Pride of the Yankees, a Hit for Family Friendly Films

Its spring time and fitting for local baseball fans to know and watch a timeless movie classic “Pride of the Yankees,” based on the life of legendary baseball player Lou Gehrig. Filmed in 1942 and the part played by movie actor Garry Cooper as  Lou Gehrig tells a story what real sport legends are made of – a sense of modesty, sportsmanship, and  a strong dedication to family.  Faith and Family Flix offers “Pride of the Yankees” in their lineup of classic family movies.

The opening of the scene tells how young Lou Gehrig accidentally stumbled on baseball on the way home from school. The young Lou Gehrig traded his baseball cards with the catcher, hits the baseball, and strikes a home run. Unbeknownst to the young lad, he accidentally breaks a shop keeper’s window. The shop keeper catches with the young lad and is escorted home with the policeman. When the young lad’s mom comes home, the shop keeper tells Mrs. Gehrig that his son broke the shop display window and owns him $18.29. Mrs. Gehrig pays part of the damage and promises the shop keeper she will pay the rest. Disappointed by his actions, the young Lou promises his mom to do well in school and become an engineer like his Uncle Otto. So the story continues as the boy becomes a young man and becomes a baseball player for Columbia University. While in school, his mom is suddenly stricken by illness and is admitted to the hospital. Lou decides the only way he can afford to pay for his mom’s medical expenses is to sign up as a professional baseball player for the New York Yankees who was courting him to sign up professionally. His mom eventually recovers and finds out that his son lied to her all this time thinking his father found a job as a “Politician” who only worked when it felt like and on top of it paid $25.00 per week.

“Pride of the Yankees” sometimes mirrors life’s struggle. Lou Gehrig was struck with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis also known as ALS at the height of his professional baseball career. ALS is a degenerating disease and strikes the central nervous system that controls the muscle movements. Lou Gehrig eventually succumbed to this disease after playing for 15 years, had a batting average of .340, and played 2,130 consecutive games. The only baseball player to outdo Lou Gehrig stats was Carl Ripken Junior, Baltimore Oriole Shortstop who played 2, 131 consecutive games.

“Pride of the Yankees” is an ideal movie to watch with the whole family.  There are two inaccuracies in the movie such as Gary Cooper playing ball using his right arm whereas Lou Gehrig was actually a left-handed and parts of the baseball scenes looked like Hollywood sets and a combination of actual footage blended together.

The entire movie was carefully done in good taste and provided the viewer a glimpse how simpler times brought families together whether on the baseball fields, listening to the baseball games on radio, and the nostalgic era where locomotive trains tied the country together. It is a movie definitely worth watching and a keeper!

“Pride of the Yankees” ends with Gehrig’s farewell speech at Yankee Stadium. Following is the actual speech he gave, which differs from the movie:

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

"Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn’t consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert?  Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow?  To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I'm lucky. "When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift — that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies — that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter — that's something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body — it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed — that's the finest I know. "So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for. Thank you."

— Lou Gehrig at Yankee Stadium, July 4, 1939[1]

Date Published: 2008-05-21 05:02:28

Section: Movie reviews,