The Pride of the Yankees
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Babe Ruth, Dan Duryea, Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Walter BrennanDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 128 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-17
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of The Pride of the Yankees
Movie Review: Pride of the 40's
Summary: 5 Stars
Arguably the greatest sports biography ever filmed, the movie that encompasses the life of Lou Gehrig is remarkable. Nominated for best picture and actor in 1943, the film is an inspirational and emotionally charged story about one man in both life and sport that was and is loved even to this day. Lou Gehrig (G. Cooper) is portrayed as an honest, simple and selfless man who simply wants to play the game of baseball. Although he means well, Gehrig is depicted as being both clumsy and reckless in his pursuit of the game. The film begins with Gehrig as a young, poor immigrant boy who yearns to play ball but is pressured by his mother to become an engineer in college. Being a mama's boy, Gehrig does what his mother wants and heads for college to become successful and rich. When his mother grows ill, Gehrig finds himself in desperate need for money. While playing ball on the side in college, a scout for the New York Yankees (W. Brennan) spots him and wants him to sign a contract. Needing the money Gehrig accepts and the rest is Major League Baseball history.
The great thing about this movie is that it doesn't entirely focus on Gehrig's success on the diamond, but his success as a man. We learn of Gehrig's internal struggles with his mother, his subtle rivalry with teamate Babe Ruth (who portrays himself in this film), and his loving relationship with his wife (T. Wright) which gives a full biography of his greatness.
As the film moves on from Gehrig's early years as a Yankee to a superstar and "The Iron Horse" of Baseball, the climax is revealed as an unfortunate turn for the worse. The tragedy over Lou Gehrig's life is what detours this film from a giddy feel good bio of a great athlete and man to a movie about physical decline and death, while facing all these inevitable fates with dignity and honor. The movie is humbling, to say the least, and powerful with hope. It's difficult not to get choked up as the final scene fades away.
Like all good sports films, the success of it isn't in the sport itself or the record setting highlights of a memorable career. The success is in the human development of the real life character(s) and their real life struggles. As imagined, this isn't a story about home runs or Lou Gehrig winning the World Series. It's about Lou Gehrig---the man.
One cannot say enough for the realism Gary Cooper poured into the character of Lou Gehrig. After seeing real footage of Gehrig the likeness between both the athlete and actor are eerie in its similarity. Gary Cooper won the oscar the year before for his role as Sgt. Alvin York and ten years later as Will Kane in "High Noon," but in the humble opinion of this reviewer this was his finest performance of his entire career.
There is no warnings to speak of with this movie. In 1943 there were no such things as rating systems because movies didn't have to be rated. The only thing to keep in mind is that the movie does end in a form of tragedy, which may come across as depressing to certain audiences.
In summary, "Pride of the Yankees" is one of the best films of the 1940s and is easily among the greatest sports films ever done. It is important to note that it is also a rareity for Hollywood to focus a story on a clean and uncontroversial athlete, such as Gehrig, whereas in recent sports biographies over Muhammed Ali and Babe Ruth have nothing but controversy painted all over them. It can be said that hope can sell over controversy.
Summary of The Pride of the Yankees
His talent made him a legend. His courage made him a hero. Gary Cooper is nothing short of wonderful (The Motion Picture Guide) in this moving true story of Lou Gehrig, the Hall-of-Fame ballplayer who reached the heights of stardom only to face tragedy with a dignity that inspired a nation. Nominated* for eleven Academy AwardsÂ(r), including Best Picture, The Pride of the Yankees is a glorious [and] inspiring (The Hollywood Reporter) sports classic. LouGehrig's boyhood dreams come true when he signs on with the New York Yankees and takes the field alongside his idol, Babe Ruth. In fact, Lou considers himself 'the luckiest man in the world until unthinkable misfortune strikes, and he must summon all his courage to face his toughest battle yet.When people say, "They don't make them like they used to," Pride of the Yankees is just the kind of film they're wistfully remembering. Nominated for 11 Academy awards (winning one for film editing), this handsome biographical drama of baseball legend Lou Gehrig is one of the most finely crafted films ever to emerge from Hollywood. Gary Cooper, that great oak of an American actor, progresses from the awkward and naively shy rookie to the seasoned "Iron Horse" first baseman of the New York Yankees without losing his idealism or modesty. Teresa Wright captures the same slice of Americana with her mixture of girl-next-door sweetness and urban sophistication as his supportive wife, Eleanor. After he's diagnosed with a degenerative neurological disease (known today simply as Lou Gehrig's disease), Cooper delivers Gehrig's famous retirement speech from the mound of Yankee Stadium with the courage and spirit of a winner: "I consider myself to be the luckiest man on the face of the earth." One of the finest sports films ever made, Pride is about more than simply baseball: Gehrig, the hard-working, uncommonly talented son of immigrant parents, is the living embodiment of the American Dream. Walter Brennan and Dan Duryea costar as a Greek chorus of sportswriters, and real-life Yankees Bill Dickey, Mark Koenig, Bob Meusel, and Babe Ruth appear as themselves. --Sean Axmaker
You'll be proud to introduce your kids to this film about virtue, courage, and an indomitable spirit. Like Treasure Island and Tom Sawyer, Pride should be required viewing for every family. Gary Cooper plays Lou Gehrig, the "Iron Horse" New York Yankee first baseman who became a record-setting legend in baseball. Sure, Cooper's a little long in the tooth to play a collegian, and he tries to capture Gehrig's innocence with a kind of eye-batting dopiness. But the last moments of the film, before Gehrig's final, famous farewell, transform the picture. Gehrig happens across a young man whom he had encountered years before in a children's hospital, and with this sequence, Pride becomes something more than a movie about innate talent and athleticism, or a lost era of America, it crystallizes into a film about (gulp!) human will. An absolute must. --Keith Simanton
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