Re: TCM is doing an evening of made-for-tv movies

On 2024-03-23 17:02:50 +0000, Adam H. Kerman said:

James Caan had played high school and some college football before studying
theater.

I believe he also played a little football in the fine Francis Ford Coppola-directed The Rain People.

The practice sessions didn't look tough enough, so I suspect some of the
"players" were actors and not football players, but there were genuine
Chicago Bears as extras in the movie.
 I read a little about what Piccolo went through with the cancer. It was
far more gruesome than what was shown on television. It was in his lung
but it wasn't lung cancer. The first surgery was treating cancers that
had already metasticized throughout his body. He had a series of major
surgeries and, essentially, didn't benefit from any of them.
 The movie wasn't terribly clear on the passage of time but a couple of
months had passed between several of the hospital scenes.

I have the remake of this they did in 2001, I haven't watched it since 2019 so I can't remember if it was any more faithful than the TV version.