Today’s movie is a sports
biography with a scene that happens on September 29. Watch it tonight and
enjoy.
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 team, 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 2,000th 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 playing Gehrig.
Graham, Frank. Lou Gehrig: A
Quiet Hero. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1942. Page 164 gives the date of
his marriage.
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 15th Academy Awards.
Screenplay - Jo Swerling and
Herman J. Mankiewicz
Producer - Samuel Goldwyn
Director - Sam Wood
Runtime – 2 hours 8 minutes
Released – July 14, 1942
Starring –
Gary Cooper as 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
Copyright by Ivan Walters in
2014.
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