Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

beauzee for all the B-movie sentimentality we do have the incredible, amazing opportunity to watch the great Bambino play himself and do one h*lluva good job! and not just the Babe...many of "Murder's Row", the 1927 (real) Yankees. can't get over that...even after 55 years of loving the movie.Gary Cooper was, as we all know, selected by the fans who chose guess who? had to be Gary Cooper! Here's a little confusion for me: I love Gary and Lou but Gary was, at 40, built like a tennis player and Lou was build like...an Iron Horse. Muscles over muscles. Was there an actor to really play Gehrig? I do not know. Movie historians, please advise. I know how negative that sounds. But Cooper looked awful in uniform.but..to dispel any "confusion"...Gary's beautiful final speech at Yankee Stadium, July of 1939. "Today, I consider myself...". For Americans and Americans only, we cherish that after THe Ghettysburg Address!

kckidjoseph-1 Gary Cooper plays New York Yankees star first baseman Lou Gehrig, whose career and life were cut short by a disease that now carries Gehrig's name. Cooper gives a great performance (everyone thinks he won the Oscar for this _ he didn't, he took home the gold for "Sergeant York, and again for "High Noon"") and appearances by real-life ballplayers (pictured: Cooper with Babe Ruth, Gehrig's former teammate, during filming) give the picture a feel of authenticity. A minor quibble that it romanticizes Gehrig's life is not without merit, but the film should be allowed to venture into American mythology, like the sport itself. Cooper's rendition of Gehrig's moving "the luckiest man on the face of the earth" speech is, in itself, worth the price of admission. A classic on every level.

Dalbert Pringle Of course, I would never say that The Pride Of The Yankees was the worst movie ever made about the sport of Baseball, but, then again, I'd definitely never admit that it was the best, either.Yes. I do fully realize (much to my dismay) that this 1942 picture was clearly intended to be MGM's respectful homage to honour one of baseball's greatest and beloved stars, Lou Gehrig (who sadly died only one year before this film's release) - But, the thing is, I personally think that the revered memory of an idolized man like Gehrig certainly deserved so much better than the likes of this less-than-satisfying "rush job".One of this film's biggest and most detrimental deficits was the casting of one of Hollywood's dreariest and utterly non-charismatic actors of the 30s & 40s, Gary Cooper.Not only was Cooper (at 42) way too old for the part of playing a man 15 years his junior, but I also found Cooper to be such a totally forgettable non-entity in his part as Gehrig that it teetered on the very edge of being downright insulting and disrespectful.Gary Cooper clearly didn't have the capacity to bring any reasonable depth or life to his floundering character. He just played his usual bumbling, "aw-shucks" self, and, believe me, it was actually pathetic to watch at times.This film also suffered from sentimentality-overload, 1940's style. And, yes, again, I do realize that this film was intended to be a loving tribute to Gehrig (who I have nothing against), but, all of this schmaltzy sentimentality made him out to be a literal saint (who could swing a mean bat) and whose feet never once seemed to touch the ground.Besides what I've already beefed about above - This film (with its gruelling 2 hour and 10 minute running time) contained not a single surprise. In fact, it often tripped over itself when it came to the likes of predictability.The final blow that forced me to reduce this picture's overall rating even lower was the unnecessary focus paid to the portrayal of Lou's mother, played by the scenery-chewing actress, Elsa Janssen. This opinionated woman was insufferably overbearing.As it appeared in this film, Gehrig was apparently so completely devoted to his mother that he was reduced to the point of being a frickin' "momma's boy". Even after Lou moved away from home and had gotten married, he still remained absolutely ruled by mommy-dearest's demands and the vicious strangle-hold of her apron strings.As you can well-imagine, this intense focus on Lou's screwy attachment to his mother (which carried right through to the end of the story) grated on my nerves, big-time.Perhaps after seeing this film for yourself, you will find your opinion of it to be much less harsh than mine. But, I just want to say that I did not hate this movie. I just thought that since it was meant to honour a sports hero of Gehrig's magnitude, then it certainly could've been a helluva lot more entertaining and enlightening in regards to presenting Gehrig as a real person (warts & all) and not just as the product of some cheap, Hollywood white-washing job.

coonyp I watched this movie again last night with my son who has become quite a baseball fan. It had been maybe 40 years since I had seen it so I could enjoy it all over again.How terrific that Babe Ruth was cast as himself! Perhaps the greatest player of all time had a larger than life persona and this movie captures him as he was for generations to come. Gary Cooper is without a doubt an iconic actor and perfect for the title role.There is plenty of gratuitous patriotism written into the screenplay which is not surprising since it was a wartime film. A subtle aspect of this nationalism is the portrayal of an immigrant family's gradual immersion into American culture.The screenplay and the direction is overall is excellent for a bio movie. The viewer gets a good idea of who Lou Gehrig is as a person. The presumably accurate love story is quite joyful.Now to my gripe about not just this movie but just about every sports subject Hollywood takes on. As a lifelong sports and cinema fan, I am constantly amazed at how poorly the two have meshed. This movie is a prime example. It gives the viewer virtually no appreciation of Gehrig the player. What were his particular skills and weaknesses? What were his notable achievements (other than the consecutive game record)? Moreover, even a casual sports fan appreciates the recurrent drama of game situations which matches or exceeds the dramatic tension of the best films. Yet for whatever reason, the obvious techniques for translating some of this to film are never used. How about at least two or three scenes recreating a tense moment in a crucial game where the hero delivers a key hit or play and capturing the joy of the fans and teammates? The use of a radio broadcast can set the stage. The closest this movie comes is recreating the home runs Gehrig promised to a crippled child. Sure that tugs at the heart strings but it is not necessarily important from a sports perspective.