Well, because today marks the 5 month anniversary of July 4, 2009. Most likely unknown to people other than die-hard baseball fans, this date had significance besides it being a major holiday here in the United States. That day marked the 70th anniversary of legendary New York Yankees player Lou Gehrig's retirement from baseball.
On July 4, 1939, fans gathered at Yankee stadium for what was later called "Lou Gehrig Day" in his honor. The stadium was at full capacity, Yankees players were lined up on the field, the manager presented Gehrig with awards, and former teammate Babe Ruth even attended the event (he then played for the Boston Red Sox). At first, Gehrig was too emotional to speak, but then had the courage to utter his famous 'luckiest man' speech.
Now, the hard fact is that this really is a classic movie review, but also a tribute to the great Lou Gehrig. Since I wasn't on this site back in July, I thought I would do a small tribute to my favorite baseball player, who I only discovered because of the 1942 classic biopic on Gehrig's life The Pride Of The Yankees starring Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright.
I've read a decent amount on Lou Gehrig since then to say that this film was very well researched. Since Gehrig died in 1941 of ALS (commonly known now as Lou Gehrig's Disease), he was fresh in everyone's mind. Baseball was also the American sport. Just about everyone followed it; they knew the players, the stats. Baseball was "America's Pastime". Clearly, the studio was not going to completely ruin such an inspirational story as Gehrig's. It seems Hollywood put a lot of care into the film and really wanted it to be good. Gehrig was an American icon, a legend even then, and they knew that the whole country was mourning his death. They weren't going to disappoint them by releasing a picture that would be an insult to Gehrig's memory and legacy.
The film begins with young Lou Gehrig playing baseball in New York where he grew up. His mother especially disapproves of his dream of wanting to be a baseball player. Later, when she becomes sick, he ultimately signs with the New York Yankees to help pay fpr treatment and hospital bills.
Teresa Wright plays Eleanor Gehrig, Lou's wife. She gives a very heartfelt performance in this movie, always caring for Gehrig and wanting the best for him. I feel this is one of her best performances.
The last scene in the film was definitely the saddest and possibly my favorite scene from the entire movie. Cooper does a marvelous job repeating Gehrig's speech and makes it very moving. Here is a video of Lou Gehrig's actual speech in 1939. And here is Cooper's version from the movie.
The film does a very nice job of chronicling the life of a true American hero. But there is one thing that was left out. Lou Gehrig actually appeared in a movie in 1938. A little-known 'B' Western entitled Rawhide. Personally, I'd only recommend this film to fans of Lou Gehrig. He plays himself, wanting to retire from baseball and goes to a ranch to rest, where he encounters trouble. The singing cowboy Smith Ballew was his costar. It is great to see Gehrig onscreen, even if the movie wasn't that great. For playing himself and not being an actor he dd a pretty swell job. Here are some clips from Rawhide, if you're really interested.
Overall, The Pride Of The ankees is a wonderful movie based on the life of a great man. I highly recommend it.
One more thing I'd like to add is that I feel Gary Cooper was just right for this role. He and Gehrig were very similar, at least in personality..
For comparison, here's a photo of Lou Gehrig:
And Gary Cooper:
As an added bonus, we even get Babe Ruth making an appearance in the movie, playing himself.
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