Film on Armenian Basketball Players of Granite City

Film on Armenian Basketball Players of Granite City –

Valerie (Boolootian) McCaffrey is producing a documentary film called ‘Men of Granite’.

The story begins in 1940, when immigrants (Armenians, Macedonians, Hungarians, etc.) migrated to the steel town of Granite City in the Illinois (USA) for jobs.

The kids of the immigrants were extremely poor, and were taken in by a woman (Sophie Prather) played by Shirley MacLaine in the film. they were taught to read and write and she introduced them to basketball. In high school, they were not allowed to play, because they were poor and the color of their skin, until the coach (played by William Hurt) throws them in on a whim in one game. They end up winning the game and the state championship in Basketball.

Three of the players on the winning team were Armenian. They even spoke Armenian in the court, (even the other non-Armenian players) to trick the opponents.

It is an inspirational story of this group of kids – which one went on to play for the Boston Celtics and was on the team that won the championship in 1957.