It's a love-story biopic of Lou Gehrig, the star first baseman of the Yankees who died at age 37 of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), popularly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Lou Gehrig (Douglas Croft/Gary Cooper) has loved baseball since childhood and seems gifted, especially as a hitter. However, his domineering mother (Elsa Janssen) wants him to go to Columbia University and become an engineer, like his Uncle Otto. His father (Ludwig Stössel) is more supportive but defers to his wife's wishes.
To earn money to pay his mother's hospital bills, Gehrig drops out of college and signs a baseball contract with the Yankees. After a brief time in the minors, he joins the Yankees and eventually becomes their first baseman. He then plays 2,130 straight games without missing any.
He meets Eleanor Twitchell (Teresa Wright), daughter of a well-to-do Chicago businessman, and they marry. We see some competition between wife and mother that is dealt with humorously. His performance begins to deteriorate in 1938. In 1939 he is diagnosed with ALS. The film ends with Lou Gehrig day at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, in which he makes his famous comments about being the luckiest man on the face of the earth. The movie doesn't indicate it, but he died two years later.
Much of the film is fictional. Gehrig was a bit of a mama's boy. He lived with his parents until age 30. He married Eleanor when he was 30, so they were married eight years, though the film implies they were married much sooner. It also downplays the conflict between Eleanor and Gehrig's mother. There were legal battles over Gehrig's estate after his death. The movie also utilizes a fictional sportswriter, Sam Blake (Walter Brennan), to help carry the storyline in a manner that is over the top.
The film was made not long after the U. S. entered World War II. Thus every effort was made to portray Lou Gehrig in heroic terms with no character flaws. Since the movie was made soon after Gehrig's death, it is interesting that four Yankee players portrayed themselves in the film, including Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel, Mark Koenig, and Bill Dickey.
Lou Gehrig (Douglas Croft/Gary Cooper) has loved baseball since childhood and seems gifted, especially as a hitter. However, his domineering mother (Elsa Janssen) wants him to go to Columbia University and become an engineer, like his Uncle Otto. His father (Ludwig Stössel) is more supportive but defers to his wife's wishes.
To earn money to pay his mother's hospital bills, Gehrig drops out of college and signs a baseball contract with the Yankees. After a brief time in the minors, he joins the Yankees and eventually becomes their first baseman. He then plays 2,130 straight games without missing any.
He meets Eleanor Twitchell (Teresa Wright), daughter of a well-to-do Chicago businessman, and they marry. We see some competition between wife and mother that is dealt with humorously. His performance begins to deteriorate in 1938. In 1939 he is diagnosed with ALS. The film ends with Lou Gehrig day at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, in which he makes his famous comments about being the luckiest man on the face of the earth. The movie doesn't indicate it, but he died two years later.
Much of the film is fictional. Gehrig was a bit of a mama's boy. He lived with his parents until age 30. He married Eleanor when he was 30, so they were married eight years, though the film implies they were married much sooner. It also downplays the conflict between Eleanor and Gehrig's mother. There were legal battles over Gehrig's estate after his death. The movie also utilizes a fictional sportswriter, Sam Blake (Walter Brennan), to help carry the storyline in a manner that is over the top.
The film was made not long after the U. S. entered World War II. Thus every effort was made to portray Lou Gehrig in heroic terms with no character flaws. Since the movie was made soon after Gehrig's death, it is interesting that four Yankee players portrayed themselves in the film, including Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel, Mark Koenig, and Bill Dickey.