The Pride of the Yankees

In today's era of greedy athletes and their employers, the story of Lou Gehrig seems almost quaint. Here's a young man who by all accounts was selfless, kind-hearted, and rather introverted. And, of course, it didn't hurt that he was also a very good baseball player too. Put him on a lineup card today and he might not be the same player. Up until a few years ago, Gehrig's record of 2,130 consecutive games played was a record, a record that many thought would stand forever. For 16 years he was in the lineup as the Yankees' first baseman, never asking out for any reason. That alone should show you how special a person Gehrig was.

This biography is pretty straightforward. Unlike many of its kind, it doesn't show its protagonist somehow succeeding against all odds. Gehrig didn't have an abusive mother, he wasn't beaten up by kids at school, he wasn't learning-disabled, he didn't have attention-deficit disorder, he didn't come from abject poverty. He was simply a son in a working-class, immigrant family, as many were during the early decades of this century. And that's why Gehrig is so special to so many people - he symbolises their own hopes.

Gary Cooper is aces as Gehrig, and Teresa Wright is wonderful as his wife, Eleanor. If there's anything imperfect about the movie, it's that it is...well, a little predictable. That's something biopics can't avoid, of course, so it's no big problem. But even if most of the film doesn't impress you, the final speech at Yankee Stadium - when Gehrig was suffering visibly from the disease that would eventually be named after him - will move you past tears. And even better, when Gehrig's done his brief speech, he walks offscreen. If that movie were written today, he'd play another game and hit a game-winning home run. It's this film's honesty and sincerity that win you over.

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.

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.

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.