The Pride of the Yankees

source: The Pride of the Yankees

Moviecut—The Pride of the Yankees

Right off, let me say that I agree that this is a great baseball movie - perhaps the greatest. The on-field action is beautifully portrayed and realistic, and the authenticity is heightened, of course, by having Babe Ruth playing himself. The inspiring and ultimately tragic story of the great Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig has a deeper purpose though; deeper, but not hidden. We see it right in the scroll that runs before the movie even begins. This movie was made in 1942 at the height of World War II. Gehrig is going to be portrayed as the great American hero, who faced life and death with valor and courage. This is a message to the American kids on the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific who grew up watching their hero Gehrig play baseball: "do your duty! It's what Gehrig would have done!" So let's acknowledge that while "Pride Of The Yankees" is undoubtedly a great baseball movie, it's also a piece of wartime propaganda. Nothing wrong with that, by the way. I just think it should be acknowledged. And while Gehrig is being held up as the great American hero, it's also worth noting that he's portrayed very humanly, too. Stumbling over the bats as he goes to the plate for the first time in place of poor old Wally Pipp, who doesn't know that he's just lost his job forever; totally oblivious to a ground ball that goes right past him because he's mesmerized by Eleanor in the stands; the butt of rookie gags by his teammates (the eating of Babe Ruth's hat comes to mind here). Gehrig is approachable and likeable in this movie, not some godlike being who's so far beyond us as to be meaningless. The performances are great. Gary Cooper pulled off the role of Gehrig perfectly. Having said that I have to say that I thought Cooper looked a bit too old to be a college kid as he portrayed Gehrig's college days. Teresa Wright was equally good as Lou's beloved Eleanor. The movie really revolved around these two. Others are largely window-dressing. Worth noting, though, are Elsa Janssen and Ludwig Stossel as Gehrig's parents. They added a wonderful touch of humour to the movie, even if they did come across as a bit unrealistic. But, then again, who knows? I didn't know Gehrig's parents! Maybe this was them! Anyway, this is very enjoyable all around, with a fittingly touching conclusion, as Gehrig says good-bye to the fans at Yankee Stadium. 8/10

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.

Movie critic Leonard Maltin rates this film at 4 stars (****), his highest rating. On that basis, and as a longtime baseball fan, I gave it a look on TCM. Now I'm confused! Why is it rated at 4 stars? I puzzled at this odd portrayal of a star athlete by Gary Cooper as awkward, stiff, lacking in self-confidence, and ungraceful in the extreme on a baseball diamond. Off the field Gehrig was shown as jittery, socially inept and gullible, with darting eyes that displayed his apparent suspicions of the world around him. How he managed to charm his girlfriend is anyone's guess. Also wasn't Cooper a little old to be playing a guy in his early 20's when he reaches the big leagues? Is this really how Gehrig was in real life? Also, I could never figure out the character Sam, played by a barely recognizable Walter Brennan. Was he a friend, mentor, agent, sportswriter or what? At first I assumed he was an employee of the Yankees. He and Lou and Lou's wife wind up spending a lot of time together. One positive note: I liked Theresa Wright very much as his faithful wife: she was the only character in this film that rang true for me. Oddly, exactly what Gehrig's physical ailment was is never revealed, nor is there any discussion of it. Yes, today we know what it was (ALS) but I thought it strange that the film didn't deal at all with the diagnosis. All in all, I rate Pride of the Yankees at 5 stars out of 10.

I've read through the reviews of fans of this film. All I can conclude is 1) they are reviewing Lou Gehrig, not the film, 2) they love Lou Gehrig so much that they are willing to forgive this film everything, and 3) they really saw a different movie. This is a terrible film, hastily rushed to the fans who lost their hero the previous year. Cooper plays Gehrig as a rightie (take note of how he signs everything); a sportswriter (?), not his wife or parents are with Lou when he finds out he's dying (what an ego Gallico had); and Babe Ruth makes sure he's in the frame at the start of Gehrig's final address to the fans at Yankee Stadium (what a jerk!). Just about every fact--all available to the writers at the time--was toyed with for no apparent reason. I could go on and on about the problems with this film. Gehrig deserves better than its cheap sentimentality.

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.

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!

Which era of biopics do you prefer? The modern ones where they do little besides muckrake about the drugging and whoring before the famous person cleans up and becomes a good man, or the ones in the past, like Pride of the Yankees, where the subject is The Greatest Man in the Universe who never did a wrong in his life and who should be sitting on a throne next to God Himself after they die? Really, they're both boring as Hell, though I'll bet the modern ones are at least 10% true. My guess is that the older ones are approximately 1% true. This genre is pretty much always dead in the water, and the most you can hope for is a good performance in the lead. With Gary Cooper leading this one, you know you're not going to get much. All I really learned about Lou Gherig is that he was awesome at baseball, a really nice and awesome guy, and that he died and was as brave as the soldiers currently fighting overseas because he died. Honestly, Lou Gherig seemed to live the most uninteresting life on the planet until he developed Lou Gherig disease (always a bad sign when they name the disease you have after you). It's really not an awful film or anything. It's sweet and pleasant, and I'm sure nostalgists would love the heck out of it. Teresa Wright is cute as Gherig's wife, and Babe Ruth plays himself (I kept thinking that the actor they got really looked perfect!).

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.