Next month, "A League of Their Own," celebrates its 20th (!) anniversary. The consummate female baseball flick --which stars Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell and Jon Lovitz -- follows two sisters (Davis and Petty) who join the first female professional baseball league.
The 1992 film, directed by Penny Marshall, quickly became a critical and commercial success. However, while "A League of Their Own" certainly dedicates a lot of screen time to the great American pastime, some of the movie's most memorable scenes happened off the field. Marla Hooch (Megan Cavanagh), the team's homely star hitter, came out of her shell when the girls broke out of their lodgings -- poisoning poor Miss Cuthbert -- and drunkenly sang "It Had To Be You" at the local bar, The Suds Bucket.
While you, diehard "LOTO" fan, may do your own rendition of Marla's performance -- ("I'm singing to Nelson!") -- at karaoke bars and the like, now you can visit The Peaches' old haunt: The Hornville Tavern, in Evansville, Indiana.
Location as Character: In the film, The Peaches spent a great deal of time on the road, traveling to various games. At one point, the girls decided to break out for a little good-time romp at the local watering hole, which was called The Bucket of Suds. And it's a party for the whole team -- Mae (Madonna) and Doris (O'Donnell) showed off their impressive swing dancing; Kit found a handsome fella; and some kid hit on Dottie -- but Marla showed them all up with her smokey rendition of the Frank Sinatra hit in the middle of the club.
Fun Fact: The scene where the team sneaks away was originally set to be filmed at The Hornet's Nest, which is about eight miles from Hornville Tavern. However, the producers felt the bar's recent renovations did not fit the aesthetic they were going for and thus filmed the scene at Hornville.
Directions: By car from Evansville Regional Airport (approximately 9 miles): Head northeast toward Bussing Dr; take a slight right on Bussing Dr; turn left onto IN-57 S; make the 3rd right onto US-41 N; turn left onto E Baseline Rd. Hornville Tavern will be on the right.
Visitor Info: Hornville Tavern is open for lunch and dinner; for more information, head over to the restaurant's website.
This is part of the newly relaunched series, On the Scene, where we take a look at famous movie locations around the world.
↧