Christian Filmmakers Score With Reissue of The Pistol
by Rusty Benson
June 7, 2006
(AgapePress) - - For Darrell Campbell and Rodney Stone, the legend of basketball great "Pistol" Pete Maravich is a story worth telling and retelling. And that's exactly what these two film producers have spent a good part of their careers doing.Last year, Campbell and Stone, who co-produced the original 1991 film The Pistol ... The Birth of a Legend, purchased the worldwide rights to the movie. "Our desire was to somehow use the film to tell the rest of the story of Pistol Pete and to glorify God through it," Stone said.
The largely untold part of Maravich's life is the story of his radical conversion from a bitter, rebellious, alchoholic former pro athlete to a bold follower and witness of Jesus Christ.
The DVD "Inspirational Edition" contains bonus content that gives a moving account of Maravich's new life in Christ. In a segment originally filmed only weeks before his death and never before released to the public, Maravich gives his own Christian testimony.
In another powerful bonus feature, Dr. James Dobson, speaking to a group of young people, recounts the day in 1988 when at age 40 Maravich died in his arms after a pick-up basketball game.
Adam Guier as a young Pete Maravich
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The Birth of the Film
Stone moved to Van Nuys, California, in the early 1980s to serve as youth minister at a church that included over 200 people who worked in the film industry. One of those was Darrell Campbell, a young screenwriter/producer. The pair of 20-somethings became fast friends.Along the way, a church connection opened the door for Stone to join the promotion team on the film The Mission, staring Jeremy Irons and Robert DeNiro. Eventually Stone left his youth ministry post for a job with Warner Brothers.
Meanwhile, Campbell accepted an assignment to co-write the biography of his childhood hero, Pistol Pete Maravich. Campbell quickly recognized the potential in Maravich's story not only for a book, but also for an inspirational feature film. He asked Stone, also a Pistol Pete fan, to join him and Maravich in the venture.
From the beginning it was the intent of Maravich and the producers to make a movie of hope and inspiration. That's why the movie focuses on Maravich as a 14-year-old in 1959. "That was the year Pete became aware of his dream to be the greatest basketball player and to commit himself to the work necessary to reach that goal," Campbell said. "Pete wanted audiences to know that a dream can become a reality."
Over the years The Pistol has been distributed by several film companies and seen in over 60 countries.
In 2004 Campbell and Stone, still close friends, had not worked together in 13 years. Both were living in Georgia when they decided to renew their partnership to produce a new inspirational movie. But as the pair began work on a new project, God sent the opportunity to purchase the rights to The Pistol.
"We see the new DVD as a ministry tool, like a Gospel tract" Campbell said. "If you can get it into the hands of an unbeliever and get them to watch the bonus material, you have made a powerful inroad for the Gospel."
Rusty Benson, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is associate editor of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association. This article, printed with permission, appears in the June 2006 issue.
