The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
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92% of critics liked it
(24 reviews) -
88% of users liked it
(6,530 ratings)
"It's box office poison," producer Samuel Goldwyn is said to have exclaimed when he heard the idea of filming the life story of fabled first baseman Lou Gehrig. "If people want baseball, they go to the ballpark!" The story begins before World War I, when young Lou Gehrig… More "It's box office poison," producer Samuel Goldwyn is said to have exclaimed when he heard the idea of filming the life story of fabled first baseman Lou Gehrig. "If people want baseball, they go to the ballpark!" The story begins before World War I, when young Lou Gehrig (played as a boy by Douglas Croft) begins dreaming of becoming a professional ballplayer. Lou's immigrant parents (Elsa Jansen and Ludwig Stossel) insist that the boy attend Columbia University to become an engineer. While in college, Lou (played as a man by Gary Cooper) becomes a star athlete, and, with the help of sports journalist Sam Blake (Walter Brennan), he is signed by the New York Yankees and joins their big-league lineup in 1925; real-life Yanks Babe Ruth, Bill Dickey, Bob Meusel and Mark Koenig play themselves. He also meets and falls in love with Eleanor Twitchell (Teresa Wright) (an event that actually happened in 1933) and earns the nickname "The Iron Man of Baseball" because he never misses a game. In 1939, Lou discovers that he has a fatal neurological disease called amytrophic lateral sclerosis (now known, of course, as "Lou Gehrig's Disease"). On July 4, 1939, an emotional Lou Gehrig, a scant two years away from death, bids farewell to 62,000 of his fans and friends at Yankee Stadium. Allowing that he might have been given a bad break, he concludes his speech with "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." Deftly weaving basic facts with yards and yards of fancy, screenwriters Jo Swerling and Herman J. Mankiewicz serve up one of the most entertaining and inspiring baseball biopics. A more accurate but less dramatic adaptation of the same story, A Love Affair: The Eleanor & Lou Gehrig Story, was produced for television in 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Sam Wood
- Written By
- Paul Gallico, Jo Swerling, Herman J. Mankiewicz
- Genres
- Documentary, Drama, Classics
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1942 Wide
- Studio
- MGM
Critic Reviews
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Manny Farber, The New Republic
Maté achieves exhilaration from his angle shooting and the feeling throughout out of a concave screen. Whatever feel of baseball this picture has is the result of his running camera.
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, TIME Magazine
The best part of Pride of the Yankees is its grade-A love story.
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Variety Staff, Variety
For baseball and non-baseball fan alike, this sentimental, romantic saga of the NY kid who rose to the baseball heights and later met such a tragic end is well worth seeing.
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Bosley Crowther, New York Times
As a simple, moving story with an ironic heart-tug at the end, it serves as a fitting memorial to the real Lou, who called himself the luckiest man alive.
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Jeremy Conrad, IGN Movies
Gary Cooper brings the Yankee legend to life with great honesty and emotion.
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Cast
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Gary Cooper
as Lou Gehrig
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Teresa Wright
as Eleanor Gehrig
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George Herman "Babe" Ruth
as Himself
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Walter Brennan
as Sam Blake
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Dan Duryea
as Hank Hanneman
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Elsa Janssen
as Mrs. Gehrig
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Ludwig Stossel
as Pop Gehrig
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Virginia Gilmore
as Myra
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Bill Dickey
as Himself
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Ernie S. Adams
as Miller Huggins
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Pierre Watkin
as Mr. Twitchell
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Mark Koenig
as Himself
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Bill Stern
as Himself
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Addison Richards
as Coach
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Hardie Albright
as Van Tuyl
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Edward Fielding
as Clinic Doctor
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George Lessey
as Mayor of New Rochelle
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Douglas Croft
as Lou Gehrig as a Boy
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Edgar Barrier
as Hospital Doctor
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Anita Bolster
as Sasha's Mother
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Lane Chandler
as Player in Locker Room
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Bill Chaney
as Newsboy
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Janet Chapman
as Tessie
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Spencer Charters
as Mr. Larsen
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Dane Clark
as Fraternity Boy
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Gene Collins
as Billy
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Eva Dennison
as Mrs. Worthington
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Frank Faylen
as Yankee
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Pat Flaherty
as Baseball Player
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Vaughan Glaser
as Doctor in Gehrig Home
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Mary Gordon
as Maid
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Harry Harvey
as Joe McCarthy
- Vinton Haworth
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David Holt
as Billy at 17
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John Kellogg
as Fraternity Boy
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David Manley
as Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia
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George McDonald
as Wally Pip
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Matt McHugh
as Strength Machine Operator
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Robert W. Meusel
as Himself
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Tom Neal
as Fraternity Boy
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Patsy O'Byrne
as Scrubwoman
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Sarah Padden
as Mrs. Robert
- Ray Noble and Orchestra
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Billy Roy
as Joe Fabini
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C. Montague Shaw
as Mr. Worthington
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Dorothy Vaughan
as Landlady
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Veloz & Yolanda
as Specialty Dancer
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Max Willenz
as Colletti
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Jack Shea
as Hammond
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Jack Stewart
as Ed Burrow
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Ted Offenbecker
as Freshman
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Robert Winkler
as Murphy
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Lorna Dunn
as Clinic Nurse
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Rosina Galli
as Mrs. Fabini
- Babe Ruth