How A League Of Their Own Helped Put Tom Hanks Back On The Map

1989 to 1992 was quite the busy time for Tom Hanks. This period saw him team up with “Gremlins” director Joe Dante for 1989’s “The ‘Burbs,” a twisted comedy about a suburbanite who suspects his new neighbors are secretly killers. That same year saw the actor star in “Turner & Hooch,” a buddy cop comedy in which he’s paired with a loveably mischievous Dogue de Bordeaux. Then, in 1990, Hanks and Meg Ryan teamed up to star in “Joe Versus the Volcano,” an offbeat rom-com directed by Oscar-winning “Moonstruck” writer John Patrick Shanley. It was also the film that paved the way to Hanks and Ryan’s smash-hit ’90s rom-coms “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail.”

Problem was, save for “Turner & Hooch,” these films failed to meet expectations upon their release, with “Joe” only later attaining cult status. Then came Hanks’ role in “The Bonfire of the Vanities,” director Brian De Palma’s 1990 film version of Tom Wolfe’s satirical novel about New York City’s upper-class in the 1980s. The movie notoriously suffered all sorts of behind-the-scenes woes, enough so to fill up a book — namely, Julie Salamon’s book, “The Devil’s Candy: The Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywood.” It would gross less than a third of its $47 million budget (a large sum for the time), with critics denouncing it left and right as a glossy, confused misfire.

According to ESPN’s oral history, Penny Marshall was speaking at Hudson Union Society in 2012 when she discussed Hanks’ involvement with “A League of Their Own.” As Marshall told it, the actor flat-out asked for his role in the film, realizing he needed a hit after so many flops in a row (“Bonefire” included). Luckily, his “Big” director was more than up for the task.