time, take on a life of their own and become classics that fans will watch over and over again, and then share with their children as time goes on. But “The Sandlot” (1993) has now become one of those movies. It’s a nostalgic coming-of-age comedy about a group of neighborhood boys playing baseball on a sandlot in the summer of 1962. Now a “cult classic,” critic Roger Ebert compared it to a summertime version of “A Christmas Story,” based on the tone and narration of both films.
Fans of the movie have favorite lines that have made their way into the popular lexicon, like “There’s heroes and there’s legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die,” or “You’re killin’ me, Smalls!” are just two of many. In fact, “Legends Never Die: The Sandlot Story,” a documentary released in August that takes a look back at the movie, uses that first line in its title.
“The Sandlot” initially made about $33 million at the box office, but has since pulled in an estimated $76 million worldwide in VHS and DVD sales, according to USA Today. Its popularity only seems to increase as time goes on.
Cathleen Summers, a long-time Malibu resident, was executive producer of “The Sandlot.” (Yes, there actually were a few female movie producers in the ’80s and ’90s. Even in 2016, according to research reported to the “Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film,” only 17 percent of all executive producers were women. )
When asked about her film’s 25th anniversary this year, Summers said in a phone interview. “It’s phenomenal … Fans tell us that the movie was their childhood and they want to share that experience, that emotion with their kids.”
Summers, Evans and eight original cast members attended a special 20th anniversary pre-game event at the Salt Lake City Bees Stadium in 2013, and said, “There was a line of people waiting for autographs that went around the stadium three times. We signed autographs from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.” The movie was mostly filmed in and around Salt Lake City.
The next day, the entourage visited the original sandlot location, which is now designated as the first historical film location in Utah’s history, and Summers said there’s now a plaque there that includes her and Evans’ name, thanking them for bringing the film to Utah. She was told that tourists come to Salt Lake City asking to see places featured in the film.
Her trip was part of a Major League Baseball and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment partnership to celebrate the 20th, and now the 25th, anniversary of “The Sandlot” throughout the baseball season. Fans come out to watch the game, followed by a screening of the movie.
“The Sandlot” influenced some of today’s major league baseball players.
“Some teams (including the Yankees and the Brewers) have recently recreated and filmed their own scenes from Sandlot and posted them online,” Summers said.
Her role as executive producer came about when she was already working on one film for Warner Brothers, but was asked repeatedly by Fox to work on this project. Fox wanted strong support for Evans, a first-time director, and thought Summers was the right person to work with him and stick to the $7 million budget.
Eventually, Fox won Summers over.
“I liked that it’s about baseball and friendship. I played on our neighborhood sandlot team as a pitcher and the only girl,” she said. “There was a lot I related to.”
The producers resented having Summers around at first.
“They thought I was the studio spy,” she said.
As the executive producer, she made them recast several of the young actors.
“It’s an ensemble cast, and each person has to have a distinct look,” she said. “The original cast of boys looked too similar to each other.”
She also encouraged the honing of the script.
“You’re dealing with kids and dogs and all this pressure to get it done,” Summers described. “I gave the director feedback, like ‘The kids need to be more goofy and kid-like.’
She recognized that “Child actors needed to be given the freedom to be themselves without being reined in too much—by letting them have fun and be open. That was when the movie started to blossom into the amazing thing it became,” Summers said. “It became about kids being kids.”
Summers said this year is also the 25th anniversary of “Sleepless in Seattle,” a film she and husband Patrick Crowley worked on. She and Crowley are a real power couple when it comes to movie producing: Summers is also known for the two Stakeout movies, while Crowley produced two of the Jurassic Park movies, four of the Jason Bourne movies, two Robocop movies, and many others. The two have been together and lived in Malibu since 1980.
