The Pride of the Yankees (1942)

The story of the life and career of famed baseball player Lou Gehrig.

Director:

Sam Wood

Writers:

Jo Swerling (screenplay), Herman J. Mankiewicz (screenplay)

Stars:

Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Babe Ruth

Won 1 Oscar. Another 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Cooper	...	Lou Gehrig
Teresa Wright	...	Eleanor Gehrig
Babe Ruth	...	Babe Ruth
Walter Brennan	...	Sam Blake
Dan Duryea	...	Hank Hanneman
Elsa Janssen	...	Mom Gehrig
Ludwig Stössel	...	Pop Gehrig (as Ludwig Stossel)
Virginia Gilmore	...	Myra
Bill Dickey	...	Bill Dickey
Ernie Adams	...	Miller Huggins
Pierre Watkin	...	Mr. Twitchell
Harry Harvey	...	Joe McCarthy
Bob Meusel	...	Robert W. Meusel (as Robert W. Meusel)
Mark Koenig	...	Mark Koenig
Bill Stern	...	Bill Stern

Storyline

Biopic traces the life of Lou Gehrig, famous baseball player who played in 2130 consecutive games before falling at age 37 to ALS, a deadly nerve disease which now bears his name. Gehrig is followed from his childhood in New York until his famous 'Luckiest Man' speech at his farewell day in 1939.

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Plot Keywords:

baseball | husband wife relationship | hero | terminal illness | retirement | 

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Taglines:

The Crowd Worshipped Him... One Woman Understood Him!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 March 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lou Gehrig

Filming Locations:

Pelham Parkway, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Samuel Goldwyn Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a June 8, 1942 interview, Eleanor Gehrig (as Mrs. Lou Gehrig) told Louella Parsons that she was thrilled with the performance of Gary Cooper as her husband. After seeing the film, Mrs. Gehrig said, "Gary and Lou have the same expressions. They are the same type of man. Gary studied every picture of Lou's. He had everyone of his mannerisms down to a science and he is so like my husband in the picture that there were times when I felt I couldn't bear it."

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Goofs

One of the strikeouts between Gehrig's two homers for Little Billy was on four strikes. The first strike was announced twice.

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Quotes

Hank Hanneman: That Gehrig's the chump of all time. Falling for a gag like that.
Sam Blake: Aw, he doesn't know about a gag.
Hank Hanneman: Yeah? What does he know about, Mr. Bones?
Sam Blake: Baseball.
Hank Hanneman: He knows... I'll tell ya somethin'. A guy like that is a detriment to any sport. He's a boob with a batting eye. He wakes up, brushes his teeth, hikes out to the ballpark, hits the ball, hikes back to the hotel room, reads the funny papers, gargles and goes to bed. That's personality, hm?
Sam Blake: The best.
Hank Hanneman: A real hero.
Sam Blake: Let me tell you about heroes, Hank....
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: This is the story of a hero of the peaceful paths of everyday life.

It is the story of a gentle young man who, in the full flower of his great fame, was a lesson in simplicity and modesty to the youth of America.

He faced death with that same valor and fortitude that has been displayed by thousands of young Americans on far-flung fields of battle. He left behind him a memory of courage and devotion that will ever be an inspiration to all men.

This is the story of Lou Gehrig.

Damon Runyon

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Alternate Versions

A colorized version is available.

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Connections

Referenced in Mike & Mike: Episode dated 12 February 2014 (2014)

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Soundtracks

I'm Just Wild About Harry
(1921) (uncredited)
Music Eubie Blake
Played at the college dance

User Reviews

Nice Movie About A Great Player and Genuinely-Nice Man

A lot of non-baseball fans still liked this movie a lot, and that's probably because it's more about a nice guy than it is about a ballplayer. New York Yankee great Lou Gehrig is the subject. Gehrig was often in the shadow of the great Babe Ruth, but was tremendous player in his own right and a far better human being.

It's tough to find many nicer movies than this one: a totally inoffensive, sentimental and old- fashioned film about a super-nice guy, played by a popular actor: Gary Cooper. Except for one sportswriter, there were no villains or nasty people in this movie.

Teresa Wright plays "Eleanor Twitchell," who becomes Gehrig's wife and Walter Brennan plays sportswriter and friend, "Sam Blake." The real Babe Ruth played himself, which was nice to see.

Even though Gehrig died at a fairly young age of a disease now named after him, overall this was a feel-good movie of the highest sort. This was so nice a story that even the cynical critics dared not criticize it. It leaves you with tears in your eyes at the end.