CPR has been on screen countless times, but sometimes more memorable than others. One of the most memorable is the one in The Sandlot. Set in 1962, it is about a boy who is new to the neighborhood that makes friends with the kids at a local lot where they play baseball every day. It’s a modern classic, and if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. It’s a very fun movie that takes you back in time and is entertaining for the whole family.
The scene featuring CPR is one that has become classic, and is one that isn’t really a life and death situation. The boys go to a pool whenever it gets too hot for baseball, where there is also a lifeguard that they all go to see. This time, however, Squints can’t take it anymore, and decides to carry out a plan he’s had for years. He can’t swim, and they all know it. He heads for the deep-end and goes off the diving board. To the rescue is the lifeguard, Wendy, and the CPR starts.
“Michael Squints Palledorous walked a little taller that day and we had to tip our hats to him. He was lucky she hadn’t beat the crap out of him. We wouldn’t have blamed her. What he did was sneaky, rotten, low… and cool…”
What do you think of the CPR as seen in the film? Is it accurate to what it would have been in 1962?
What other films and TV shows do you recommend that we feature in this series? Are there any classic scenes that you remember for either comical or emotional effect?
Summary of The Sandlot
It’s the early 1960s and fifth-grader Scotty Smalls has just moved into town with his folks. Kids call him a dork–he can’t even throw a baseball! But that changes when the leader of the neighborhood gang recruits him to play on the nearby sandlot field. It’s the beginning of a magical summer of baseball, wild adventures, first kisses, and fearsome confrontations with the dreaded Beast and its owner who live behind the left field fence in this hilarious and warmhearted comedy.
CPR in Entertainment is a series based on rescue scenes found in both TV shows and movies. If you have a suggestion for a future entry, please comment below!