The Pride of the Yankees is an old fashioned biopic of Lou Gehrig, the legendary baseball player played by Gary Cooper. It was rush released after Gehrig's death from Motor Neuron Disease and it shows as the film is filled with sentimentality such as his poor immigrant parents, Gehrig working his way from serving food to his fellow students to signing for the New York Yankees so he can pay for his mother's medical bills. We even have a scene of him promising two home runs to a poorly lad at hospital who returns some years later when Gehrig falls ill.
Cooper is frankly too old for the young Gehrig scenes and his romance with sweetheart Eleanor Twitchell (Teresa Wright) looks odd. In fact his scenes with his parents look strange as well as he only comes across as slightly younger than them.
The film is rather unfocused, sometimes going for comedy and at one point a musical interlude. However the film becomes more affecting as Gehrig realises that something is not right with his body which hinders his game and then his farewell speech where thousands turned out to see him for the final time.
Cooper is frankly too old for the young Gehrig scenes and his romance with sweetheart Eleanor Twitchell (Teresa Wright) looks odd. In fact his scenes with his parents look strange as well as he only comes across as slightly younger than them.
The film is rather unfocused, sometimes going for comedy and at one point a musical interlude. However the film becomes more affecting as Gehrig realises that something is not right with his body which hinders his game and then his farewell speech where thousands turned out to see him for the final time.