The Jackie Robinson Story

THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY is a slightly formulaic, but nonetheless solid, biopic that really deserves more attention that it receives. Robinson stars as himself, the first African American to break through pro baseball's color barrier. It's by no means an easy task as he confronts a society that is far from united in wanting to see this groundbreaking endeavor succeed.

The film is to be credited for not shying away from the racial tension of the time. Robinson endures racial slurs, unyielding boos, the indignity of sitting at the back of the bus, and so on. It's both shocking and infuriating to be reminded of how bigoted and unreasonable society was just a few decades ago. In many ways Robinson's is a heartbreaking story, even though we know it has a happy ending.

Robinson won't be mistaken for an Academy Award winner, but his performance is decent. He proves to be a highly likable screen presence, portraying the sort of gentleman that by many accounts he was in real life. Some of his supporting cast is stiff, but by and large the performances work.

Surely this important story will again one day be given the big screen treatment. And whoever gets behind the camera for that effort will have a solid foundation to which to refer in THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY.

Continuing to review African-Americans in film in chronological order for Black History Month, we're now at 1950 when the first black to play baseball in the major leagues, Jackie Robinson, stars in his own life story in a motion picture made three years after becoming a player in the Brooklyn Dodgers. Since he's basically playing himself, he doesn't need scenes that challenge him, just recite lines that I'm sure were written in a way to make things easy to remember. We're not meant to be impressed by his acting, anyway, but his athleticism whether catching balls, throwing them, or especially hitting them. No, the real acting challenge came to Minor Watson who-as the actual President of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey-has to present authority and conviction as someone who truly believes in baseball as the democratic sport meant to give fair chances to all Americans of all races and creeds, which was convincing enough to me. So on that note, The Jackie Robinson Story was an inspirational enough movie that can still touch some heartstrings, old-fashioned though some of it may be. P.S. Since it is Black History Month, I'd like to note some of the supporting performers that happen to be people of color: first off, there's Ruby Dee as Jackie's wife, Rae, in one of her earliest roles. Then there's Louise Beavers, who I last saw in the 1934 Imitation of Life back in 2008 when I last did similar reviews for BHM, as Jackie's mother. Both are adequate enough in their parts. The others-Bernie Hamilton as Ernie-a player for the Panthers, Mildred Boyd as a roommate of Rae, Howard Louis MacNeely playing Jackie as a boy, and Kenny Washington as the Tigers manager. He was previously a halfback for the Los Angeles Rams. Two more worth mentioning: Roy Glenn as attorney Mr. Gaines. He would later appear in "Amos 'n' Andy", Carmen Jones, and "The Jack Benny Program" among other movies and TV shows for the next 21 years. And, last but not least, Joel Fluellen as Jackie's older brother Mack. He was born in Monroe in my home state of Louisiana.

Sure, many can criticize this film for what it didn't show, but it's a movie, not a mini-series. So, they had to gloss over the fact that his brother Mack (Joel Fluellen), with a college education and an Olympic medal was a milkman; didn't touch on the Army at all; and left out Satchel Paige.

What was worth watching was Robinson'e play for UCLA and branch Rickey's (Minor Watson) valiant efforts to get him into major league baseball. It is no secret that I love watching baseball movies From Fever Pitch to The Natural to "A League of their own;" I'll watch baseball movies over baseball games. This was a good one. Robinson did a very good acting job playing himself. Of course, as Ringo Starr said, "All I have to do is smile and act naturally." Well, he did much more that that.

So, head on over to the Internet Archive and check it our: http://www.archive.org/details/Jackie_Robinson_Story_The

Yikes--the print for this public domain flick is a mess! Yes, it's scratchy, a bit blurry and the sound isn't great, but it's also a great chance to see Jackie Robinson himself play in this bio-pic.

This biography of Jackie Robinson has sanitized his life just a bit by the filmmakers. However, despite a few omissions here and there, the film is a decent biography--a billion times better and more truthful than the awful bio-pic on Babe Ruth completed just two years earlier. When I say sanitized, I mean some parts of Jackie's life are omitted because they didn't portray the image some folks wanted to give in the film. So, Jackie's military history is pretty much ignored--even though he dealt with A LOT of racism and a court-martial that was motivated by the color of his skin and Jackie's unwillingness to be treated like dirt. I think including it would have made for a better film, as he showed a lot of character but it just didn't fit into the 'turn the other cheek' portrayal in the film. Plus, perhaps it was too big a topic to include in this relatively short film. Overall, a decent film and it was nice to see that Robinson wasn't at all bad as an actor! Well worth seeing and a nice bit of Americana.

Some things of note in the film:

Jimmie Dodd plays a minor role as a scout for UCLA. Dodd later went on to be the host of the popular kids show, "The Mickey Mouse Show".

Robinson was a star in college in basketball, baseball, track AND football. The film talked about all but his track prowess.

The films shows such troubles encountered by black ballplayers as not being able to eat in restaurants, being booed just for being black and outright hostility.

The use of 'boy' and the almighty N-word might offend many today but it DID add realism to the movie. I'd hate to see political correctness sanitize race films too much.

Yes, Jackie Robinson portrayed himself in this 1950 B-movie "docudrama." Perhaps that was a mistake. Robinson was a great baseball player, a pioneer, and a true hero of the civil rights movement. What he was not was an actor. And while this is an important film because of Robinson's presence, it is not a good film.

His historically important stint in the U.S. Army was glossed over. There was no mention of his court martial for refusing to sit at the back of the bus on an Army transport in Texas (he won--see movie "The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson"). There was nothing about the Kansas City Monarchs and his playing on the same team as legendary hurler/baseball showman Satchel Paige (see movie "Soul of the Game.")

While there was an attempt made to show the racial injustices Robinson faced, first as a member of the Triple-A Montreal Royals of the International League, then with the Dodgers, this movie was more of a feel-good, 1950s, African-American Horatio Alger piece of public relations. For all the bite the screenplay had, it could have been written by the Dodgers P.R. office. It also made a running joke of brother Mack's "steady job." Mack Robinson was a janitor/street sweeper who could not find a better job despite a college diploma and a silver medal as a sprinter in the 1936 Olympics. The only reason he wasn't hired somewhere as a coach was racism. The movie tried unsuccessfully to make that point, but racism was not a popular subject in 1950 America, especially when the filmmaker's agenda was selling movie tickets, so the reason for Mack's lowly employment status was hinted at, not confronted.

There are two redeeming qualities in the movie: Ruby Dee as Robinson's wife, Rachel, and the appearance of Robinson himself, actor or not. Dee, who was one of Hollywood's most beautiful women at that time, was an excellent physical match for the lovely and intelligent Rachel Robinson. Her acting performance transcended an otherwise bad film. Ironically, forty years later, she would play Robinson's mother in "The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson." As for Robinson himself, those who only know him from Black History month can see firsthand that he was an intelligent, articulate human being, despite being ill at ease on the movie set. What also comes through about Robinson is his broad shouldered physical prowess. He was not as tall as Andre Braugher, who played him in "Court Martial...," nor did he have Braugher's vocal presence. While handsome, he was not drop dead movie star gorgeous as Blair Underwood, who played him in "Soul of the Game." But he was a real athlete, who had been a four-letter man at UCLA (baseball, football, basketball and track), and who had also been the best black amateur golfer in California. The real Robinson, unlike the fine actors who played him later, comes across as the real athlete he was.