AllMovie

This HBO documentary examines baseball's golden age from the Great Depression on through the late 1950s. Using archival footage and keen commentary, When It Was a Game shows many of baseball's greatest moments and monuments. From the first color filming of a baseball game to the 1938 World Series and on through the careers of Joe DiMagio and Mickey Mantle, this film is very thorough in scope. The game itself is not the only subject explored. In several cases, the documentary details how the sport held together a nation during WWII and how people viewed the game as America's sport.