The Pride of the Yankees

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.

A touching and emotional experience about the life of late-New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig (played brilliantly by the always excellent Gary Cooper, Oscar-nominated). By 1939 Gehrig was saying farewell to baseball prematurely due to a rare muscle disorder that today bears the hero's name. Shortly after Gehrig's famous speech, he would indeed pass away. "The Pride of the Yankees" (made less than three years after his death) is a moving tribute that is first-class in every way imaginable. We meet the character as a young boy whose strict mother wants him to be an engineer. As the years pass though he cannot deny his love of the grand old game. Sportswriter Walter Brennan (who was always outstanding as well) becomes the biggest supporter of Gehrig, even though Gehrig seems out-of-place in the big city at times and seems more concerned about baseball than anything else (which bothers some inside of the Yankees circle, mainly due to Babe Ruth's famous antics). As the years pass, championships come and a constant is always Gehrig who set a record with 2,130 consecutive games played (Cal Ripken, Jr. would later break that record in 1995). He finds love with a young woman from Chicago (Oscar-nominee Teresa Wright) and it appears that happiness is all that the couple will experience. Sadly that would not be the case though. Sam Wood's heart-felt direction and a focused screenplay (which is a bit sappy at times) just add an odd element of grace that endears the film to most all movie-goers. Babe Ruth does play himself here and is a surprisingly excellent performer who allows himself to be taken out of the spotlight to tell Gehrig's story. He ends up being a really solid supporting actor. I do admit that "The Pride of the Yankees" is slightly flawed. Some things seem a bit staged (most notably the young child in the hospital), but overall the film is right on target. Anyone who loves baseball, loves movies and has feelings (whether good, bad or indifferent) about the Yankees should definitely give "The Pride of the Yankees" an at-bat. It is a stunning experience that is suitable for the whole family and teaches the whole audience about love, friendship, compassion, life, death and heroism. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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!

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.

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.