The Stratton Story
by Sam Wood, Tex Avery
List Price:
Our Price: $17.99
You Save: $1.99 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $4.58 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Agnes Moorehead, Bill Williams, Frank Morgan, James Stewart, June AllysonDirector: Sam Wood, Tex Avery
Brand: Warner Brothers
Cinematographer: Harold Rosson
Editor: Ben Lewis
Writer: Douglas Morrow
Writer: Guy Trosper
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 102 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-08-15
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Movie Reviews of The Stratton Story
Movie Review: When the Look and Feel are Right, Corniness Doesn't Matter
Summary: 4 Stars
If baseball is so symbolic of America that it becomes a metaphor for how we like to think we are or can be, then films that celebrate the immortals of baseball can easily tap into a well of mythic consciousness that resonates with each generation that watches them. In THE STRATTON STORY, director Sam Wood recreates a celluloid vision of grass roots America that audiences could well remember from PRIDE OF THE YANKEES. James Stewart as Monty Stratton has never been better as the small town pitcher who goes from the minors to the majors only to discover that the biggest obstacle of all is not the fearsome sluggers of Murderers Row but rather the difference between success and failure is the ability to rise above personal misfortune by sheer effort of will.
Director Wood splits screen time between country scenes of dusty roads and Texas farmhouses with baseball parks, all of which are populated by the good folks that we see in any painting by Norman Rockwell. Stewart as Stratton does far more than aw-shuck his way through a role that in the hands of a lesser might have emerged as little more than a bumpkin stereotype. As Stratton struggles to rise in the hierarchy of baseball and slowly connects with June Allyson as Ethel, we can see that despite some serious obstacles in the way, we have no doubt that he will succeed. Indeed, we find that as Stallone later could do as Rocky, we pull for him from the very first reel where Frank Morgan first sees him in some out of the way ball field and just knows that he is destined for greatness. For a movie that is grounded in baseball, most of the really interesting parts occur off the field. We can identify with the cast in a manner that is rare. Agnes Moorehead as Stratton's mother is the rock that Ethel leans on when Monty loses a leg in a hunting accident, and Ethel tries to be that rock for a man who first needs to know what it means to be a man before he knows what it means to be a ball player. The on the field scenes ring with hardscrabble baseball lore, so much so that we do not care that the cliches add up mostly to justify the winning games that emerge from Stratton's prosthetic leg as much as from his strong right arm. There are several cameos of real life ball players and managers, all of whom add a note of authenticity to a film that already rings true on every level that counts. What emerges by the end is an entertaining look into just what constitutes a myth of a larger than life hero that is peculiarly American. When Gary Cooper gave his "I am the luckiest man in the world" speech at the close of PRIDE OF THE YANKEES, he might also have been speaking to Monty Stratton who can now see himself as similarly blessed. In fact, it is the audience that can participate in Gehrig's and Stratton's paean to luck and happiness. Only the very best films like THE STRATTON STORY can claim that.
Summary of The Stratton Story
Chicago White Sox pitcher Monty Stratton is an affable long drink of water with an easy, whiplike delivery and a pitch so unhittable the young phenom racks up consecutive 15-win seasons. But Stratton's greatest victory doesn't come on the manicured green diamonds of our national pastime. James Stewart portrays Stratton, who loses a leg in an accident just as his career is on the rise...and whose triumph over despair and disability leads him to pitch again. Stewart signed on for the role when he realized the film would be an inspiration to injured World War II GIs. The film still inspires. Awarded an Oscar?* for Best Motion Picture Story, directed by Sam Wood (The Pride of the Yankees) and supported by a top cast that includes real-life ballplayers, The Stratton Story is sports biography at its best.James Stewart and June Allyson enjoyed one of their gee-whiz pairings in The Stratton Story, a baseball biopic with an easy swing. Stewart plays Monty Stratton, who, according to the film, is a country boy plowing the back forty when a transient scout (Frank Morgan) discovers him and hooks him up with the Chicago White Sox. Stratton has a couple of great years, only to be accidentally shot in a hunting accident, which results in his leg being amputated. If you think this is the end of the story, you might want to check the fact that The Stratton Story was one of the biggest box-office hits of 1949. The film rests on director Sam Wood's eye for outdoors American spaces--a country road, small-time baseball parks--and on the can-do chemistry of Stewart and Allyson, whose first teaming this was. (The Glenn Miller Story and Strategic Air Command would follow.) Audiences adored the lanky Stewart playing off the tiny, low-voiced, indomitably perky Allyson, even if the material is as programmed as a studio pitch meeting. Lovers of nostalgic baseball pictures won't have any problem with the cornball script (a few big-league cameos pass by, notably Bill Dickey). Agnes Moorehead is Stratton's down-home Maw, though she's mostly restricted to a backlot farmhouse. It won an Oscar for best original story, back when they gave Oscars for that. --Robert Horton
Animation DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Baseball on Film 101: Representing the American Pastime
Tiger TownWalt Disney, Buena Vista Home Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
The Final SeasonSony; Release date: 2008-04-15; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
The BenchwarmersTeam Marketing; Release date: 2006-07-25; DVD
Best price: $2.85
Price in other shops:
The Winning Team - Authentic Region 1 DVD from Warner Brothers starring Doris Day and Ronald ReaganDVD
Best price: $15.43
Price in other shops:
Stealing HomeTeam Marketing; Release date: 1999-11-23; DVD
Best price: $2.27
Price in other shops:
Mr. 3000 (Widescreen Edition)MAC,BERNIE; Release date: 2005-02-01; DVD
Best price: $4.22
Price in other shops:
Mr. BaseballUniversal; Release date: 2003-07-01; DVD
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
Angels in the OutfieldTeam Marketing; Release date: 2002-04-23; DVD
Best price: $6.04
Price in other shops:
Baseball Double Feature - Kill the Umpire / Safe at HomeSony; Release date: 2007-04-03; DVD
Best price: $12.34
Price in other shops:
Bleacher BumsRelease date: 2002-12-17; DVD
Best price: $2.38
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition)Paramount; Release date: 2006-10-31; DVD
Best price: $11.84
Price in other shops:
The Philadelphia StoryWarner Brothers; Release date: 2000-05-02; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Bang The Drum SlowlyTeam Marketing; Release date: 2003-03-04; DVD
Best price: $4.06
Price in other shops:
The Benny Goodman StoryALLEN,STEVE; Release date: 2003-03-04; DVD
Best price: $4.96
Price in other shops:
Mr. Hobbs Takes a VacationRelease date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $5.77
Price in other shops:
Fear Strikes OutTeam Marketing; Release date: 2003-03-04; DVD
Best price: $4.40
Price in other shops:
The FBI StoryWarner Brothers; Release date: 2006-08-15; DVD
Best price: $5.94
Price in other shops:
The Spirit of St. LouisWarner Brothers; Release date: 2006-08-15; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
The Pride of the Yankees (Collector's Edition)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-03-18; DVD
Best price: $6.90
Price in other shops:
The Glenn Miller StoryUniversal; Release date: 2003-03-04; DVD
Best price: $4.55
Price in other shops: