Knute Rockne All American (1940)

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Robert Buckner (screenplay)
Mrs. Knute Rockne (private papers)

Release Date:

5 October 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Sport

Plot:

The story of legendary Notre Dame football player and coach Knute Rockne.

Plot Keywords:

Coach | Norway | Forward Pass | Teacher | Chemistry

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Pat O'Brien	...	Knute Rockne
Gale Page	...	Bonnie Skiles Rockne
Ronald Reagan	...	George Gipp
Donald Crisp	...	Father John Callahan, C.S.C
Albert Bassermann	...	Father Julius Nieuwland (as Albert Basserman)
John Litel	...	Committee Chairman
Henry O'Neill	...	Doctor
Owen Davis Jr.	...	Gus Dorais
John Qualen	...	Lars Knutson Rockne
Dorothy Tree	...	Martha Rockne
Johnny Sheffield	...	Knute, Age 7 (as John Sheffield)
Moreau Choir of Notre Dame	...	Themselves
Nick Lukats	...	Four Horseman
Kane Richmond	...	Four Horseman
William Marshall	...	Four Horseman
William Byrne	...	Four Horseman
Howard Jones	...	Himself
Glenn 'Pop' Warner	...	Himself
Amos Alonzo Stagg	...	Himself (as Alonzo Stagg)
William 'Bill' Spaulding	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddy Chandler	...	Worker (scenes deleted)
Pat Flaherty	...	Worker (scenes deleted)
William Haade	...	Worker (scenes deleted)
Frank Mayo	...	Reporter (scenes deleted)
John Ridgely	...	Reporter (scenes deleted)
Erville Alderson	...	Kansas Farmer Witnessing Airplane Crash (uncredited)
Rudolph Anders	...	Elder in Norway (uncredited)
Peter Ashley	...	Player (uncredited)
Evelyn Atchinson	...	Bathing Beauty (uncredited)
Tommy Baker	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
Tommy Bennett	...	O'Reilly (uncredited)
Georgie Billings	...	Boy Quarterback (uncredited)
Wade Boteler	...	Trainer (uncredited)
Egon Brecher	...	Elder in Norway (uncredited)
David Bruce	...	Reporter When Knute is Ill (uncredited)
Cliff Clark	...	Danny, Post Office Paymaster (uncredited)
Richard Clayton	...	O'Flaherty, a Student (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr.	...	Messenger (uncredited)
Joe Cunningham	...	Reporter on Train (uncredited)
Donald Curtis	...	West Point Football Player (uncredited)
Billy Dawson	...	Knute Rockne Jr., Age 12 (uncredited)
Edgar Dearing	...	Doc, Knute's Friend at Kansas City Airport (uncredited)
Dudley Dickerson	...	Train Porter (uncredited)
David Dickinson	...	Bill Rockne, Age 10 (uncredited)
Lucile Fairbanks	...	Telephone Operator (uncredited)
James Flavin	...	Army Assistant Coach (uncredited)
Bunky Fleischman	...	Bill Rockne, Age 5 (uncredited)
John Gallaudet	...	Notre Dame Coach Harper (uncredited)
Peter B. Good	...	Bill 'Billy' Rockne, Age 2 (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	...	Man Wheeling Knute's Wheelchair (uncredited)
Jack Grant Jr.	...	Bill Rockne, Age 14 (uncredited)
Billy Gratton	...	Jackie Rockne, Age 4 (uncredited)
Creighton Hale	...	Callahan's Secretary (uncredited)
Harry Harvey Jr.	...	Boy (uncredited)
Michael Harvey	...	Player (uncredited)
Harry Hayden	...	Committee Member (uncredited)
Patricia Hayes	...	Jeannie Rockne, Age 10 (uncredited)
George Haywood	...	Student (uncredited)
Oscar 'Dutch' Hendrian	...	Assistant Coach Hunk Anderson (uncredited)
William Hopper	...	New York Reporter When Knute is Ill (uncredited)
George Irving	...	Doc, a Notre Dame Professor (uncredited)
Danny Jackson	...	Boy (uncredited)
Lois James	...	Bathing Beauty (uncredited)
Dickie Jones	...	Boy Captain (uncredited)
Brian Keith	...	Student at Train Station (uncredited)
Owen King	...	Western Union Clerk in Kansas City (uncredited)
Marilyn Kinsley	...	Bathing Beauty (uncredited)
Lois Lindsay	...	Bathing Beauty (uncredited)
Pete Mehringer	...	Player (uncredited)
Carlyle Moore Jr.	...	Player Eating Bonnie's Chicken (uncredited)
Paul Panzer	...	Extra at Train Station (uncredited)
Steve Pendleton	...	Player #12 (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Army Coach (uncredited)
George Reeves	...	Distraught Player (uncredited)
Sam Rice	...	Extra at Committee Hearing (uncredited)
Ruth Robinson	...	Molly, Gipp's Mother (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Jeff, Reporter on Train (uncredited)
Billy Sheffield	...	Knute Rockne, age 4 (uncredited)
Edwin Stanley	...	Committee Member (uncredited)
Phil Thorpe	...	Boy Center (uncredited)
Ruth Tobey	...	Isobel (uncredited)
Charles Trowbridge	...	Professor (uncredited)
Frederick Vogeding	...	Elder in Norway (uncredited)
David Wade	...	Knute Rockne, Age 7 (uncredited)
Pierre Watkin	...	Commissioner at Hearing (uncredited)
Garry Watson	...	Boy (uncredited)
Charles C. Wilson	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Robert Winkler	...	Tommy (uncredited)
Jack Wise	...	Football Fan at Game (uncredited)
Maris Wrixon	...	Telephone Operator (uncredited)

Directed by
Lloyd Bacon

Writing credits
Robert Buckner		(screenplay)
Mrs. Knute Rockne		(private papers) (as Mrs. Rockne)

Produced by
Robert Fellows	....	associate producer
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Heinz Roemheld		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Tony Gaudio		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ralph Dawson

Art Direction by
Robert M. Haas		(as Robert Haas)

Costume Design by
Milo Anderson		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jack L. Warner	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Don Alvarado	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Frank Anthony	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Jesse Hibbs	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Charles Lang	....	sound

Special Effects by
Byron Haskin	....	special effects
Rex Wimpy	....	special effects

Editorial Department
Don Siegel	....	montage (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Ray Heindorf	....	orchestrator

Other crew
J.A. Haley	....	technical advisor
Nick Lukats	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical) (as Warner Bros. Pictures) (Inc.)
• Dominant Pictures Corporation (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Hosh Posh Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Hosh Posh Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

A Modern Hero (UK)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:G (video rating) | Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #6204)

Filming Locations:

University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Reagan once said of his role that though there were those who could've played it better, nobody wanted the role more than he did.

Quotes:

Knute Rockne: We haven't got any use for gamblers around here. You've done your best to ruin baseball, and horse racing, and this is one game that's clean and is gonna stay clean.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Sanford and Son: I Dream of Choo Choo Rabinowitz (#6.5)" (1976)

Soundtrack:

Carolina in the Morning

From Norway, To Chicago, To South Bend and Immortality!

Some time ago, we read of the results of a poll taken by some Newspaper Sports Writers. The Questions posed were only two, and were brief and right to the point.

The Question Number 1 asked respondent to tell who was his most Beloved college football team. Question Number 2 asked the fan to name his most Hated college football team. The answer to both questions was simply, Notre Dame! ND is tops on both lists! Yeah, love 'em or hate 'em, but you sure don't ignore ,em.

The roots of this unique position of this Indepent* College Football Powerhouse are found in the life and career of one, grown-up, little Immigrant Norweigen boy from Chicago named Knute Rockne.

As a biopic, the production of KNUTE ROCKNE, ALL-American(1940), came out relatively close to the death of Coach Rockne in a 1930 plane crash. It was about 10 years after that the film was released. That would mean that preliminary work on the project started about 8 years after our Nation's great loss of Mr. Rockne.

His likeness and voice were well known from Newspapers, Radio and Motion Picture News Reels. Both Knute's Widow,Bonnie Skiles Rockne, and the University of Notre Dame had approval rights in choosing the Actor to play the Lead and okaying the script. We think that they could not have done the job any better. Pat O'Brien truly looks the part and was himself a footballer in college. Ronald Reagan is cast in the pivotal role of George Gipp**, a free spirited student going to Notre Dame on a Baseball scholarship! He was a "walk-on" football player.

The cast runs full of talented players. We have Griffith Veteran,Donald Crisp as Fr. Callaghan, C.S.C., Notre Dame President. Albert Basserman is Fr. Newland, the Chemistry Prof and Rockne mentor. Gail Page appears as the Mrs., Bonnie Skiles Rockne. Owen Davis,Jr. is Rockne cohort, Gus Dorais(the passer in that historic ND vs. ARMY Game at West Point.)

The cast is rounded out by Kane Richmond, Nick Lukats, William Marshall and William Byrne as the Four Horsemen. Real life Big Time College Coaches Howard Jones, 'Pop' Warner, Bill Spaulding and Amos Alonzo Stagg appear as themselves in scenes of Congressional Probe into College Sports and add an authentic touch.

As for biopic,KNUTE ROCKNE ALL-American!,all one can only say that it hits the ground running, and did not slow down from beginning to end. There is no wasted time either. All the screen time is used to move the story along.

Use of Notre Dame Choir, the Campus itself and all that Brass Band rah-rah march music all ad to the feeling of really being there.***

* To this day,even though their Basketball Team and other sports teams compete in the Big East Conference, Notre Dame remains an Independent in NCAA Football. What this means, that in effect, The Fighting Irish play a national schedule.

** There was no such agreement with the Family of George Gipp. There was a lawsuit some years ago over the scene portraying young Mr. Gipp giving the famous "Win Onr For The Gipper Speech". Television prints of this KNUTE ROCKNE ALL-AMEICAN were minus the speech in the death bed scene.

*** Other Notre Dame themed Films were made over the years. THE SPIRIT OF NOTRE DAME (Universal 1931)featured J. Farrell McDonald as a Rockne look-alike coach. It also featured Lew Ayers, Andy Devine Nat Pendleton, as well as the members of the real Notre Dame Championship Teams featuring the real Four Horsemen. Then of course, we have RUDY (Tri-Star 1993)with Sean Astin, Jon Favreau, Ned Beatty and Charles Dutton, among others, in a fine cast. There was also talk of an unauthorized film, critical of Notre Dame called GOLDEN GLORY, but nothing has materialized, has it?(Let me know, Dear Reader, THANX!!)

**** Warner Brothers always had great music in their, both in opening themes and in incidental music. In this Rockne Movie, they have incorporated THE NOTRE DAME FIGHT SONG in the score. Along with it were STEP NOTRE DAME and THE NOTRE DAME ALMA MATER, which had its premiere at the Rockne Funeral in 1930 at the Notre Dame Basilica.