Fascino del West

I noticed in the credits of Rawhide before the film started it listed that Lou Gehrig was appearing in the film due to the arrangement of Christy Walsh. Walsh was Gehrig's business manager, he got Gehrig as a client through his team mate Babe Ruth whose business affairs Walsh also managed. I guess this western was another money making project for Gehrig to do off season. In fact the film begins with Lou in New York's Grand Central Station telling reporters he's off to live with his sister who has a ranch in Montana and if likes it he's through with baseball.

Not exactly being a trained thespian, Lou played the only role he could have played, Lou Gehrig. When he arrives in Montana, Lou discovers his sister is being squeezed by the Cattleman's Association which in that neck of the woods is nothing more than a protection racket. In fact he's got the best line in the film when he tells the bad guys that hearing their operation and how it works he has a feeling he's back in New York right now.

Lou and sister Evalyn Knapp get a lawyer to fight them. But not just any lawyer, a singing cowboy lawyer in the person of Smith Ballew. Between the three of them, the villains are of course routed.

In real life Lou Gehrig was an only child and in real life he did go to spring training with the Yankees in 1939. But it was his last one because that disease that bears his name was starting to take its toll. In fact during the second half of the 1938 season and the World Series against the Cubs, Lou's statistics fell off dramatically.

As a western star, Lou Gehrig would not have given John Wayne any concern about a rivalry. But I would point out that in the film the Jackie Robinson Story where Jackie played himself, he was plainly ill at ease in front of the camera. And that was a project dreamed up by Branch Rickey who was running the Dodgers at the time.

Rawhide is a curiosity and certainly would have been long forgotten, but for the presence of a sports legend.

While not Oscar deserving, Gehrig did a commendable job, considering it was his first (and last) movie. The movie was made a year before he retired from baseball due to the disease that claimed his life two years later.

Singing cowboy/crusading attorney Smith Ballew is looking for a brave cattleman to go up against the crooked Rancher's Protective Association, which has been shaking down local ranch owners. He finds what he's looking for in baseball star Lou Gehrig (!), who's quit baseball and along with his sister, bought a local spread.

In all, this celebrity-driven production isn't half bad. It's a pleasant enough hour of entertainment, with some good action and an irresistible chance to see Gehrig at the height of his career, in his only acting gig. Evalyn Knapp, who play's his sister, is pretty cute too!

As a Saturday matinée hero, the rough and tumble Gehrig is surprisingly good. One amusing scene has him taking out a pool hall full of bad guys by pitching billiard balls against their heads and another has Lou belting out a (lip-synched?) cowboy song with Ballew, while riding the trail!

A couple years before he died, Lou Gehrig (yes, THAT Lou Gehrig) co-starred in an amiable little western called "Rawhide". The title refers to the name of Gehrig's ranch---to which he's retiring. However, when he arrives he finds there is a 'protective association' that controls all the local ranches. What this actually turns out to be is a protection racket run by some mobsters. In other words, if you don't join, 'accidents' happen to your spread and you can't buy needed materials. However, Lou is tough and he and his new buddy (the crooner Smith Ballew) decide to fight instead of knuckling under to their bullying tactics. Much of the rest of the film is a battle of wills and fists between these men.

The film had some very nice singing. Ballew had a very good voice and the lyrics were catchy. As for Gehrig, I am pretty sure his singing was dubbed. I also was surprised by his speaking voice, as it was 100% New York--and sounded nothing like Gary Cooper in "Pride of the Yankees". Because of this, it further accentuated the 'fish out of water' aspect of the film with this city boy taking up an odd new life as a rancher! It's all a bit surreal but also pleasant and worth seeing just for its curiosity factor.

Take away the participation of the great Gehrig and this is just another Saturday morning kid movie that youngsters shelled out nickels for in the day. From a baseball perspective it's most interesting to see Lou right after the 1937 season, his last one in which he put up the kind of statistics that he was known for. As the 1938 season went on his level of play began to slip and the next year, visibly weakened he left the game. ALS, the disease that bears his name, took him only 3 years after this film was made.