MovieChat Forums > North Dallas Forty (1979) Discussion > Peter Gent vs Phil Elliot/Fiction vs. N...

Peter Gent vs Phil Elliot/Fiction vs. Non-Fiction

posted 11 years ago by brtndr
6 replies | jump to latest

The comparison between the two is entirely between what I've heard and read about Peter Gent and the movie character Phil Elliot. If anyone has anything to add to the comparison between the actual Peter Gent and his semi-autobiographical Phil Elliot character from the book or movie? Then please add a reply.

Ok, first of all Peter Gent was in fact quite the joker like Phil Elliot.

Running back Walt Garrison joined the Cowboys in '66 just as the franchise started competing for championships. However, for the previous two years that Peter Gent was with the team, the Cowboys couldn't break the 500 mark.

Well, Walt Garrison said in an interview that he was sitting in a team meeting during his rookie season when Peter Gent walked in the door as the head coach (Tom Landry/B.A.) was handing out the weekly playbooks to all the players, telling them to study their playbooks thoroughly to be prepared for the upcoming game. Peter Gent takes the playbook from the coach and says, "I've already read that book. Everyone dies at the end."

The room erupted in laughter and Walt Garrison said that even Tom Landry cracked a smile at the joke. Which is very unusual for him.

Also, the character of Phil Elliot constantly claims that he has the best hands in the league, and no one argues with him about that boastful claim. I don't know if Peter Gent actually believed he had the best hands in the league or not? But I assure you he didn't. In fact, he didn't even have the best hands on the team at the time. But, a fellow TE/WR that he played with at the time named Buddy Dial was often credited with having both the best hands in the league, and thus the best hands on the team.

This becomes important after realizing that both Buddy Dial and Peter Gent competed against one another for playing time at the same position. Buddy Dial always won the starting position because he was the better player, but Peter Gent ended up with more playing time, because Buddy Dial had developed an addiction to pain killers in order to deal with the numerous football injuries that he had accumulated over the years. An addiction that Peter Gent would eventually develop himself for the same reasons, and eventually force him out of the league like it did Buddy Dial.

Peter Gents Phil Elliot in North Dallas 40 is a semi-autobiographical character, and therefore I believe a blend of both Peter Gent and Buddy Dial who share so much in common with their careers.

OK, that's just a couple things that I'll mention at this point. Hope some of you out there can add some stuff to this discussion. I think it would really add to the overall experience of watching this great movie for both future viewers who haven't seen the movie yet, and for people like me who have seen the movie multiple times.

[–] joed1667 10 years ago

I enjoyed the movie but found it hard to believe that the ownership would go through such great lengths to do what they did to Phil, all because he wasn't a team player? I could buy the rest of the movie, thge ending was hard to swallow. Football players then and especially now, can get away with so much and if they can't make it on one team because they are an undo influence, there's always another team that will pick them up, just like T.O.! And how would the league like it if word got out that the man they hired to investigate Phil, did an armed burglary? Seems Phil would have a card to play.

[–] ccr1633 10 years ago

It could have been a vendetta orchestrated by Emmett Hunter, whose fiancee Elliot was banging regularly. I'd bet it was Emmett Hunter who hired the PI.

[–] kuatorises (7467) 3 years ago

"Football players then and especially now, can get away with so much and if they can't make it on one team because they are an undo influence, there's always another team that will pick them up, just like T.O.!"

How many players you ever hear sleeping the bosses' brother's gal?

[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

I live in Green Bay and that reminds me of a rumor about a pretty good player the Packers got rid of. The word was he slept with a coach's daughter.

He got picked up by another team pretty quickly, though.

[–] kuatorises (7467) 2 years ago

I grew up in Philly. I used to be a die hard hockey guy. When Eric Lindros was traded here, there was a rumor that it was because he slept with Rod Brindamour's wife. Never proven either way.

[–] jefgg 7 years ago

The film's characters closely resemble real life team members of that era, with Seth Maxwell often compared to quarterback Don Meredith, B.A. Strother to Tom Landry, and Phil Elliott to Peter Gent. Of the story, Meredith said, "If I'd known Gent was as good as he says he was, I would have thrown to him more."