The Pride of the Yankees (1942) User Reviews

Moving biography of legendary baseball player

[dfranzen70 · 8/10 · 1 March 2000]

In today's era of greedy athletes and their employers, the story of Lou Gehrig seems almost quaint. Here's a young man who by all accounts was selfless, kind-hearted, and rather introverted. And, of course, it didn't hurt that he was also a very good baseball player too. Put him on a lineup card today and he might not be the same player. Up until a few years ago, Gehrig's record of 2,130 consecutive games played was a record, a record that many thought would stand forever. For 16 years he was in the lineup as the Yankees' first baseman, never asking out for any reason. That alone should show you how special a person Gehrig was.

This biography is pretty straightforward. Unlike many of its kind, it doesn't show its protagonist somehow succeeding against all odds. Gehrig didn't have an abusive mother, he wasn't beaten up by kids at school, he wasn't learning-disabled, he didn't have attention-deficit disorder, he didn't come from abject poverty. He was simply a son in a working-class, immigrant family, as many were during the early decades of this century. And that's why Gehrig is so special to so many people - he symbolises their own hopes.

Gary Cooper is aces as Gehrig, and Teresa Wright is wonderful as his wife, Eleanor. If there's anything imperfect about the movie, it's that it is...well, a little predictable. That's something biopics can't avoid, of course, so it's no big problem. But even if most of the film doesn't impress you, the final speech at Yankee Stadium - when Gehrig was suffering visibly from the disease that would eventually be named after him - will move you past tears. And even better, when Gehrig's done his brief speech, he walks offscreen. If that movie were written today, he'd play another game and hit a game-winning home run. It's this film's honesty and sincerity that win you over.

Baseball's Iron Horse

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 21 December 2005]

The only reason I don't give this film a perfect 10 is that I think Gary Cooper was a bit too old to be playing Lou Gehrig as a youth. Cooper was 41 when Pride of the Yankees was made. He was two years older than Lou Gehrig actually was.

While not terribly convincing as a college age Gehrig at Columbia University, the part of Gehrig grew into Cooper as Gehrig aged cinematically. And of course his recreation of Lou Gehrig's farewell to baseball got him an Oscar nomination.

Henry Louis Gehrig, child of German immigrants who grew up in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, was arguably the greatest first baseman baseball has ever known. He certainly has very few competitors for the honor. His famous record of 2130 consecutive games was bettered about a decade ago by Cal Ripken, but he still holds the major league record for lifetime grand-slam home runs, 23 and the American League RBI record for a single season, 184. He is one of a select group of ballplayers to have won the Triple Crown, he did that in 1934. His lifetime batting average of .340 is only topped by a handful.

He was as writer Frank Graham put it, baseball's "quiet hero." Until he was forced from baseball by the disease he gave his name to Gehrig played second fiddle to the flamboyant Babe Ruth and then to a graceful rookie named Joe DiMaggio.

The facts of Gehrig's life are somewhat jumbled in this film for dramatic coherency, but the essence of his character is brought out in the script by Paul Gallico. In fact Gallico wrote himself into the film as sportswriter Sam Blake as played by Walter Brennan.

Gary Cooper and Lou Gehrig and Teresa Wright as Eleanor Twitchell Gehrig both received Oscar nominations for their portrayals.

It should also not be forgotten that Lou Gehrig was a German American and I believe one of the reasons the film was made was that at that time we were fighting Germany. The German American Bund had its following and very much so in Lou Gehrig's Yorkville neighborhood. German Americans certainly had other and better role models than the Bund.

I remember as a lad going to Yankee old-timers games and there was always a moment of reverential silence when the Yankee widows, Claire Hodgson Ruth and Eleanor Twitchell Gehrig were always introduced. Both survived their husbands by many years.

In fact when Teresa Wright died this past year when the roll call of former Yankees who had passed on her name was read out among all the ballplayers. It was a fitting tribute to a great actress and a woman who didn't know a thing about baseball before she did this film, but became a devoted fan afterward. I guess that was her private tribute to Lou Gehrig.

There is still no cure for amytrophic lateral sclerosis or now known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. A lot of other noted persons have passed on from it, Jacob Javits, David Niven, Ezzard Charles, Dennis Day and former Vice President Henry A. Wallace. Still we can hope for a dedicated and inspired scientist to find a cure.

Until then we have this inspirational movie and Lou Gehrig's inspired and remembered life.

Nice Movie About A Great Player and Genuinely-Nice Man

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 29 September 2006]

A lot of non-baseball fans still liked this movie a lot, and that's probably because it's more about a nice guy than it is about a ballplayer. New York Yankee great Lou Gehrig is the subject. Gehrig was often in the shadow of the great Babe Ruth, but was tremendous player in his own right and a far better human being.

It's tough to find many nicer movies than this one: a totally inoffensive, sentimental and old- fashioned film about a super-nice guy, played by a popular actor: Gary Cooper. Except for one sportswriter, there were no villains or nasty people in this movie.

Teresa Wright plays "Eleanor Twitchell," who becomes Gehrig's wife and Walter Brennan plays sportswriter and friend, "Sam Blake." The real Babe Ruth played himself, which was nice to see.

Even though Gehrig died at a fairly young age of a disease now named after him, overall this was a feel-good movie of the highest sort. This was so nice a story that even the cynical critics dared not criticize it. It leaves you with tears in your eyes at the end.

Cooper's most likeable performance...a heartfelt tribute to a great man...

[Doylenf · 13 August 2003]

Gary Cooper may have won his Oscar for SERGEANT YORK--but I think he deserved it even more for PRIDE OF THE YANKEES. I've never seen him give a more heartfelt, natural and completely likeable performance than I have here. And Teresa Wright is glowing as his sweetheart.

It tells Lou Gehrig's story in a simple, straightforward manner with only an occasional bit of Hollywood corn, the kind so typical of the 1940s. But the main storyline is carried by Cooper and Wright with some great assist from Walter Brennan. Brennan drops a lot of his cornball mannerisms (the kind he uses he in all his Western roles) and plays it straight here--with excellent results.

But it's Cooper's achievement--no doubt about that. If the last twenty minutes of the film don't move you to tears, you're made of stone. Cooper gets across the panic and fear that hits him with the first signs of his illness--with a subtle show of facial expressions. He's really into his character here and gives one of the best performances of his career.

Knowing someone who died from this disease, I was especially moved at how the first signs of illness were shown here.

Douglas Croft does a fine job as the young Lou--and by the way, whatever happened to him? He played Ronald Reagan as a boy in KINGS ROW and did several other films in the '40s. And how come Dane Clark received no billing in the credits? He was only seen early on in the film but he had a line of dialogue as one of Lou's fraternity pals. He had no credit in Alan Ladd's THE GLASS KEY too--he's the man Brian Donlevy shoves through a plate glass window. A year later he was being given the star buildup at Warner Bros.

A great film and a wonderful tribute to Lou Gehrig.

"Pride of the Yankees" Hits Memorable Home Run ****

[edwagreen · 10/10 · 1 April 2006]

Superior biography of Lou Gehrig who had everything before ALS paid him a visit.

Gary Cooper is terrific as Gehrig. He was the embodiment of a plain, aw shucks guy who made it big in baseball. Teresa Wright had the right flavor as Eleanor, his loving wife.

There are fine supporting performances by Elsa Janssen and Ludwig Stossel as his parents.

The film is great because it shows a warm, loving family, poor financially but rich in spirit.

Rather than concentrate on all his baseball achievements, the film deals with Gehrig, the man and what a great, kindly gentleman that he was.

Walter Brennan, who made so many films with Cooper, appears again this time as a sports writer. He befriends him and becomes a close family friend. Dan Duryea, as a cynical reporter, is quite effective in a small role. He seems to have it in for Lou but succumbs like everyone else during that famous farewell speech.

What also made this film a classic was the use of Babe Ruth and other Yankees play themselves. Had the Babe lived, he could have been in films.

A definite film detailing the human spirit. When Gehrig meets the boy that he had "hit 2 home runs" for years later, your heart will go out. That scene, along with the farewell speech, was poignant.

Gary gracefully gets it right, as Gehrig.

[ClassicAndCampFilmReviews · 10/10 · 4 August 2005]

First off, my favorite actor of all time is Gary Cooper. I love his acting style, the gawkiness he often used in his screen roles, in addition of course to the fact that I thought he was absolutely gorgeous, in his prime (when he was in his 30's and 40's). Cooper's appeal is only enhanced, for me, by the distance of his on screen persona from his real-life one...he was quite the ladies' man in real life, not awkward with women as the characters he often portrayed on screen, and his smoldering sexuality shows from his piercing blue eyes. His lively offscreen affairs with stars such as Clara Bow (who famously declared "He's hung like a horse and he can go all night!"), Lupe Velez aka "The Mexican Spitfire", and of course Patricia Neal, are the stuff of old Hollywood legend.

Kevin Costner and Ralph Fiennes in their primes had nothing' on Coop. He was the man. Cooper, who started off wanting to be an artist, fell into acting instead, first as a stunt man in westerns, but quickly getting leading roles. He continued to do most of his own riding and stunts even into his later years, carving himself quite a name as a star of westerns, including the western classic "High Noon" (1952), but my favorite films of his were films such as "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town" (1936), "Meet John Doe" (1941), "Ball Of Fire" (1941), "Sargeant York" (1941), and of course "The Pride Of The Yankees". My husband understands my adoration of Gary Cooper; and/but we had this brief discussion before we watched my recently purchased DVD of the film (I'd seen it before, but didn't own a copy of it):

Husband: "I don't mind watching it with you as long as you don't make those noises you always make when you watch a Gary Cooper movie."

Me: "What noises?"

Husband: "Those noises like the ones Homer Simpson makes when he looks at a stick of butter...'Mmmmmmmm'...."

Me: "What? I didn't know I did that. Okay, I won't make any weird noises while we watch it."

So I was quiet (except for of course choking up in tears when Cooper delivers Gehrig's legendary "Today, I consider myself to be the luckiest man on the face of the earth" farewell speech). Gehrig's retirement speech helped immortalize him as a hero and an all-American role model.

"The Pride of the Yankees" is the blueprint for the sports biopic, and is generally considered to be the best movie about baseball ever made. Teresa Wright stars as his wife Eleanor. Wright, who just passed away this March, was an excellent actress, and a beautiful woman. The last film I saw her in was in a small part in "Somewhere In Time", and she had aged wonderfully. She and Cooper had great chemistry on screen, holding her own ground as he towered over her petite 5'3" frame.

Walter Brennan, a frequent Cooper co-star and real-life friend, and Babe Ruth as himself are two other co-stars who contribute much to the film.

The film traces the rags-to-riches story of Gehrig, as his childhood dream comes true when he's signed to the New York Yankees, and his untimely retirement when he is stricken with the fatal, neurological disease ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) which was afterwards simply called "Lou Gehrig's Disease". Cooper, although a bit of an odd choice for the part (one reason being his height, he was about 6'4"), gives an endearing, heartfelt, dignified performance, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Gehrig was left-handed, Cooper right-handed, which was further complicated by the fact that Cooper himself wasn't a capable baseball player. For the filming, his uniform had "New York" printed backwards on it, he ran to third base when he hit a ball, and then the print was reversed.

Nominated for 11 Academy Awards in all, and receiving 1 (for Film Editing), "The Pride Of The Yankees" still stands as a must-see film for baseball fans and fans of classic cinema alike.

The best parts of the film--Gehrig's humble integrity--lift up all the rest.

[secondtake · 7/10 · 2 October 2010]

The Pride of the Yankees (1942)

You can be deeply affected by a film and still know the film isn't especially terrific, right? I mean, you have to be amazed at the core humility and strength of Lou Gehrig, and it is presented (and maybe romanticized, it's hard to know) beautifully. So well before the end you know there is something special in this man's life, maybe something to learn from or emulate.

At the same time, there are some obvious movie-making tricks at work here, some corny side characters, some simplifications, and some filler (like the two dance numbers, which get a big credit in the titles but which are pretty lame, even if you like the music of the period as much as I do). It's an expertly made movie the way so many movies in the 1940s were, so it is filmed and edited with artistry. But if the story is inspired, the movie leans on that story to succeed, and often isn't inspired on its own terms.

It sounds bad to even write this kind of criticism. So, strike it from the record. Enjoy the movie. The biggest star? Babe Ruth himself, doing a pretty good job acting like Babe Ruth. And Gary Cooper as Gehrig is often wonderful (overlook those goofy looks that are more forced than cute). Teresa Wright is as sweet and disarmingly supportive and innocent seeming as a movie like this needs her to be. The director? Sam Wood has a lot of really well made films, some bordering truly great ones (including "Gone with the Wind," which he had a small role co-directing). There's even the well done "For Whom the Bell Tolls" with Cooper made the next year, and the imperfect but affecting "Goodbye Mr. Chips," which has some interesting echoes (a main character who quietly is admirable and influential right up to the end).

Anyway, this is a unique film, and really can't not be enjoyed.

Now batting the first baseman, number 4, Tanglefoot, I mean Gehrig

[Mike-764 · 10/10 · 30 August 2004]

The story of Lou Gehrig, son of German immigrants, who went on to play first base for the Yankees throughout the 20's and 30's and set the then record of playing in 2,130 straight baseball games until he'd be sidelined forever from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the disease which now bears his name. The film can appeal to baseball fans, but really succeeds because of the strong focus on Lou's marriage to Eleanor which is the reason why the film is hallmarked, rather focusing mainly on the sports clichés seen in so many other sports movies of the era. (The fact of such a tragic case of Lou Gehrig contributed as well.) Cooper is great (as usual) and it seems to be the only choice to play the role. Wright also gives an excellent performance as Eleanor, and Brennan is his usual fun self as Blake. Great job by producer Goldwyn getting this one on film. Even the former players such as Babe Ruth and Bill Dickey in particular, carry themselves well with the film. A treat for all baseball fans. Some factual errors on Gehrig's career can be overlooked here. Rating, 10.

Saccharine treatment of a sports legend

[nnnn45089191 · 7/10 · 19 April 2007]

The story of baseball legend Lou Gehrig gets the saccharine treatment in this biopic of his life.If you are looking for a realistic depiction of Gehrig's life you'd do right to skip this film,but it is brilliantly made and served the movie-going public what it wanted during the war. Gary Cooper is magnificent in the title-role and is matched all the way by Teresa Wright as his wife.Wright was perhaps one of the best unsung actresses of the forties.Gehrig's legendary teammate Babe Ruth plays himself,which he does very well.There's competent support by Walter Brennan and Dan Duryea as sportswriters.As Gehrig's parents Ludwig Stossel and Elsa Janssen were a bit annoying.The highlight of the movie is Cooper's performance of Gehrig's farewell speech at the time he was suffering from the disease, that bears his name,which killed him. Cooper does one his ultimate achievements as an actor in that scene.

The #1 Gary Cooper Movie-Oscar or not

[delldude1 · 10/10 · 28 January 2006]

"The Pride of the Yankees", is in my humble opinion, one of the absolute best sports movies ever made. Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright were undeniably believable as Mr and Mrs Lou Gehrig, and I personally choke up each time I see this movie. The scenery around the ballpark was an experience for someone who has never been to New York, much less root for the current Yankees. It displayed real players, Babe Ruth, et al, and was such an enjoyable movie, that I watch this movie every chance I get. To this day, there are no actors or actresses that can make you believe they are a couple like Gary and Teresa did. Those days are gone, but on the bright side........we have this movie to look back and remember baseball, and its heroes that stayed with a team and played for pride......"The Pride of the Yankees" is a treasure to baseball lore, and it allowed those not yet around, to enter the baseball world of old, and experience what no longer is.

All schmaltz and no (baseball) play makes "Pride of the Yankees" a dull film...

[ElMaruecan82 · 6/10 · 15 November 2018]

"The Pride of the Yankees" is the kind of emotional blackmail I rather refuse to be submitted to. Of course it's a classic, but that doesn't say much. Obviously you don't make a movie about baseball legend Lou Gehrig, played by Hollywood legend Gary Cooper, in 1942 when America was the latecomer of the then-roaring Worldwide conflict without the best intentions of the world.

The film even opens with a disclaimer reminding us of the quiet heroism showcased by the "Iron Horse", the New York Yankees first baseman who achieved one of the greatest legacies of the history of baseball (with more than 2000 consecutive games) and died prematurely from a rare condition he gave his name to. He faced illness and an upcoming death with the same courage than the soldiers who were fighting in various parts of the world, and his untimely death was calling for a homage. Fair enough.

But let's not kid ourselves, this is not the pride of the Yankees as team, except if you consider America as the big team. Anyone wants to be a big player in his team and if anything the film - voted 22nd in the American Film Institute Most Inspiring movies- inspires Americans to do is play for their team with the same passion and resignation, it is not about baseball but a spirit. So while Lou Gehrig is getting a fine tribute, Hollywood still elevates the spirit and the pride of moviegoers and who's better than the actor who did exactly the same as Sergeant York the year before?

Once again Cooper pulls off his 'American-of-the-month' image and trading his "Alvin York" overalls to a New York Yankee uniform, as Lou Gehrig, and both would be listed in AFI's Greatest heroes. Still, I'll always be partial to Will Kane from "High Noon", I love Gary Cooper but before "High Noon", his talent was kind of diluted in these noble-spirited roles no matter how iconic they were. And Cooper never looked at ease anyway, towering everyone with the bashfulness of a fish out of water, there was never a moment where you could sense it could be anyone than good old Coop.

But the problem with "The Pride of the Yankees" is in the way it forbids any attempt to be critical because it features a likable actor playing a lovable icon who had just passed away. And right now, saying anything remotely negative about the film feels almost like spitting in Lou Gehrig's grave, while I believe this is a film that should have honored Lou Gehrig in a more baseball-friendly fashion. Indeed, I kept on enumerating AFI lists and there's also the fact that the film was voted third best American sports movie of all time. The least you expect is to have some baseball.

From what I read, Cooper wasn't much of a baseball fan and all the film does is cutting between shots of him swinging the bat, running the base and you don't get more than that. The illusion worked since the only Oscar won by the film (out of nine nominations) is for Editing. Cooper was nominated for Best Actor but I wouldn't get too harsh on him, it was MGM who wanted him and he was clearly miscast. The problem is in the directing which deserves the term of wooden and coming from a director named Wood, it's appropriate.

For a movie supposed to be a dramatization of a man's life, Wood is no Wyler and for a movie supposed to exhilarate the fun of baseball, it is desperately static, even stagey at times. The directing is as wooden as its storytelling, and in case you didn't notice, whatever could be shown through exciting clips is only told from dull standpoints. We got more radio commentary than clip that's for the most obvious, a montage of Gehrig's winning streak is reduced to a series of clippings from his wife Eleanor and the public reaction to his slump is reduced to a patchwork of dialogues between everyday men across American each one having a saying about the matter.

Much worse, the film being two hours long might make anyone except a first act dealing with baseball and a second with the illness when in fact, the baseball is very secondary and there's more time between Lou's mother (played by the hammy Elsa Janssen) and Eleanor talking about the wallpaper or which furniture to buy than anything between Lou and his teammates. And it seems like he developed a bigger relationship with that kid for which he hit two homeruns (apparently a legend) and with sportswriter Sam Blake (Walter Brennan). Did they try to duplicate Sergeant York or what?

And just when you expect the illness to enhance the drama a little, to have the parents learning about the disease, you get directly from the news to the farewell speech and the genuine poignancy of the speech and the line "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth", perhaps the most deserved AFI's inclusion (Top 100 Quotes). Cooper does make the scene work and it's genuinely sad (it was the original speech that prompted Samuel Goldwin to green light the project), this is an outcome that could have worked better with the proper set-up.

"The Pride of the Yankees" deals more with the romantic and domestic life of Lou Gehrig than any other element and what saves it from sheer dreadfulness stands in two names: Teresa Wright. I swear she was perhaps the most talented actress of her generation, a natural, so sweet and lovable I forgot for once that Gehrig was the focus. But I just wished the film was more focused on the baseball and say more about Lou Gehrig than the fact that he was a great man. All we get is that he was great, he became ill, he died and became a legend. For the rest, we still have Wikipedia and documentaries.

One of my heroes portraying another!

[gilligan1965 · 9/10 · 12 November 2014]

It's not often that I see such a great movie where one of my heroes portrays another, but, this is certainly one of them. Gary Cooper portraying Sergeant Alvin C. York is another.

Gary Cooper does a magnificent job as Henry "Lou" Gehrig despite being two years older, for starters; and, several years older (41 playing someone in their twenties) near the beginning of the movie while at Columbia University.

Walter Brennan is brilliant as always! Teresa Wright is stunning! Besides Babe Ruth, until watching this recently on TCM, I didn't realize that other New York Yankees' teammates of Gehrig's were also in the movie as themselves - Bob Meusel; Bill Dickey; and, some others. This made the movie that-much-more enjoyable this time around! It falls into the category of movies that can be watched over and over again.

I also like the 'innocence' of a movie like this as it can be viewed by everyone in the family - from small children who love real-life heroes to the elderly who remember these heroes from real-life.

Although there are a few biographical errors about Lou Gehrig's life...overall, the movie is fantastic, even if you're not a real baseball fan! If you are a real baseball fan...this movie is a must-see!

Too bad Cooper couldn't swing a bat

[wlsweather · 7/10 · 14 July 2002]

Rather than simply re-hash the well-established platitudes this film and hero deserve, I wish to pick out the glaring flaw found not only in "Pride of the Yankees," but many other baseball movies. Why don't the actors seem to have ever picked up a bat and ball before in their lives? Here, In Gary Cooper, we feature an actor so incapable of the rudiments of the game, his baseball-playing scenes had to be filmed with the frame flipped around. This was supposedly because Mr. Cooper was right handed, unlike Lou Gehrig. But watch him at bat... even right handed his swings look like those of a tee-ball tyro. Cooper's not alone. Check out Ray Liotta's ungainly effort as Shoeless Joe Jackson in "Field of Dreams," or Tom Beringer's wimpish swings in "Major League," or almost all of the supporting cast of New York Knights in "The Natural." Kevin Costner seems the only actor who looks like he's actually played some ball in his life, and the crucial athletic realism in any of his sports films is heightened because of it. I'm not looking for MVP-caliber skills in a sports movie actor, but it sure would be nice if he or she looked like they knew how to play the game better than your average 4th grader.

The natural

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 21 February 2017]

The Pride of the Yankees is an old fashioned biopic of Lou Gehrig, the legendary baseball player played by Gary Cooper. It was rush released after Gehrig's death from Motor Neuron Disease and it shows as the film is filled with sentimentality such as his poor immigrant parents, Gehrig working his way from serving food to his fellow students to signing for the New York Yankees so he can pay for his mother's medical bills. We even have a scene of him promising two home runs to a poorly lad at hospital who returns some years later when Gehrig falls ill.

Cooper is frankly too old for the young Gehrig scenes and his romance with sweetheart Eleanor Twitchell (Teresa Wright) looks odd. In fact his scenes with his parents look strange as well as he only comes across as slightly younger than them.

The film is rather unfocused, sometimes going for comedy and at one point a musical interlude. However the film becomes more affecting as Gehrig realises that something is not right with his body which hinders his game and then his farewell speech where thousands turned out to see him for the final time.

Made me even more of a baseball fan

[DJAkin · 26 October 2002]

After seeing this movie, I went out and bought the Ken Burns documentary on Baseball. It's amazing how nice of a guy Lou Gherig was! He was a true gentleman. He brought his Mom to ALL THE GAMES. He was a true hero as well. I liked this movie and it was very sad to see Lou get stiff toward the end of the movie. Babe Ruth played himself and that was no hard task for him. I bought this movie it was so darn good.

Gary Cooper is excellent as Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees

[tavm · 10/10 · 4 July 2007]

To celebrate the 4th of July, I decided to watch this excellent movie about a great American hero, The Pride of the Yankees, which is an account of the life of the late, great baseball player, Lou Gehrig. Gary Cooper has just the right mix of shyness, joy, humor, and love of the game to portray what was considered the real Lou's personality. Teresa Wright has the moxie to match the chemistry with Cooper as Gehrig's eventual wife, Eleanor. What a treat to see Walter Brennan, who previously appeared with Gary in Sergeant York and Meet John Doe, again support him as sportswriter and friend Sam Blake. His scenes with Dan Duryea are some of the most humorous here. Loved seeing Lou promise a bedridden kid to hit two home runs and then seeing that kid years later come back for Gehrig's farewell address. I was also very amused to see Charles Williams, Cousin Eustace in It's a Wonderful Life, here playing a bell ringer in a carnival. Babe Ruth is not so bad playing himself! Leigh Harline, composer of Pinochio, has a fine score here. Irving Berlin's song, "Always", is nicely performed by a female singer on stage and is used appropriately in parts of the score. And certainly one of the greatest words ever spoken comes from here: "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." So, show your pride and watch a biography of one of America's greatest heroes, Lou Gehrig, this Independence Day!

"The Happiest Man on the Face of the Earth"

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 14 March 2010]

Although there have been several biographic or historic films about baseball this one may be the most notable as a film biography. Lou Gehrig was (unforutnately) always in the shadow of his fellow Yankee, Babe Ruth, due to Gehrig being a quiet gentleman type (rather like Christy Matthewson, a great baseball pitcher of thirty years earlier). Ruth was like a parade, always generating excitement wherever he went. It was not until Ruth left the Yankees in 1935 that Gehrig finally came into his own as the leading team member. But ironically he would have only four years to enjoy his "reign".

The best place to start with Gehrig is actually the biography by Ray Robinson, IRON HORSE: LOU GEHRIG IN HIS TIME. Coming from a poor background, Gehrig had the grades to reach Columbia University. The film captures the snobbery he met there quite well (his mother cooked for the fraternity, and he was their waiter) and his membership in the fraternity never seemed to matter. But he was soon signed by the Yankees. And after a year he was out of their farm team and in the stadium. He became part of the 1927 "Murderer's Row" team which won the World Series.

The film traces his gradual meeting with Eleanor Twitchell of Chicago (Theresa Wright) and their marriage despite problems from his controlling mother. There is also the issue of the Ruth-Gehrig "feud" here shown by two sports writers (Walter Brennan for Gehrig, Dan Duryea for Ruth) arguing over who is the better baseball draw.

And it all culminates with the illness that ends his streak of 2,130 consecutive games that he played in (a record that was only broken by Cal Rifkin ten years ago), and the discovery that he had amyothropic lateral sclerosis, a disease that even today is still fatal. It is a particularly cruel illness because not only is the sufferer losing control of his body, but he is also fully in control of his or her faculties to the end, and so knows he or she is dying. It all culminates here with the final day at Yankee Stadium where Gehrig was honored amidst thousands of fans and many dignitaries. His eloquent and sincere speech of thanks became one of the memories of the 1930s we all recall, culminating in the words I put in the summary line.

The direction of Sam Wood is up to his best standards, keeping the movie going and holding our attention. It is the performances of Cooper, here really playing an American hero or quiet style, and Wright as his lover and wife and helpmate, realizing how soon she will lose all so quickly (and - in real life - living over half a century after him as a living part of Yankee history). Cooper got nominated for an Oscar, but lost to Jimmy Cagney for YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, another biography of an American figure of note (George M. Cohan). As Cohan was a baseball fan he probably would have enjoyed the irony here.

According to Robinson the speech of Gehrig's became a matter of unexpected importance to Cooper. Cooper was constantly asked by fans to repeat the Gehrig farewell speech. He eventually memorized it word for word so that he could repeat it whenever asked.

Solid inspirational sports movie

[perfectbond · 7/10 · 7 May 2003]

Gary Cooper once again plays the strong silent morally upright man facing adversity with courage and dignity. This time he is legendary Yankees slugger Lou Gehrig. This is definitely one of the better sports movies, a genre I'm not that fond of. The supporting cast, especially the parents, are all more than competent in their roles. The casting of Babe Ruth, playing himself, is a nice treat. Solid entertainment, 7/10.

"I'm telling you, that was a mighty wallop."

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 29 June 2008]

I'm not much of a major league baseball fan, due in part to the nonsensical gobs of money thrown at professional athletes today, but I don't think you have to be a sports fan to appreciate the tale of Lou Gehrig - "The Pride of the Yankees". Gehrig's story took place at a time when guys would play ball just for the love of the game, and sign autographs without charging their fans for the privilege. Can you imagine that? The movie is helped immensely by the decidedly low key portrayal of the baseball legend by Gary Cooper, who a year earlier provided a similar effort in an Oscar winning Best Actor bid as the title character in "Sergeant York". I had to wonder to myself what type of person Gehrig might have been playing for the Yankees today, or if he would even get that far without an ego larger than the entire team. It's probably better that we'll never know.

I got a kick out of a couple of scenes in the picture that really didn't even have much to do with Gehrig himself. I thought it was pretty cool to see Babe Ruth's rookie cigarette card when he was playing for the Boston Red Sox, although I doubt that it was the real deal. The other scene had to do with the cost of the doctor's house call for the sick Mrs. Gehrig, Lou's mom (Elsa Janssen) - two dollars!!! Where can I get a plan like that?

You know, I'd seen "To Kill A Mockingbird" almost a half dozen times, and always wondered what exactly was a chifforobe, and that film came out twenty years later. Not only does this picture answer my question, but it provides a visual aid as well, (along with the correct spelling if you have sub-titles on!). Got to love these old movies!

The thing that had me scratching my head though was the poetic license taken with expanding on the Babe's legend of calling his famous World Series shot. That was one of the first things I researched after I finished watching the picture, and sure enough, Gehrig's promise was simply made up for the picture. Taken in stride though, it was kind of neat to see the happiness on little Billy's face to have his heroes come through.

Getting back to the Babe, I really studied his expression during the movie's climactic 'luckiest man' speech. I was looking for any tell tale expression that might have betrayed his feelings for having already gone through the ordeal once for real. If there was any, the Babe kept them completely to himself, I don't know how he did it, because I don't think you can get through that scene with a dry eye. And even though my viewing of the film today was the first time I've seen it, my best friend, who's a HUGE Lou Gehrig fan, says that he's choked every time he's watched the picture - at least thirty times!

One closing note - it was really interesting to see Walter Brennan in a role that didn't rely on his trademark limp and hayseed speech pattern. In fact, even though I saw his name in the opening credits, it didn't click with me that it was Brennan portraying sports reporter Sam Blake until well into the picture. Brennan's character had it right after all, in his analysis of why Lou Gehrig would wind up such a huge fan favorite. In response to rival reporter Hank Hanneman's (Dan Duryea) remark that Gehrig was merely a boob, Blake's retort - 'he's a boob with a batting eye', and that's why fifty million people will watch him. And they did.

One great sports flick

[gerry-russell-139 · 7/10 · 23 September 1999]

I love this movie and I LOVE Gary Cooper. He is the greatest

actor of all time. I think he should have won the Oscar for his role as Lou Gehrig (although Cagney was great in "Yankee Doodle Dandy" as well). Well, to those of you who have not seen this movie, SEE IT! If you like Gary Cooper, Lou Gehrig or if you're just a fan of Baseball, you will like it anyway.

Best sports biopic....ever

[tizzo · 9/10 · 29 March 2006]

Being a lifelong Yankee fan this movie is my all time favorite. At times it can be a bit "hokey", but that is part of the charm. Even though you know the eventual fate of Lou Gehrig you cant help feeling that somehow he would get better.

My favorite scene was after his marriage to Eleanor and they were in the car driven by Walter Brennan heading to Yankee Stadium. When the motorcycle cop pulled them over for speeding. It was so "campy" but I loved it.

This movie hit all the emotions you can have! I dare anyone to tell me that after his farewell at Yankee Stadium they didn't get a lump in their throat.

Formulaic and Engaging.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 17 October 2009]

There is this widespread belief that Gary Cooper only had one expression. It's a bloody lie. At times he could look slightly puzzled, at others slightly determined, and at still others slightly shy. And all that is aside from the blank expression that constituted 90 percent of any given performance.

What Cooper had going for him was a combination of good looks and a kind of everyman quality. He was always lanky and slightly awkward. And he seemed to be the likable, honest guy that he was in real life. He could never have played a mustachioed villain, the kind of role that, say, Gregory Peck essayed in "The Boys From Brazil." He wasn't capable of that kind of joke.

He's at his best here as Lou Gehrig, a German boy from the Bronx who switches from engineering at Columbia University to the New York Yankees and plays in more than two thousand games over fourteen years before being overcome by a disorder now known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." Supporting players are stock. There is the dominant but loving German mother, the frustrated janitor father, the chirpy and beautiful young wife (Teresa Wright), the loyal sidekick (Walter Brennan), the cynical cad of a hostile reporter (Dan Duryea), and the sympathetic team mates, some played by real Yankees Babe Ruth and Bill Dickey.

The structure of the film is utterly standard. Young man torn between goals indulges in Funktionslust and finds his bliss. But it deviates from the familiar stereotype in one crucial way. Ordinarily, the hero becomes a great success and is felled by his inner demons -- alcoholism or egotism or drugs or physical trauma or the death of a loved one -- before overcoming them and regaining his pride and stature with the help of a loving wife or staunch friend.

The writers couldn't follow the usual script because this is a true story (roughly) and because the dice of the gods are loaded. Gehrig died of his disease. The climax couldn't have been his resurrection, so it had to be the farewell speech he gave before tens of thousands of adoring fans at Yankee Stadium. It's quoted verbatim and moving in its simplicity, its everyday quality.

The facts in the case haven't prevented the writers from sticking as close as possible to the template. When Gehrig finally asks to be relieved of his turn at bat, he and Brennan see specialists at the Scripps Institute. The doctor with the bad news hems and haws. Cooper sets his jaw and says, "I'm a man who likes to know his batting average. Give it to me straight, doc. Is it three strikes?" If an ordinary high school kid of the period, a baseball fan, could write screenplays, that's the kind of dialog he would write.

It's not a bad movie, in the sense that it's not insulting in any way. It's just that it all seems about as real as a fairy tale from Mother Goose. Gehrig was quite a fellow, and it would be nice to see a biography of his real life and career.

wow I'm dumbfounded

[rickdumesnil · 9/10 · 14 October 2012]

Didn't think i would like this movie but i am a Gary Cooper fanatic since Meet John Doe. He certainly didn't deceive me here...what fantastic acting.....this guy is phenomenal. Never was a Theresa Wright fan until this movie. She played it with style and conviction. Good story that provided us with humour as well as sadness. Just happy Sam Wood chose not to show Lou Gherig dying. The scene where Lou meets little BILLY all grown up and the end.....had me in a turmoil. ELSA J ANNSEN would go on to play another mother in 1943 s blockbuster SO PROUDLY WE HAIL. She registers emotions so capably you just want to cuddle her. Walter Brennan is well Walter Brennan...he didn't received 3 Oscars for nothing. All and all a fast paced well made movie that will pull at your heart strings whether you like baseball or not.

The Pride of the Yankees

[jboothmillard · 6/10 · 28 July 2019]

I had seen a couple of clips of this classic black-and-white film, all I knew what to expect was people playing baseball, and the famous final line, but it was rated well by critics, directed by Sam Wood (A Night at the Opera, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Kitty Foyle). Basically, Lou Gehrig (Oscar nominated Gary Cooper) is a young Columbia University student. His old-fashioned mother (Elsa Janssen) wants him to study hard and work in engineering, but he has a talent for baseball. Sportswriter Sam Blake (Walter Brennan) convinces a scout to watch Gehrig play, and he is surprised to be given the opportunity to play for the New York Yankees. His mother gets sick, he agrees to sign with the team to pay for the hospital bills. With the help of his father (Ludwig Stössel), he wants to keep his career change a secret from his mother. Gehrig works his way up through the minor leagues and joins the Yankees. His hero, Babe Ruth (as himself), is at first condescending and dismissive of the rookie, but his strong, consistent success wins over Ruth and the rest of the team. During a game at Comiskey Park, Gehrig is teased by spectator Eleanor (Oscar nominated Teresa Wright) for tripping over a stack of bats. Later, they are properly introduced, leading to a relationship, and then an engagement. Gehrig's mother finally finds out about his baseball career when friends come to the house to show stories about him in the newspaper headlines. She does not accept the fact that her son will not be an engineer, but after some time, Gehrig finally stands up to her and marries Eleanor. The Yankees become the most dominant team in baseball, and Gehrig becomes a favourite with the fans. His father and fully converted mother attend games and cheer for him. Along the way, Gehrig also makes public appearances, including a meeting with a crippled boy named Billy (Gene Collins) in a hospital. He tells him that he can achieve anything if he works hard for it and promises the boy to hit two home runs in a single World Series game, he fulfils his promise. Gehrig earns the nickname the "Iron Horse", he is an established national hero at the peak of his career with multitudes of fans, many loyal friends, and an adoring wife. Then he begins to notice increasing pains, causing his strength to slowly fade away. Though he continues to play, and achieves further records, his physical condition continues its inexorable decline. One day, in Detroit, he tells Yankees manager Joe McCarthy (Harry Harvey) that he benches himself. After an examination, a doctor gives him the devastating news: Gehrig has a rare, incurable disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, later to be known as Lou Gehrig's disease), and only a short time to live. A year later, a special day is held for Lou Gehrig, what will be his final appearance, at Yankee Stadium. He is surprised to be reunited with an older Billy (David Holt) and shows him that he has made a full recovery, inspired by his hero's example and his fulfilled promise. Eleanor weeps softly in the stands, and his parents watch on, and Gehrig addresses the fans. His final words are "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth." (voted number 28 on 100 Years, 100 Quotes). Also starring Dan Duryea as Hank Hanneman, Addison Richards as Coach, Hardie Albright as Van Tuyl, Virginia Gilmore as Myra, and Bill Dickey as himself. Cooper gives a good performance as the everyman with a gift, Wright is likeable as his beautiful wife, and it is cool to have the real Babe Ruth, this movie is not quite the story of the whole career of the iconic Gehrig, it is more about his relationships with his family and his wife, there are only a few short moments with baseball (there is also a very odd fully ballet dance sequence when the couple go the theatre), obviously it is most memorable for the final words, all together it is a worthwhile biographical sports drama. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Picture; Best Writing, Original Story; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration; Best Sound, Recording; Best Effects, Special Effects, and Best Music for Leigh Harline. Lou Gehrig was number 25 on 100 Years, 100 Heroes & Villains (Hero), and the film was number 22 on 100 Years, 100 Cheers. Good!

The Luckiest Man On The Face Of The Earth!

[strong-122-478885 · 5/10 · 20 February 2014]

Of course, I would never say that The Pride Of The Yankees was the worst movie ever made about the sport of Baseball, but, then again, I'd definitely never admit that it was the best, either.

Yes. I do fully realize (much to my dismay) that this 1942 picture was clearly intended to be MGM's respectful homage to honour one of baseball's greatest and beloved stars, Lou Gehrig (who sadly died only one year before this film's release) - But, the thing is, I personally think that the revered memory of an idolized man like Gehrig certainly deserved so much better than the likes of this less-than-satisfying "rush job".

One of this film's biggest and most detrimental deficits was the casting of one of Hollywood's dreariest and utterly non-charismatic actors of the 30s & 40s, Gary Cooper.

Not only was Cooper (at 42) way too old for the part of playing a man 15 years his junior, but I also found Cooper to be such a totally forgettable non-entity in his part as Gehrig that it teetered on the very edge of being downright insulting and disrespectful.

Gary Cooper clearly didn't have the capacity to bring any reasonable depth or life to his floundering character. He just played his usual bumbling, "aw-shucks" self, and, believe me, it was actually pathetic to watch at times.

This film also suffered from sentimentality-overload, 1940's style. And, yes, again, I do realize that this film was intended to be a loving tribute to Gehrig (who I have nothing against), but, all of this schmaltzy sentimentality made him out to be a literal saint (who could swing a mean bat) and whose feet never once seemed to touch the ground.

Besides what I've already beefed about above - This film (with its gruelling 2 hour and 10 minute running time) contained not a single surprise. In fact, it often tripped over itself when it came to the likes of predictability.

The final blow that forced me to reduce this picture's overall rating even lower was the unnecessary focus paid to the portrayal of Lou's mother, played by the scenery-chewing actress, Elsa Janssen. This opinionated woman was insufferably overbearing.

As it appeared in this film, Gehrig was apparently so completely devoted to his mother that he was reduced to the point of being a frickin' "momma's boy". Even after Lou moved away from home and had gotten married, he still remained absolutely ruled by mommy-dearest's demands and the vicious strangle-hold of her apron strings.

As you can well-imagine, this intense focus on Lou's screwy attachment to his mother (which carried right through to the end of the story) grated on my nerves, big-time.

Perhaps after seeing this film for yourself, you will find your opinion of it to be much less harsh than mine. But, I just want to say that I did not hate this movie. I just thought that since it was meant to honour a sports hero of Gehrig's magnitude, then it certainly could've been a helluva lot more entertaining and enlightening in regards to presenting Gehrig as a real person (warts & all) and not just as the product of some cheap, Hollywood white-washing job.