Knute Rockne - All American (1940)

80% of critics liked it
(5 reviews)
58% of users liked it
(1,133 ratings)

Knute Rockne-All American was Pat O'Brien's finest hour: thanks to intensive rehearsals and numerous makeup applications, he so closely resembled the title character that, in the words of Rockne's widow, "I almost expected him to make love with me". The life of the legendary Notre Dame football… More Knute Rockne-All American was Pat O'Brien's finest hour: thanks to intensive rehearsals and numerous makeup applications, he so closely resembled the title character that, in the words of Rockne's widow, "I almost expected him to make love with me". The life of the legendary Notre Dame football coach is recounted from his childhood, when young Rockne (played by Johnny Sheffield) startles his Norwegian-immigrant parents by announcing at the dinner table that he's just been introduced to "the most wonderful game of the world." As an adult, Rockne works his way through Indiana's Notre Dame university, under the watchful and benevolent eye of Father Callahan (Donald Crisp) A brilliant student, Rockne is urged by Father Nieuwland (Albert Basserman) to become a chemist, or at the very least remain a chemistry teacher. Newly married to Bonnie Skilles (Gale Page), Rockne at first sticks to academics, but the call of the gridiron is too loud for him to ignore, and before long he has built his reputation as the winningest college football coach in America. One of his most significant contributions to the game is the invention of the tactical shift, inspired by the precision choreography of a team of nightclub dancers! Among the players nurtured by Rockne are the immortal Four Horsemen-Miller (William Marshall), Stuhlreder (Harry Lukats), Laydon (Kane Richmond) and Crowley (William Byrne), and of course the tragic George Gipp, superbly enacted by Ronald Reagan. His career continues unabated until his death in a plane crash in 1931. The screenplay of Knute Rockne-All American tends to be all highlights and little story, with several of the more dramatic passages telegraphed well in advance (just before her husband's death, Bonnie Rockne comments forebodingly "It's gotten cold all of a sudden"). Still, the film remains one of the best and most inspirational sports biographies ever made, with a heart-wrenching conclusion guaranteed to moisten the eyes of even the most jaundiced viewer. Ironically, the film's most famous scene, George Gipp's deathbed admonition to "Win one for the Gipper", was for many years excised from all TV prints due to a legal entanglement stemming from an earlier radio dramatization of Rockne's life; fortunately, this and several related scenes were restored to the film in the early 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 38 min.
Directed By: Lloyd Bacon, Llyod Bacon
Written By: Robert Buckner
Genres: Drama, Classics

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1940 Wide
On DVD: Aug 15, 2006
Studio: Warner Home Video

Critic Reviews

, Entertainment Weekly
Perhaps Ronald Reagan's greatest talent was his ability to float to the top.
Variety Staff, Variety
Carries both inspirational and dramatic appeal on a wide scale.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Corn doesn't grow any higher than this male bonding tribute to testosterone.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Although Reagan has only a few minutes playing time in the picture before his character dies of a fever, his famous deathbed scene...is classic.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
The movie...is corny and sentimental, but it set the bar for all future sports pictures.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It set the way for how the Hollywood sports biography was to be subsequently made.

Read all 6 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

cody f

The one genre from the 30's and 40's that suffers the most is easily the biopic. There are some great ones from this era, but most of them are the paint by number biopics like Knute Rockne. You see tragedy approaching from a mile away and they are filled with unrealistic… More
The one genre from the 30's and 40's that suffers the most is easily the biopic. There are some great ones from this era, but most of them are the paint by number biopics like Knute Rockne. You see tragedy approaching from a mile away and they are filled with unrealistic and wild statements like "Look there, the forward pass, that's gonna change football forever!" I love films from this era and almost all of them have a line or two like this, but Knute Rockne and many other biopics from this time are littered from beginning to end with this garbage. The performances aren't bad, it's just the structure is flawed and makes the film goofy. I am glad that biopics nowadays don't suffer the same fate as......wait a minute.

Cast

            Pat O'Brien as Knute Rockne

            Gale Page as Bonnie Skiles Rockne

            Ronald Reagan as George Gipp

            Donald Crisp as Father John Callahan

            Albert Basserman as Father Julius Nieuwland

            John Litel as Committee Chairman

            John Qualen as Lars Knutson Rockne

            Henry O'Neill as Doctor

            Owen Davis Jr. as Gus Dorais

            Dorothy Tree as Martha Rockne

            Johnny Sheffield as Knute: age 7

            Nick Lukats as Harry Stuhidreher

            Kane Richmond as Elmer Laydon

            William Marshall as Don Miller

            Howard Jones as Himself

            Glen S. "Pop" Warner as Himself

            Alonzo Stagg
            
            Egon Brecher as Elder

            David Bruce as Player

            William Byrne as Horseman

            Eddy Chandler as Worker

            Cliff Clark as Danny Post Office Paymaster

            Frank Coghlan Jr. as Messenger

            Robert O. Davis as Elder

            Billy Dawson as Knute Jr. at Age 12

            Edgar Dearing
            
            Pat Flaherty as Worker

            James Flavin as Coach

            Bill Gratton as Jackie Rockne at Age 4

            William Haade as Worker

            Creighton Hale as Secretary

            Michael Martin Harvey as Player

            Harry Hayden as Professor

            George Haywood
            
            William Hopper as NY Alumnus

            George Irving
            
            Frank Mayo as Reporter

            Carlyle Moore Jr. as Player

            Gaylord "Steve" Pendleton as Player

            Lee Phelps as Army Coach

            John Ridgely as Reporter

            Bill Sheffield as Knute Rockne at Age 4

            Bill Spaulding as Himself

            Charles Trowbridge as Notre Dame Professor

            Fredrik Vogeding as Elder

            Pierre Watkin as Commissioner

            Minor Watson as Committee Member

            Charles C. Wilson as Gambler

            Dick Jones as Boy Captain

            George Reeves as Player

            David Dickson as Bill Rockne at Age 10

            Richard Clayton as O'Flaherty

            Dutch Hendrian as Hunk Anderson

            Peter Ashley as Player

            Georgie Billings as Boy Quarterback

            Albert Bassermann
            
See full cast