Middletown: The Big Game

Directed by E. J. Vaughn

60 minutes / Color
Release: 1982
Copyright: 1982

As Muncie Central and Anderson High prepare to meet for the annual basketball game, a game charged with the spirit of long-established rivalry, THE BIG GAME examines what this competition, and the sport itself, means to the community, the coaches, and most of all to the players themselves.

Inspired by the studies of Robert and Helen Lynd in 1929 and 1935, MIDDLETOWN, a classic six-part documentary series by Academy Award and Emmy winner Peter Davis (HEARTS AND MINDS), explores both the continuity and the change embodied in the people and institutions of one Midwestern community: Muncie, Indiana. In intimate detail, the six films that comprise MIDDLETOWN demonstrate how the society and culture of Muncie, perhaps of the entire American social fabric, have changed less than one might think in the six decades since the Lynds' studies.

"The best scene is not when Morgan goes one on one with Rowray. It's when Morgan goes one-on-one with his guidance counselor. If this powerful segment of MIDDLETOWN changes the life of one such high school basketball player, we should all stand up and cheer."- Buffalo Evening News

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Credits

Peter Davis
E. J. Vaughn

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