Knute Rockne All American

The Knute Rockne legend is largely founded on this Lloyd Bacon biography, in which Pat O'Brien stars as the sainted Notre Dame football coach. In his most famous role, Ronald Reagan plays star quarterback George Gipp, who utters the immortal line "Win one for the Gipper!" Rock's speech in front of the college athletics evaluation committee was just outstanding, and the stock footage of the old games is even to this day some great football. Fabulous sports biography .

This is the life story of probably the most famed football coach, Knute Rockne. 'Rock' gained fame with his pep talks that led to many memorable victories for his beloved Notre Dame football team.

Pat O'Brien probably turns in the best performance of his career as Coach Rockne. Ronald Reagan portrays the dying George Gipp of the "win one for the Gipper" fame. Also in the cast are Donald Crisp, Owen Davis Jr., Gale Page and John Litel. Johnny Sheffield, who played Boy in the Tarzan series, plays Rockne at age 7.

Father of the forward pass and backfield shift inspired even the non-football fans during his era in the limelight. This is a football classic you can enjoy watching again and again.

Recently was traveling in Norway from Bergen, Norway and stopped in the small town of Voss, Norway and there was a monument in honor of Knute Rockne who was born in Voss years ago. The people all know about Knute to this day and tour guides are proud to stop at his monument. This film is a great history of this great man and his great love for Notre Dame Never realized that Knute has such great talents in chemistry and laboratory science and also taught chemistry for years and at the same time coached the football team. Ronald Reagan played the role of George Gipp, (The Gipper) who was an outstanding football player; Reagan had a short role, but gave a great supporting role in this film. Donald Crisp, (Father John Callahan) was outstanding as a priest who always had great faith in Knute during his entire life at Notre Dame. This is a great Classic film and will be viewed by many generations to come. Enjoy.

The true life story of perhaps the greatest football coach the game has ever known. Knute Rockne led the game of football out of the "stone age" with innovations such as the forward pass and offensive formation shifts. But he is probably best known for his motivational locker room speeches. Along the way, he brought fame and glory to a tiny, little, unknown Catholic school in Indiana. Pat O'Brien is incomparable in his role as Rockne. Terrific cast that includes Ronald Reagan who gives a great performance as Notre Dame's first, true superstar, George Gipp.

For Football aficionados, this is the greatest football movie ever made. Do yourself a favor and rent the black and white version. (Some versions have deleted scenes for some reason) If you got the good version, look for a brief cameo by the immortal Jim Thorpe as he sticks his head in the locker room telling Rockne and the team they only have a few minutes left before the 2nd half begins.

When Warner Brothers decided to produce the biography of Notre Dame's legendary football coach, Knute (pronounced Ka-Newt) Rockne, there were major hurdles that had to be faced. Rockne had only passed away nine years earlier, at 43, and his image and distinctive speaking style were well-known to football fans, nation-wide, through newsreels and radio, as was his Cinderella-like story (born in Voss, Norway, he and his family had emigrated to Chicago, Illinois when he was five, he worked to pay tuition to attend Notre Dame, then went on to revolutionize football as both a player and coach). Any film about Rockne had to secure the permission of his widow, Bonnie Skiles Rockne, and the cooperation of Notre Dame, and both wanted final approval of both the script, and the actor to play 'Rock'.

While the script, focusing on Rockne's devotion to 'his boys', making football more exciting, and his unshakable faith in the importance of athletics and education to America's youth, would win Mrs. Rockne and Notre Dame's support, casting the coach would prove a challenge. When stocky, darkly handsome 41-year old Irish American actor Pat O'Brien (best known as James Cagney's frequent co-star) was announced to play the craggy Norwegian American Rockne, there was some concern raised whether he was 'right' for the role. But in full makeup, O'Brien was quite convincing, and he could mimic the coach's staccato speaking style perfectly. Knute Rockne would become O'Brien's 'definitive' role, as well as his personal favorite, in a career that spanned over sixty years.

From his introduction to football as a boy (played by Johnny 'Tarzan's Boy' Sheffield), as he admonishes his father (veteran character actor John Qualen) to "speak American, Papa...We're in America, now", through his years working at a Post Office earning tuition money, to his courtship of Bonnie Skiles (Gale Page) and on-field partnership with 'Gus' Dorais (Owen Davis Jr.), who would toss Rockne the forward pass against Army that would revolutionize the game, the story is both entertaining and informative (Rock, it is revealed, could have made a "first class" chemist).

Then Ronald Reagan appears, as flippant, yet private George Gipp, and the film achieves it's legendary status. Coach Rockne and player Gipp, as portrayed by O'Brien and Reagan, have a 'father/son'-like bond that is irresistible, and in less than ten minutes of screen time, Reagan establishes himself as no longer a 'B' actor, but a star to be reckoned with. The "Win One for the Gipper" speech has become one of the best-loved in movie (and sports) history, and, while it has been parodied frequently through the years (particularly while Reagan was President of the United States), it is still quite moving.

While Gipp's untimely death casts a momentary pall on the film, his place is soon taken by the legendary "Four Horsemen", as Rockne introduces 'the backfield shift' to football. The coach becomes the spokesperson of College Football, defending both himself and such legends as Alonzo Stagg, 'Pop' Warner, Howard Jones, and Bill Spaulding (playing themselves), against charges of gambling and football's place in an academic environment.

Through it all, Bonnie Rockne offers loving support to her often preoccupied but devoted husband and their large family. The bond they share is so intimate that she 'feels' the airplane crash that takes his life, in the film's tragic finale.

Punctuated by Notre Dame's classic fight song, KNUTE ROCKNE ALL AMERICAN is certainly not a 'perfect' film (watch how frequently jersey numbers appear, disappear, and change, as vintage newsreel footage is used during big games), but the overall result is both rousing and sentimental. It's easy to see why "Rudy" Ruettiger would be inspired by it, and would want to add his own chapter to Notre Dame's illustrious history.

The film certainly deserves it's 'classic' status!