"Harvard Beats Yale 29-29" Debuts at Toronto Film Festival

[Husky Alum]

A friend of mine is in the Film Festival business and she told me about this new documentary that premiered at the Toronto Film Festival this week.

It's called "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29" and tells the story of the classic 1968 matchup in Cambridge between the Crimson and the Bulldogs.

Her initial review was: "It tells the story, almost play by play of the game and tries to overlay some socioeconomic stuff. For people who like football or remember the game it's probably a good movie."

Here's the link to the TIFF site with info on the documentary..

http://www.tiff08.ca/filmsandschedules/films/harvardbeatsyale2929

And yes, that's Tommy Lee Jones, he played for Harvard and (I think) was Al Gore's roommate.

I'm guessing the US Debut will be somewhere in Cambridge near The Game this year.

[Green26]

It was an amazing comeback--16 points in 42 seconds. I see that the blurb indicates that Brian Dowling, Frank Champi and Vic Gatto were involved with the film--along with TL Jones. Jones was a good o-lineman, I believe.

Dowling was Yale's star qb, "BD" in Doonesbury, and the subject of a great article (in SI I believe) entitled something like, "The Last All-American".

Champi, a back-up qb, was Harvard's unlikely hero that day. Gatto was Harvard's star running back, and I believe caught the last TD pass.

Calvin Hill was Yale's running back.

[Husky Alum]

I'm sure the Harvard and Yale fans on this board will discuss this game a smidge.

I didn't go to Harvard or Yale, but I grew up in Greater New Haven. My father still has a copy of the New Haven Register from the day after the game.

Personally I'd love to do a documentary about the Yale-Harvard Freezer Bowl of 1987, but I was too drunk/cold to remember most of the game!

[89Hen]

Sounds great. We have a good theater near here that I bet picks it up for at least a short run.

[Fordham]

brilliant headline. always loved that.

[letsgopards04]

I love old school stuff like this. There was a documentary recently on the Lafayette/Lehigh rivalry which was also fantastic. It is good to see while the college football landscape is still dominated by the big-time schools, we can still come here and share our appreciation for the schools we support.

[bulldog10jw]

For those that don't know, both teams were undefeated. They could have sold 100,000 tickets.

I remember hearing that tickets were were being scalped for $1000.

The demand was so great that "Closed Circuit TV", (does anyone remember that) was set up in cities around the country. I watched at the old New Haven Arena for I believe $6. I'm not sure game tickets were that much back then.

The comeback started when a Yale running back fumbled at the Harvard 14 when Yale looked to be going in for a TD to put them ahead by 3 TD's. There was a little over 3 minutes left. Yale never got the ball back.

Edit:

Carm Cozza had a feud for years with the referee, whose name escapes me. Carm accused the officials of having their flags in their hands on every play in the last couple of minutes and of losing control of the game (the ref was a member of the Boston Gridiron Club). The ref said it was the Yale coaches that lost control of the game. A pretty accurate statement. They were still sniping at each other when the NH Register did a long article on the 20th anniversary of THE TIE in 1988. I'm pretty sure that the referee never did another Yale game.

[bulldog10jw]

http://www.the-game.org/programs/Harvard-Yale-Football-Program-1968.jpg

[bulldog10jw]

Why do I still torture myself after 40 years. xbawlingx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sveyK5xFHzU

[UAalum72]

I don't remember the Yale RB being referred to as "Cal Hill" before, seems like it was always Calvin, at least after the Cowboys drafted him.

[bulldog10jw]

Yale 7 15 0 7--29
Harvard 0 6 7 16--29

First Quarter
Yale--Brian Dowling 3 run (Bob Bayless kick), 2:20. Yale 7, Harvard 0.

Second Quarter
Yale--Calvin Hill 3 pass from Dowling (Bayless kick), 13:15. Yale 14, Harvard 0.
Yale--Del Marting 5 pass from Dowling (Marting pass from Dowling), 7:36.
Yale 22, Harvard 0.
Har--Bruce Freeman 15 pass from Frank Champi (kick failed), :39. Yale 22, Harvard 6.

Third Quarter
Har--Gus Crim 1 run (Richie Szaro kick), 12:14. Yale 22, Harvard 13.

Fourth Quarter
Yale--Dowling 5 run (Bayless kick), 10:44. Yale 29, Harvard 13.
Har--Freeman 15 pass from Champi (Crim run), :42. Yale 29, Harvard 21.
Har--Vic Gatto 8 pass from Champi (Pete Varney pass from Champi), :00.
Harvard 29, Yale 29.

A--40,280.
------
Yale Har
First downs 19 17
Rushing Yards 53-251 53-118
Passing Yards 116 104
Comp-Att-Int 13-23-1 8-22-0
Return Yards 60 30
Punts-Avg. 3-36 8-36
Fumbles Lost 6-6 3-1
Penalties-Yards 7-66 4-30

[YaleFootballFan]

I'm guessing the US Debut will be somewhere in Cambridge near The Game this year.

Probably because I highly doubt you'll see it being shown in New Haven.... xnonono2x

[Ivytalk]

Ah, Pete Varney caught the tying 2-pointer for Harvard. Varney was a major league catcher (briefly) for the White Sox.

The attendance was 40,280, and at least 200,000 alums of H and Y claim to have been there!xlolx

[Cleets]

I was 4 years old... and remember it like it was yesterday xlolx

[Harvard Worship]

Why do I still torture myself after 40 years. xbawlingx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sveyK5xFHzU

Hey thanks for posting this! As a recent grad I'd never actually seen it, though we get to read about it pretty much every November. Wow!