Il ritorno del campione

James Stewart brings his patented gusto to this portrayal of real-life pitcher Monty Stratton, who lost his leg in a hunting accident, but refused to give up, wearing a prosthetic leg as he made a comeback (Stratton went on to play in the minors from 1946-53). Stewart's frequent leading lady June Allyson plays his wife, who really did help Stratton make it back. If the movie never quite scales the heights of "Pride of the Yankees," it's not for lack of trying. Old pros Stewart and Allyson lift what might have been corny and even maudlin or predictable to a high level and something we believe and care about. And they deserve extra points for playing characters who were still living (and watching). Not many can do that, and do it well. Schmaltzy but moving and perfect in its own way. (Full disclosure: I still can't get over players who would lay down a bunt with Stratton on the mound.)

Highly entertaining biopic about baseball pitcher Monty Stratton (Jimmy Stewart). Stratton is on his way to becoming one of the major leagues' best pitchers when he loses a leg in a hunting accident. It looks like his career is over. But with the support of his loving wife (June Allyson), Monty begins to pitch again. First of three movies that paired Stewart and Allyson. They're both terrific. Good support from Frank Morgan and Agnes Moorehead. Also some nice work from real-life baseball players like Bill Dickey and Jimmy Dykes. The baseball parts are fun to watch and contrast the old with the new. The sport is a shadow of its former self today. Anyway, this is one of those fine uplifting biopics Old Hollywood did so well. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

This was a nice baseball story, nothing exceptional but Jimmy Stewart's presence in the title roll elevates the movie.

Jimmy looks a bit old to be playing a rookie pitcher, and he doesn't throw like a professional, but at least he isn't pathetic in that regard like some of the other classic-era actors who attempted to do so (you know who they are). They faked enough of the pitching scenes here to get away with Stewart's baseball shortcomings.

Anyway, it's just as much a human-interest story as it is a baseball movie, the story of "Monty Stratton" (Stewart) and his girlfriend-then-bride "Ethel," played warmly by June Allyson. She and Frank Morgan, who plays the scout to discovers Monty, are excellent as the two other main actors of the film. In a supporting role, Agnes Moorehead gives her normal competent performance as Monty's mom.

On my second viewing I was surprised to discover that the key part of the film - the part which identifies this story as different from others - doesn't occur until the last third of the film. Then, after that, we see how a difficult and traumatic physical loss affects everyone and whether Monty can return to his baseball passion.

Overall, it's an entertaining film if you are a fan of Stewart's work, or a big baseball fan and most people fall into at least one of those categories. If remade today, I would suspect the script would be a little tighter, but stories were told slower 50 years ago and one has to expect that. I'm not complaining. I've enjoyed the movie both times I've watched it, and the DVD transfer is very good.

Made in 1949 - at about the time that WWII veteran amputees were emerging from their VA hospital prosthetics rehab program and thus beginning to appear among the general population - 'The Stratton Story' topic of a man working hard to overcome the wound he suffered was timely, and it helps to explain the film's resonance with the audiences of its day.

Well crafted in all respects 'The Stratton Story,' though certainly a rather fictionalized Hollywood treatment, gives a straightforward, honest look at a man, a farmer, a baseball player, a husband, a father facing his amputation squarely and making the best of himself despite his handicap - and the real Monty Stratton accomplished this feat in the days before every mosquito bite or knee-scrape prompted the callout of armies of professional counsellors. The pairing of June Allyson with James Stewart proved to yield attractive screen power as the two thespians work together very well here in their first effort as a movie couple. The supporting cast give solid performances, though I give special mention to Agnes Moorehead for her restrained, dignified portrayal of Stratton's mother which in the hands of a lesser actress could have been turned into a cliché of the farm-earth-mother.

There's fraught drama here as well as lighthearted and inspiring moments, and none are overindulged or wrung out beyond their intrinsic value. 'The Stratton Story' is a nicely balanced example of forthright cinematic storytelling of a self-reliant man supported unflinchingly by his clear-eyed, plain-spoken family and his baseball fraternity. Over time the film stands up well and it needs no third millennium explication or embellishment; it's fine fare for adults and children alike.

Baseball means little to me, living in Scotland, so it was with some ignorance of the sport's finer points that I approached this lesser known James Stewart vehicle. Whilst ball-game live-action, with some real-life baseball personalities in the cast, does play a major part in the movie, the underlying story is simply a true tale of overcoming unexpected adversity, a prototype role Stewart delivered time and again in his distinguished career. Following on from the above, Monty Stratton as a sporting hero means nothing to me so I have no idea how far Hollywood bowdlerised the story, so I'll take the narrative at face value and give kudos where they are due to a well-paced film, with natural dialogue and well-crafted scenes, even the baseball match recreations. Stewart's "pitching action" looks natural and he acts his disability convincingly. The Stewart/Allyson pairing gets its first outing here and their natural playing and obvious simpatico from the start has you rooting for them both all the way through. The support is equally strongly played, particularly Agnes Moorehead playing her stock-in-trade "Whistler's Mother" come to life. The direction by Sam Wood is sure and I particularly appreciated the sensitivity shown in the lengthy scenes where Stewart initially broods and gives in to the loss of his leg before Allyson, in a memorable scene, encourages him to fight his disability and helps him achieve his self-respect as well as his place back at the pitching mound. In the main though, as ever, it's Stewart in all his drawling, winking, glory who garners your sympathy from the "Play ball" of a very entertaining family film. It's interesting too, to see his playing of the Stratton part as the unwitting precursor to his more celebrated part as an invalid in the later classic "Rear Window".