Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game tells the story of Roger Sharpe, GQ journalist and real-life pinball wizard who in 1976 helped overturn New York City’s 35-year ban on pinball.
In the 1940s, pinball was outlawed by New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia who claimed the game was one of chance, not skill, and thus a form of gambling. La Guardia made the ban a top priority for the New York Police Department, instructing officers to undertake prohibition-style raids and dump thousands of the offending machines into the Hudson River. Most major cities across the country also outlawed the game including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Thanks to the efforts of GQ journalist and pinball wizard Roger Sharpe, the New York City ban was lifted in 1976 with Kokomo, Indiana the last to legalize the game in 2016.
The movie was written and directed by brothers, Austin and Meredith Bragg, and stars Mike Faist (West SIde Story), Crystal Reed (Teen Wolf) and Dennis Boutsikaris (Bourne Legacy).
Pinball will have its world premiere at the prestigious Hamptons International Film Festival on Saturday, October 8, at 11:15 a.m. in East Hampton, New York, with many of the cast and crew in attendance as well as the film’s subject, Roger Sharpe himself. The film will also screen as an official selection in Indianapolis, Indiana, at the Heartland International Film Festival and in Costa Mesa, California, at the Newport Beach Film Festival. And in November, Pinball will close out the UK’s Raindance Film Festival in London.
You can find out more at the website here, and you can see the teaser trailer in the tweet below:
In the 1940s, pinball was outlawed by New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia who claimed the game was one of chance, not skill, and thus a form of gambling. La Guardia made the ban a top priority for the New York Police Department, instructing officers to undertake prohibition-style raids and dump thousands of the offending machines into the Hudson River. Most major cities across the country also outlawed the game including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Thanks to the efforts of GQ journalist and pinball wizard Roger Sharpe, the New York City ban was lifted in 1976 with Kokomo, Indiana the last to legalize the game in 2016.
The movie was written and directed by brothers, Austin and Meredith Bragg, and stars Mike Faist (West SIde Story), Crystal Reed (Teen Wolf) and Dennis Boutsikaris (Bourne Legacy).
Pinball will have its world premiere at the prestigious Hamptons International Film Festival on Saturday, October 8, at 11:15 a.m. in East Hampton, New York, with many of the cast and crew in attendance as well as the film’s subject, Roger Sharpe himself. The film will also screen as an official selection in Indianapolis, Indiana, at the Heartland International Film Festival and in Costa Mesa, California, at the Newport Beach Film Festival. And in November, Pinball will close out the UK’s Raindance Film Festival in London.
You can find out more at the website here, and you can see the teaser trailer in the tweet below:
