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.
