Wm.son#CaseyAtTheBat #DeWolfHopper #OneHundredThreeYears
DeWolf Hopper recites the poem, "Casey at the Bat" by E.L. Thayer
"DeWolf Hopper was a much, much larger-than-life actor (6'5") who is said to have performed Casey at the Bat over 10,000 times. He was a titanic stage presence who (as you will see) chewed scenery with gusto...which was just how they did it in the 19th century American theater.
He was a lifelong baseball nut (NY Giants fan) who would often perform the poem as his curtain call. He actually played Casey in a 1916 silet. The ladies loved him despite his alopecia (yes, that's a wig): he married and divorced six times.
This is a Deforest Phonofilm...basically it was a demo to try and sell studios on the Deforest talkies technology. But alas Phonofilm was supplanted by Vitaphone and other, better options."
It was brand new back then so you can appreciate the delivery!
