Banning (film)

Last updated

Banning
Banning poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed byRon Winston
Screenplay by James Lee
Story byHamilton Maule
Produced by Dick Berg
Starring Robert Wagner
Anjanette Comer
Jill St. John
Guy Stockwell
James Farentino
Cinematography Loyal Griggs
Edited by J. Terry Williams
Music by Quincy Jones
Production
company
Universal Pictures
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
  • June 30, 1967 (1967-06-30)(Nashville, Tennessee)
  • December 13, 1967 (1967-12-13)(United States)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Banning is a 1967 American Technicolor drama film directed by Ron Winston and starring Robert Wagner, Jill St. John, Gene Hackman, Guy Stockwell and James Farentino. [1]

Contents

Plot

Mike McDermot is a rising golf star on the PGA Tour until he is accused of cheating. He supposedly has offered to split a winner's purse with a competitor, Jonathan Linus, if his opponent deliberately misses a final putt. In fact, the competitor is the one who approached him. McDermot refuses, so Jonathan Linus goes to another pro, Tommy Del Gaddo, whose glory days were behind him. Then they turn in McDermot, accusing him of their crime.

Linus retires from the PGA Tour and marries into a rich family. His wife is the daughter of a wealthy businessman in Arizona; through their money, they are now principals (President and General Manager) of an exclusive golf club, the El Presidente. Del Gaddo becomes the head pro at the club as reward for supporting Linus in winning the Eastern Open.

McDermot, now calling himself Mike Banning, arrives and threatens to expose them, so he is given the assistant pro's job to quiet him. Banning proceeds to lure the club's high rollers to stage a high-wager golf tournament, a Calcutta, in which two-man teams are auctioned off. All money is then put in a pot and split three ways between the teammates and their bidder.

Banning must win this tournament to make enough money, $21,000, to pay off the mob, which had bankrolled his trial on the PGA Tour. He is literally playing for his life (and that of his dentist who actually took out the loan).

Banning knows the President cheats; he plays high-stakes poker, appearing drunk on whiskey while actually drinking iced tea. Another local aristocrat, Angela Barr, wins the highly competitive bidding for Banning's team over the President's daughter. The president knew of Banning's background and had his daughter bid for him for what he was sure would be the winning team.

Before play proceeds, Chris Patton tells the organizing committee that Banning is a former pro. Banning ends up giving up his handicap of 5 to play at scratch. He is informed that Patton provided this information and gets into a fight with him, almost killing him. Patton withdraws from the tournament and is replaced by Linus, now playing with his father-in-law, J. Pallister Young.

The tournament comes down to a sudden-death playoff, just as had happened in the ill-fated attempt to bribe Banning on the tour. On the 17th hole, with a life-saving shot, Banning makes a near impossible shot over a tall stand of trees.

Cast

Reception

Howard Thompson of The New York Times called it "unusual, but noticeably unimpressive". [2]

Legacy

Quincy Jones became the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song from the film "The Eyes of Love."

Home Media

BANNING was released on a region-free Blu-ray in mid-2024 by the Australian label 'IMPRINT Films/ViaVision', in association with Universal Pictures films. The disc utilized a 2k scan of an interpositive.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Snead</span> American golfer (1912–2002)

Samuel Jackson Snead was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for the better part of four decades and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Snead was awarded a record 94 gold medallions, for wins in PGA of America Tour events and later credited with winning a record 82 PGA Tour events tied with Tiger Woods, including seven majors. He never won the U.S. Open, though he was runner-up four times. Snead was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold Palmer</span> American professional golfer (1929–2016)

Arnold Daniel Palmer was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in 1955, he won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and the circuit now known as PGA Tour Champions. Nicknamed "The King", Palmer was one of golf's most popular stars and seen as a trailblazer, the first superstar of the sport's television age, which began in the 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Sarazen</span> American professional golfer (1902–1999)

Gene Sarazen was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s, and the winner of seven major championships. He is one of five players to win each of the four majors at least once, now known as the Career Grand Slam: U.S. Open , PGA Championship , The Open Championship (1932), and Masters Tournament (1935).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Furyk</span> American professional golfer

James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. In 2010, he was the FedEx Cup champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk holds the record for the lowest score in PGA Tour history, a round of 58 which he shot during the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship, and has earned notoriety for his unorthodox golf swing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Armour</span> Scottish-American professional golfer (1896–1968)

Thomas Dickson Armour was a Scottish-born golfer who played primarily in the United States. He was nicknamed The Silver Scot. He was the winner of three of golf's major championships: 1927 U.S. Open, 1930 PGA, and 1931 Open Championship. Armour popularized the term yips, the colloquial term for a sudden and unexplained loss of skills in experienced athletes.

George Alfred Christian Knudson, CM was a Canadian professional golfer, who along with Mike Weir holds the record for the Canadian with the most wins on the PGA Tour, with eight career victories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byron Nelson</span> American professional golfer (1912–2006)

John Byron Nelson Jr. was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time.

Kelvin David George Nagle AM was an Australian professional golfer best known for winning The Open Championship in 1960. He won at least one tournament each year from 1949 to 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chi-Chi Rodríguez</span> Puerto Rican professional golfer (1935–2024)

Juan Antonio "Chi-Chi" Rodríguez was a Puerto Rican professional golfer. The winner of eight PGA Tour events, he was the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert Classic</span> Professional golf tournament in California, United States

The Desert Classic is a professional golf tournament in southern California on the PGA Tour. Played in mid-winter in the Coachella Valley, it is part of the tour's early season "West Coast Swing."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Farentino</span> American actor (1938–2012)

James Farentino was an American actor. He appeared in television, film, and on stage, including The Final Countdown, Jesus of Nazareth, and Dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Kirkwood Sr.</span> Australian golfer (1897-1970)

Joseph Henry Kirkwood Sr. was a professional golfer who is acknowledged as having put Australian golf on the world map.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gay Brewer</span> American professional golfer (1932–2007)

Gay Robert Brewer Jr. was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and won the 1967 Masters Tournament.

Allan George Balding was a Canadian professional golfer, who won four events on the PGA Tour. In 1955, he became the first Canadian to win a PGA Tour event in the United States; Canadians Ken Black, Jules Huot and Pat Fletcher had won PGA Tour events in Canada.

Albert Winsborough Yancey was an American professional golfer who won seven times on the PGA Tour and later played on the Senior PGA Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry McGee</span> American professional golfer (1943–2021)

Jerry McGee was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.

Robert B. Dickson is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Weir</span> Canadian professional golfer (born 1970)

Michael Richard Weir, is a Canadian professional golfer. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He spent over 110 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 2001 and 2005. He plays golf left-handed and is best known for winning the Masters Tournament in 2003, making him the only Canadian man to ever win a major championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brendan Steele</span> American professional golfer (born 1983)

Brendan Dean Steele is an American professional golfer. He played predominantly on the PGA Tour, where he had three tournament victories, prior to joining LIV Golf in 2023.

Chris Patton is an American professional golfer, best known for his large size and for winning the 1989 U.S. Amateur.

References

  1. Levy, Emanuel (2012-05-24). "Banning (1967)". EmanualLevy.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-05. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  2. Thompson, Howard (1967-12-14). "Golfer in the Rough". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2014-09-05.