A top high school baseball player struggling with the death of his father is thrust back to Boston in the summer of 1941, where his knowledge of WWII puts him and his jazz-crazy girlfriend in grave danger. (2024 Period Piece Quarterfinalist)

SYNOPSIS:

THE GLOVE

Tone & Style: Enchanting time travel thriller centered on two star-crossed teens from different generations who fall in love during the last summer of innocence before America plunges into WWII. And while the tone is warm and comedic, there are many tense moments of life-threatening danger and incredible courage and bravery. The stakes are high, the passions are intense and the pace never lets up in this rollicking and unpredictable story world filled with historical icons, Nazi spies, big band music and thrilling baseball action that takes us onto the field of America's most beloved ballpark.

The antic adventures of BACK TO THE FUTURE, the time travel meet-your heroes of MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, the old school baseball of FIELD OF DREAMS and THE NATURAL and the heartbreaking tension of CASABLANCA combine in a highly cinematic and gripping tale of a young man's deeply emotional journey as the struggles to fit into an unfamiliar time, keep his knowledge of the future a secret and hang onto a love he can't bear to lose.

Story Overview: World War II is raging. Japan has conquered Asia and Hitler has swallowed Europe. But things are different in America. Everybody's jitterbuggin'. The Red Sox and the Yankees are slugging it out. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY is knockin' 'em dead. The cars are hot and the fashions are fabulous. But the good times are about to end. Pearl Harbor is on the horizon. And in this last summer of innocence, two kids from different worlds are about to grow up fast.

Main Characters:

Matt Allison: Top student, ace drummer, star of the Berkeley High baseball team and a lock for Harvard, age 17. Keen interest in history and WWII. Whiz at Jeopardy and Clue. Dad’s death hits him hard, but he’s coping. Naturally gifted, but tends to slack off thinking he’s got it made. Told to challenge himself because adversity makes the man – something he’ll soon find out.

Nell Curley: Whirlwind bobby-soxer and dead ringer for young Katharine Hepburn, age 17. Talks fast, moves fast, drives like a maniac and knows everyone. Loves baseball, big bands, soda shops and Fenway Park. Lives life like a screwball comedy made just for her. Hopeless romantic, dizzy dame and Irish to the core. Certain that Prince Charming will magically appear.

Jack Kennedy: Son of a prominent Boston family destined for greatness., age 24 A close friend of Nell’s, young JFK is torn between protecting Matt and turning him in if what Matt knows about the future can save lives. But after Matt saves Jack’s life in a harrowing incident at Hyannis Port, Jack decides to protect Matt and keep his secret.

Babe Ruth: Age 46. Retired for 6 years, the rowdy and raucous Babe is still fit enough to hit the ball clear out of the park. Another close friend of Nell’s, Babe bets Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams they can’t hit one through Matt during batting practice, gets Matt out of a jam with the Feds and recounts with gusto the legendary Called Shot Home Run.

Grandma: Matt’s loving and feisty grandmother who owns a beautiful old Victorian mansion in Brookline just up the street from Nell’s which reminds Matt of CLUE. Grandma and Nell went to Wellesley together during WWII and remained best friends ever since. And when Matt returns from his adventure in 1941, Grandma finally realizes that Matt was the mysterious boy who stole Nell’s heart all those years ago.

Shakes Monaghan: Brookline’s legendary jive-talking soda jerk and proprietor of The Nook, age 21. A close friend of Nell’s, Shakes schools Matt in the art of 1941 lingo and saves Matt and Nell from an attempted German kidnapping with a timely arrival in his flashy ‘39 Coupe, igniting a deadly game of cat and mouse that tests Matt and Nell’s courage and cleverness to the max.

Jim Curley: Former Mayor of Boston, former Governor of Massachusetts, former US Congressman and Nell’s devoted father who reminds us of Judge Hardy in the Andy Hardy films, age 55. A towering figure in Boston politics, Matt soon understands how Nell knows everyone and is treated like royalty wherever she goes.

Dom DiMaggio: Feisty Red Sox centerfielder and Joe’s baby brother who bears a strong resemblance to Matt, age 24. Nell cons Dom into letting Matt play center to escape the Nazis and the Feds, and standing together in the Sox locker room wear-ing identical uniforms, Matt and Dom could pass as twins. But Dom warns Matt, “Don’t make me look bad, kid.”

Colonel Hans Muller: Lead German agent sent by U-boat to kidnap Matt (“the boy from the future”) and take him to Berlin, age 35. A skilled and relentless operative, Muller’s unfamiliarity with CLUE leads to a wrenching encounter in the library, just like Colonel Mustard.

Marin Allison: Matt’s progressive single Mom and Archeology Professor at UC Berekely, age 45. Loves playing Jeopardy and CLUE with Matt and their nightly contest during and after dinner reveals a lot about their high IQs and deep affection for each other. When Marin goes to Belize to head up a dig and sends Matt to Brookline to spend the summer with Grandma, she gives him a thousand dollars and a debit card to tide him over – both of which play huge roles during Matt’s adventure back in time.

Mr. Cross: Matt’s History teacher and academic advisor, age 45. Applauds Matt’s year-end term paper on the Origins of WWII and calls him one of the best students he’s ever had, but cautions Matt not to slack off senior year thinking Harvard is in the bag. Urges Matt to challenge himself over the summer, try new things and dare to fail because adversity makes the man. Marin and Cross develop a close relationship that pays big dividends in the end.

Agent Sullivan: Tough but fair-minded head of the FBI’s Boston field office, age 35. Becomes involved after the Germans’ failed kidnapping attempt on Matt, which Jack cleverly frames as an attempt on him and Nell in order to protect Matt. But things go haywire when Nell sees the Feds and the Germans at Fenway Park and thinks they’re both after Matt, which leads to a hair raising car chase and a deadly showdown in an abandoned house in Brookline.

And featuring Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa and a host of historical greats.

SYNOPSIS:

17 year-old Matt Allison ends his junior year with a bang, making a dazzling play at shortstop to win the East Bay Championship and getting an A+ on his term paper about the Origins of World War II. But his teacher warns him not to slack off senior year, thinking he’s a lock for Harvard. The death of his father a year ago has left a huge hole in Matt’s life, and he sometimes gets lazy without his Dad around to push him. Matt’s now-single Mom, an Archeology Professor, gives Matt a debit card and a thousand dollars in cash before heading to Belize on a dig and Matt flies to Boston to spend the summer with his Grandma, whose old Victorian house in Brookline reminds him of CLUE.

Suddenly strange things start happening. An old woman at a yard sale down the street gives Matt an old split-fingered baseball glove like it’s the most precious thing in the world. The next day, Matt’s Dad calls to him from an old floor-standing mirror and desperate to reunite, Matt steps through the mirror and suddenly finds himself in 1941. Grandma’s house is all boarded up and having no idea what’s happened, Matt bumps into the irrepressible Nell Curley, 17, a whirlwind bobby-soxer who knows more about baseball than anyone on the planet.

The kids get off to a comically awkward start, and like any 1941 girl worth her salt, Nell grills Matt about big bands and ballplayers in a jazzy slang Matt barely understands. And when Matt struggles to answer even the simplest questions, Nell blows him off. Panicked and desperate and with nowhere else to turn, Matt shows Nell his modern money, debit card and 2024 driver’s license, convinces her he’s from the future, says he’s a ballplayer and a drummer and begs for her help. Nell’s prayers have been answered! The Gods of Hollywood have smiled! So Nell does exactly what Hepburn would do and buys Matt a haircut, kits him out in her brother’s clothes and cons her father, the former Mayor of Boston, into letting Matt stay for the summer. Problem solved! With no way home and nothing left to lose, Matt plunges headlong into Nell’s magical world of big bands, soda shops, fast cars and Fenway Park.

And boy, it’s a doozy. Hamburgers and milkshakes for a dime. “Citizen Kane” at the theater. People on the street in suits and hats. “Buck Rogers” on the radio and Basie 78s on the Victrola. Nell drives her 1940 Plymouth “Hepmobile” convertible like a maniac and smokes Camels like a chimney. And when Nell’s ex-boyfriend Billy Connelly makes an unwanted pass at a country club dance, Matt decks him, Nell swoons and the two star-crossed teens fall hopelessly in love.

Nell’s a Fenway fixture who knows everyone and Matt’s thunderstruck when he meets a retired Babe Ruth, who bets Joe DiMaggio $100 he can’t hit one past Matt during batting practice. Matt’s stunned that Joe’s glove is the exact same glove the old lady gave him at the yard sale, and when Matt fields everything Joe hits his way, Joe lets him keep it. Soon after, Matt’s rattled when he meets young Jack Kennedy. But when he learns Nell’s brother is stationed at Pearl Harbor, the pressure becomes unbearable. Matt tells Nell about the upcoming attack and the war it ignites, and if the Feds find out, they’ll beat the truth out of him and use his knowledge to try to change history, which Matt knows he can’t allow. After an explosive argument that leaves Nell in tears, she finally agrees to keep her big mouth shut in order to keep Matt safe.

At a big party at Jack’s in Hyannis Port, Matt and Nell make love in the dunes, the first time for both. Matt’s never been happier. But as he and Nell swim in the waves, Billy finds a modern $100 tucked in Matt’s empty wallet and plots his revenge. Suddenly all hell breaks loose. Over lunch with Jack at a restaurant in Cambridge, Nell blurts out that Matt knew about Germany’s invasion of Russia a week before it happened. Under intense grilling from Jack, Matt confesses he’s from the future and tells Jack that one day he’ll be President. The conversation is overheard by a German spy and a U-boat off Cape Cod lands a team of German agents with orders to kidnap Matt and bring him to Berlin.

As Matt, Nell and Jack leave a late movie, the Germans pounce. The kids make a harrowing escape and when Jack reports it the Feds, he leaves Matt out of the story to protect him, paints himself as the target and asks the Feds to shadow him so they can catch the Germans red-handed if they try again. Suddenly the Feds arrest Matt for counterfeiting on a tip from the jealous Billy. Nell frantically calls Babe, who storms into the FBI office and says the funny-looking $100 is movie money from a picture he made in Hollywood and he gave it to Matt as a joke. The Feds swallow the story whole and Matt is released.

But the trouble’s not over. Matt, Nell, Jack and Babe go to Fenway and Nell panics when she sees the Feds and the Germans in the stands several rows behind her front row box. Fearing they’re both after Matt, Nell plots a daring escape. They sneak into the Red Sox dugout, tell the team of the danger they’re in and in the bottom of the 9th, Matt takes center field wearing Dom DiMaggio’s uniform and Joe’s glove. Matt makes a spectacular game-ending catch, vanishes through a door in the outfield wall and roars off in the Hepmobile with Nell, desperate to get away.

A wild four-car chase between the Hepmobile, the Germans, the Feds and Jack and Babe in Jack’s convertible leads to Brookline, where Matt and Nell break into Grandma’s abandoned house and Matt uses his knowledge of CLUE to kill the Germans and save Nell’s life. But Matt knows it’s over. He shouldn’t be here and his only choice is to go back where he belongs. The kids say a heart-breaking goodbye worthy of Rick and Ilsa in “Casablanca,” then Matt steps through the mirror and vanishes. Nell desperately tries to follow, but the mirror won’t let her through.

Back in the present, Matt’s heartache eases when he learns Nell lived a long and full life and kept going through the years so she could give him the glove at the yard sale and see him one last time. Nell died peacefully while Matt was back in time, but left him an amazing parting gift: an old manila envelope containing his money, debit card, driver’s license and the title and keys to her beloved Hepmobile. Eight months later, Matt has gotten into Harvard and become a man. And as he takes the field for the start of his senior season, he looks into the pocket of Joe’s old glove and sees Nell waving from her front row box at Fenway, sending him her timeless love.

Commercial Appeal:

Compelling Themes: Going back in time with knowledge that can change history. But will it save lives or cost millions more? And who are you to play God? America in two different eras: worlds apart, but much the same, A boy becoming a man. The power of love and its magical reach across time.

Great Characters: Legendary players and historical greats brought to life like never before. Dynamic mix of teens and adults driven by their own passions and facing tough choices in turbulent times, Bobbysoxers, Nazi spies, hard-nosed Feds and a future President caught in a whirlwind of mystery and intrigue.

An Amazing Story: The golden age of baseball, Hollywood stars, hot cars and big band swing capturing the essence of 1941 on the eve of WWII. Life-threatening danger, close calls, narrow escapes, thrilling plays and a Romeo & Juliet love story for the ages, A powerful and heartwarming movie that will enchant viewers of all ages. Who says there’s no crying in baseball?

Marketing Potential:

THE GLOVE has it all. The Golden Age of baseball. Legendary players and historical greats. Hot vintage cars and big band swing. Nazi spies, high stakes danger and a Romeo & Juliet love story for the ages, all capturing the essence of 1941 as America enjoys its last peaceful summer before plunging into World War II. It’s an extraordinarily powerful and endearing film that will thrill and delight viewers of all ages and has a great chance to stand alongside FIELD OF DREAMS and THE NATURAL as one of the most beloved baseball movies ever made.

“THE GLOVE captures the essence of the 1940s incredibly well. The dialogue, context and setting are totally on point, and all the historical characters are drawn in accurate and amusing ways. The story throbs with a genuine passion for the era and it’s impossible not to get caught up in the world created.” – The Black List. (Nicholl QF)