Review of The Pride of the Yankees (1942) by Josh C — 16 Jan 2010

This would work well enough in itself as a pretty good, if relatively conventional, screen biography of Lou Gehrig, having Gary Cooper as Gehrig lifts this film well above the norm for the genre. Cooper is probably best known for his memorable portrayals of Marshall Kane and other tough heroes, but he might be even better playing a man like Gehrig who keeps his great strength under complete restraint.

Gehrig seems to be one of the very few sports legends whose lives are wholly admirable, or at least nearly so. Although the script slightly stylizes some things for cinematic purposes, in general it is a quite believable and unforced portrayal. Even for the many baseball fans that have a hard time being enthusiastic about Yankee successes, Gehrig is a character that is easy to root for.

Cooper seems very natural in the role, both in the way he handles Gehrig's rise to fame and in Gehrig's memorable farewell speech. It is also interesting to see appearances by several star players of the era. The supporting cast helps out as well, and the production keeps it fairly straightforward, so as to let the focus be on Cooper and his character - both of whom are more than up to the job.