A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : TEARS II : And They Don’t Kiss

Many people in preview audiences for “A League of Their Own” were in tears--or worse--over a kissing scene between Tom Hanks and Geena Davis, one of his players who was also married woman whose serviceman husband was away fighting in World War II.

Although director Penny Marshall has gotten credit for keeping the relationship between the two characters platonic, there was a scene where the characters kiss in the Mandel-Ganz script, and Marshall shot it. The kiss was described by a Columbia spokesman as “chaste, in the ‘40s style.” But it “confused” test audience members, the spokesman said. Others were reportedly appalled by the idea that the Davis character might cheat on her husband.