The 1920s’ baseball drama Milltown Pride (7-27985-01410-4, $24.99) marks a return to feature-making for Unusual Films, the Bob Jones University (BJU) production group with a long history of movie work perhaps best known for releases Sheffey (1977) and The Printing (1991).

Setting the story of the prodigal son in the sports world, the movie follows Will Wright as he leaves his privileged background to pursue a baseball career by joining a local textile-mill team. 

His journey includes an encounter with real-life evangelist Billy Sunday, himself a former baseball star, who is portrayed in the film by scriptwriter David Burke. 

Filming took place in four states, including at a baseball field with stands dating back to the time period. “They were still in good-enough condition for us to use, though we had to shore them up a bit,” said Darren Lawson, producer. Cast and crew were largely drawn from the faculty and student body, though several hundred extras from the local community were drafted in for some scenes.

Lawson—who is also dean of the school of fine arts and communication at BJU—said that though Unusual Films had concentrated on children’s productions in recent years, “there has been such a resurgence in Christian filmmaking. We wanted to get back in the game.”

The film was intended to be encouraging “for anyone who knows someone who has lost his or her way, who has lost their focus on God,” said Lawson. 

“There is hope, just by turning back to God.”

Running 2 hours and 15 minutes, Milltown Pride is distributed by Vision Video. To order, call 800-523-0226.