Squeeze Play!

For other uses, see Squeeze play (disambiguation).

Squeeze Play!
The DVD Cover for 'Squeeze Play!'
Directed by	Matthew Diamond
Written by	Lloyd Kaufman Charles Kaufman Haim Pekelis
Produced by	Michael Herz Lloyd Kaufman
Starring	Jim Harris Jennifer Hetrick Rick Gitlin Helen Campitelli Al Corley
Cinematography	Richard Hicks
Distributed by	Troma Entertainment
Release date	June 1979
Running time	88 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$115,000

Squeeze Play! is a 1979 comedy film directed by Matthew Diamond.

Plot

A group of New Jersey women, upset over their boyfriends' tendency to pay more attention to softball than their love lives, decide to beat them at their own game...literally. The girls form their own softball team and challenge the men to a match out on the field. The men initially scoff at the idea, but soon grow nervous when they worry that they'll lose face if they refuse to play.

Production

The idea of Squeeze Play! came from a suggestion that Kaufman and Herz should make a movie about a women’s softball team and their amorous adventures. Kaufman added the comedy element, and along with his brother Charles and screenwriter Haim Pekelis, a 75-page screenplay was finally worked out; the Kaufmans provided the ideas for sight gags and jokes, and Pekelis worked out the plot.

Reception

Once Squeeze Play! was completed, the reactions were almost unanimously negative. Major studios refused to distribute it, and two of the film’s executive producers demanded to have their names taken off of it.

Squeeze Play! finally made its theatrical debut as a double feature with The In-Laws in Norfolk, Virginia to tremendous success. The film built up a steady following in Virginia before being widely distributed nationwide. The film was constantly in Variety’s top 50 list and received excellent reviews from both The New York Times and The New York Daily News.

External links

• Squeeze Play! at IMDb
• [1] – at the 20th Century Fox movie database