The Pride of the Yankees (1942) | 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #141

Myths, Heroes, and Baseball Legends. Directed by Sam Wood. Starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, and Babe Ruth.

Esteemed Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig died of ALS (or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) on June 2, 1941. Hollywood’s Gehrig biopic, The Pride of the Yankees, premiered on July 14, 1942. In our cynical age, this quick turnaround seems like a cash grab capitalizing on the tragedy of a beloved sports hero. After Gehrig’s long and very public battle with his illness, it seems gauche (not to say downright disrespectful) to push out a film merely a year later.

However, America needed heroes in 1942, and no one can say that there is anything cynical at all about The Pride of the Yankees. Everything about this movie exudes genuineness, love of the game of baseball, and respect for one of its greatest players. The movie showcases Gehrig’s determination, hard work, clean living, and love for the game, its players, and its fans. In the wake of Pearl Harbor, America was yearning for an icon, a real person who embodied everything that makes our country great.

Lou Gehrig fit the bill. He rose from poverty to superstardom through talent, virtue, and hard work, earning the nickname “The Iron Horse” for never missing a game or disappointing his fans. His production on the field was legendary, hitting nearly 500 home runs and driving in nearly 2000 RBIs, with a staggering career batting average of .340 across 17 years of play. His fame was often eclipsed by his more famous teammate Babe Ruth, but in my estimation Gehrig was an even better ballplayer than the Great Bambino, both on the field and off. Whereas Ruth had a larger-than-life personality and a taste for the pleasures of rich living, Gehrig was a relatively quiet family man and a true leader in the clubhouse. The Pride of the Yankees would highlight this aspects of Gehrig’s life and bring them to an American public thirsting to see a virtuous, patriotic, hard-working American ascend to mythic heights in America’s favorite pastime. Before 1942, Lou Gehrig was a hero for Yankees fans, but after The Pride of the Yankees, he was an American hero, an icon for a nation which sorely needed one.

I love this movie dearly. Gary Cooper plays Gehrig with a wide-eyed exuberance when he’s excited and a quiet dignity in the more tense parts. His wife, Eleanor (who was a vocal consultant on the film), is played with bubbly perfection by Teresa Wright, and the Gehrig’s love story is vivacious and endearing. The cast is rounded out by Babe Ruth, playing himself, lending some realism both to the story but also the performances. You can see in Babe’s performance the respect and love he felt for Gehrig, a friend he had but recently lost. The story and performances contribute to making Gehrig a larger-than-life American hero, a true everyman and yet a legend, the perfect symbol for an America dragging itself out of the Depression and into a World War.

The film does have its flaws. It is rather poorly paced, meandering through its first hour and a half and spending far too much time on Gehrig in college (played by Gary Cooper in his 40s) and not enough time in baseball. Perhaps this is because Cooper was not great at baseball; perhaps it’s because Samuel Goldwyn thought that too much sports action would bore the female audience (adding a bizarre dance sequence smack dab in the middle to try and compensate for the ladies). Whatever the reason, certain parts of this movie drag and others feel rushed.¹

For me and most viewers, however, the movie is still great. For whatever reason, generations of fans have set aside the movie’s flaws and placed it on a pedestal with the best sports movies of all time. Perhaps it is our love of the game of baseball which blinds us to the faults of one of its most famous movies; perhaps it is the excellence of Gary Cooper and the delightful bubbliness of Teresa Wright; perhaps it is our love of great American heroes striving and succeeding through talent, grit, and hard work.

Of course, the utterly brilliant final ten minutes of the film contribute to its reputation as well. I defy any baseball fan (or indeed, any Catholic) to watch the last speech in this movie without crying. A man facing death, Gehrig counts his blessings and concludes “today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” reportedly words Gehrig actually spoke to a packed house at Yankee Stadium. And the movie has the decency to just end, right there. No denouement, no needless dragging out, no wallowing in the tragedy of illness and death. Gehrig faces his death with courage and dignity, and the film allows him to walk off the screen on his own terms.

Sometimes America needs a hero, a really good man who was able to do things that no one else could. I think American movies have for the most part lost that idea, regardless of the abundance of superhero movies in the past two decades. Our postmodern films are more concerned with complicating and tearing down heroes than building them up. The Pride of the Yankees stands in sharp contrast to our more cynical age of film. This movie cemented an American myth in the minds of the public, and still has power even 85 years later. The Pride of the Yankees shows the power a good film can pack into even an imperfect package: poignancy, tragedy, tears, awe, inspiration, love, and joy. It’s an unforgettable experience for baseball fans and well worth watching for anyone needing to find a little more faith in the human condition.

1. If you want a more complete and totally valid critique of Sam Wood’s direction, from someone who did not like the film primarily because of its bad direction, see this one by Herb Gallow.