Harvard Beats Yale 29–29 is a 2008 documentary film by Kevin Rafferty, covering the 1968 meeting between the football teams of Yale and Harvard in their storied rivalry. The game has been called "the most famous football game in Ivy League history". Actor Tommy Lee Jones, who was a 1st-team All-Ivy League guard for Harvard that season, was interviewed for the documentary.
Story
For the first time since 1909, the football teams of Harvard and Yale were each undefeated with 6–0 records in their conference (8–0 overall) when they met for their season's final game on November 23, 1968 at Harvard Stadium. Led by their quarterback captain Brian Dowling, nationally-ranked Yale was heavily favored to win and they quickly led the game 22–0. With two minutes remaining on the clock they still led 29–13. As the last seconds ticked down, Harvard, coached by John Yovicsin, tied the game, scoring 16 points in the final 42 seconds. The Harvard Crimson declared victory with a famous headline, "Harvard Beats Yale 29–29," providing the title for Rafferty's documentary.
Production
Created essentially as a one-man production, Rafferty followed a simple production plan by inter-cutting broadcast video of the game with interviews he'd done with close to 50 of the surviving players. The broadcast video was a color kinescope of the WHDH telecast, with Don Gillis doing the play-by-play. The film was set to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1968 game between Yale and Harvard.
The documentary includes game footage with contemporary interviews with the men who played that day, as well as contextual commentary about the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, Garry Trudeau's Yale cartoons, and various players' relationships with George W. Bush (Yale), Al Gore (Harvard), and Meryl Streep (Vassar).
Cast
Tommy Lee Jones – Harvard guard
Brian Dowling – Yale quarterback (team captain) Don Gillis – sportscaster George Bass – Yale tackle Frank Champi – Harvard quarterback George Lalich – Harvard quarterback Gus Crim – Harvard fullback Bruce Freeman – Harvard end Rick Frisbie – Harvard cornerback Vic Gatto – Harvard halfback (team captain) Kyle Gee – Yale tackle J.P. Goldsmith – Yale safety Calvin Hill – Yale halfback (archive footage) Ray Hornblower – Harvard halfback Ron Kell – Yale defensive back Mick Kleber – Yale guard Bob Levin – Yale fullback Ted Livingston – Yale tackle Fred Morris – Yale center Ted Skowronski – Harvard center Bruce Weinstein – Yale end Mike Bouscaren – Yale linebacker Robert Dowd – Harvard tackle Fritz Reed – Harvard tackle Pat Conway – Harvard safety Pete Varney – Harvard tight end Nick Davidson – Yale halfback Jim Gallagher – Yale defensive end Fran Gallagher – Yale defensive end John Ignacio – Harvard cornerback Del Marting – Yale end Bruce Weinstein – Yale tight end Dick Williams – Yale middle guard Jim Reynolds – Harvard halfback Pete Hall – Harvard defensive end Tom Peacock – Yale tackle Joe McKinney – Harvard defensive end Rick Berne – Harvard defensive tackle Alex MacLean – Harvard middle guard Dale Neal – Harvard linebacker Gary Farneti – Harvard linebacker Rich Mattas – Yale tackle Scott Robinson – Yale defensive end Tom Wynne – Harvard safety Neil Hurley – Harvard cornerback Mike Ananis – Harvard cornerback John Cramer – Harvard defensive end John Waldman – Yale cornerback Bill Kelly – Harvard quarterback Ken Thomas – Harvard safety Brad Lee – Yale guard