September 29 - Pride of the Yankees

This movie has a scene that happens today – September 29. I hope you will enjoy this film while watching it tonight.

PRIDE OF THE YANKEES

Young Lou Gehrig plays baseball on the streets of New York, much to the annoyance of his mother who wants him to go to college and become an engineer. Gehrig does not fit in at Columbia, since he comes from a poor family and his mother works as a cook at the college. He does play baseball, which gets him noticed by pro scouts. When his mother becomes ill, Gehrig signs with the Yankee organization to provide her with the best care.  He is sent to play for the Hartford farm ream, but when he is recalled to play for the Yankees, his mother finds out about his baseball career, which leads to a major blow-up, but Lou talks her into accepting his choice. In spite of early mishaps, Lou plays for the Yankees. At a game in Chicago, he meets Eleanor Twitchell and they start dating. In the 1932 World Series Babe Ruth promises a homer to hospitalized Billy, while Lou promises him two homers. Both men deliver during the game. Afterwards Lou takes the train to Chicago, visits Eleanor at 4 a.m. and proposes to her. On September 29, 1933 [1:17:00 to 1:25:48] after Lou tells him mom who’s the boss, Lou and Eleanor get married and then get a police escort to the game. Gehrig and the Yankees continue their success. On the day he plays in his 2,000^th consecutive game Lou notices a twinge of shoulder weakness. He goes into a slump and finally takes himself out of the starting lineup. He learns he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal disease. Gehrig is honored by the Yankees at Lou Gehrig day at Yankee Stadium.  

A very good biopic. It is somewhat sentimentalized, like all film bios of it’s time were, but it’s still interesting. Cooper does a very good job as Gehrig.

Graham, Frank. Lou Gehrig: A Quiet Hero. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1942. Page 164 gives the date of his marriage.

Producer - Samuel Goldwyn

Director - Sam Wood

Awards – The movie won the Best Film Editing Oscar. The film was also nominated for the Best Picture, Best Actor(Cooper), Best Actress(Wright), Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Effects, Special Effects, Best Music Score, Best Sound Recording, Best Original Story and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 15^th Academy Awards.

Screenplay - Jo Swerling and Herman J. Mankiewicz

Runtime – 2 hours 8 minutes

Released – July 14, 1942

Starring –

Gary Cooper as Henry Louis (Lou) Gehrig

Teresa Wright as Eleanor Twitchell Gehrig

Walter Brennan as Sam Blake

Babe Ruth as Himself

Dan Duryea as Hank Henneman

Ludwig Stossel as Pop Gehrig

Elsa Janssen as Mom Gehrig

Harry Harvey as Joe McCarthy

Ernie Adams as Miller Huggins

Bill Dickey as Himself

Mark Koenig as Himself

Bob Meusel as Himself