As you have seen with the Athlete and Contributor section, we very rarely separate candidates, but even though the roles on the field were so different, how can we possibly separate the legendary Marx Brothers? You can’t and here we have Horse Feathers, where Groucho plays the President of fictional Huxley College and he begins recruiting for the football program (two of them being Harpo and Chico). Through turns of events that can only happen with the Marx Brothers, all four of them wind up on the gridiron where they score the winning touchdown on the back of a horse drawn wagon. Maybe they should try that in the Canadian Football League?



The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
Horse Feathers (1932)

Actors:
Groucho Marx (Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff)
Harpo Marx (Pinky)
Chico Marx (Baravelli)
Zeppo Marx (Frank Wagstaff)

Roles Portrayed:
Administrator/Players on Huxley College

Why You Should Vote For Them:
There is a lot of Football in this movie and the ending game might be one of the funniest things in fictional sport cinema.

Why You Should Not Vote For Them:
It is such a farce (as per the Marx Brothers) there is nothing remotely believable.

We are going way back for this one. In the 1925 silent movie, The Freshman, we have a “Rudyesque” story where nebbish Harold Lamb joins the College Football team in hope of landing the girl. We guess that College Football was not that competitive back then as not only did he make the team (initially as a tackling dummy) but would lead them to a victory.



The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
The Freshman (1925)

Actor:
Harold Lloyd

Role Portrayed:
College Football Player for Tate University

Why You Should Vote For Him:
He won the game and got the girl. Doesn’t that happen in most sports movies?

Why You Should Not Vote For Him:
It’s a bit cheesy, even for a silent movie.

When you think of Alfred Hitchcock, you think of suspense and not athletics, however in his 1951 film, Strangers on a Train, we have a tennis player involved in a murder plot in what we can only describe as “Hitchcockian”. As good a movie as this was, was the sport of tennis really relevant to this film?



The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
Strangers on a Train (1951)

Actor:
Farley Granger

Role Portrayed:
Tennis Player

Why You Should Vote For Him:
We can’t say that we are exactly tennis fans, but we have a very interesting character here.

Why You Should Not Vote For Him:
The sport of tennis, which although was seen had limited relevance to the plot.

In the original (and vastly superior) Angels in the Outfield, the Pittsburgh Pirates were mired in the midst of a major slump, and foul mouthed Manager, Guffy McGovern gets help through the help of well, as the title would expect angels. As opposed to the remake, this film focuses more on the redemption of the Manager, and without going into too many plot details, the movie is solid, and more fun than many of the biopic films that were normally made about Baseball at the time. Baseball, at its core has always been a magical sport, and this is one of those films that remind us of that.

The Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame is pleased to welcome Guffy McGovern into the Class of 2017.


The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
Angels in the Outfield (1951)

Actor:
Paul Douglas

Role Portrayed:
Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates