Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

gudpaljoey-48217 Sports biopics are notoriously bad, Pride of the Yankees is among the worst of the worst. Poor writing, inane dialogue, this movie is no credit to the great career of Lou Gehrig, whose records speak for themselves, but are hardly noted in the movie. What purports to be a sport story in a silly love story. The fraternity students at Columbia all look old enough to play the profs at the school, and that goes for Gary Cooper too. It was tough to sit through so many cliches in both performers and actions. Gehrig deserved much better.

Prismark10 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.

zardoz-13 Lou Gehrig had been dead less than two years when The Samuel Goldwyn Company produced a biographical account of the New York Yankees' first baseman's life with Gary Cooper cast as 'the Iron Man.' "Kings Row" director Sam Wood and "It's A Wonderful Life" scenarist Jo Swerling with "Citizen Kane" scribe Herman J. Mankiewicz adapted Paul Gallico's story about Gehrig's rise from humble origins as the son of Teutonic parents in New York City to a baseball superstar. Although it received eleven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor, "The Pride of the Yankees" only won Best Editing. One look at this movie and you know that the Goldwyn Company lavished prestige on it. Rudolph Maté's black & white cinematography is first-rate, and most of the technical values are above par. The cast is good, too, with Teresa Wright playing Gehrig's wife, and Walter Brennan is fine as Gehrig's publicist. The real standout here, however, is none other than home-run slugger Babe Ruth. He seems like a genuine natural. Nevertheless, despite its superlative production values and cast, "The Pride of the Yankees" takes its own sweet time, and the film seems to drag at some points. This is not so much a movie about the game as it is a movie about the player.Young Lou Gehrig dreams of playing baseball in the major league, and he enjoys playing sandlot baseball. Meanwhile, his mother Ma Gehrig (Elsa Janssen of "Dillinger") urges him to follow in the footsteps of their Uncle Otto, whose picture hangs on their wall, and become an engineer. Eventually, Gehrig gets into Columbia, where his mother cooks, and his exploits at bat reach the New York Yankees. Gehrig has made a reputation for himself by smashing windows with his home runs. Secretly, without mentioning anything to his mother, Lou tries out for the Yankees, and they sign him to a contract. When Lou joins the Yankees, the big cheese on the team is none other than the Sultan of the Swat, Babe Ruth (the real Babe Ruth), who never misses a moment to dominate the limelight. Eventually, Gehrig gets his start at first base after the regular first baseman opts to sit on the bench rather than play. From this point on, Gehrig established a Major League record of playing 2,130 games with missing a day. For the record, Gehrig played seventeen seasons for the Yankees, between 1923 and 1939. Several amusing incidents occur, such as Gehrig's publicist driving over the speed limit to get him to Yankee Stadium. The NYPD pull them over, realize who they have stopped, and provide him with an escort to the stadium that increases in number as they approach the baseball diamond. Another incident shows Gehrig at a hospital where he promises a youth that he will knock two home runs for him. Indeed, he clouts two home runs for the bed ridden adolescent! Babe Ruth only promises one four bagger for the kid. Years later when Gehrig voluntarily retires, the lad meets him at Yankee Stadium and shows him that he can walk. Gehrig had urged the boy when he spoke to him at the hospital to never give up hope.Director Sam Wood and his writers cover Gehrig's family life, his life in the Major Leagues, and his eventual medical woes without going into detail about his malady, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), now commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease. You don't have to be a baseball aficionado to enjoy "The Pride of the Yankees." Cooper seemed to realize Gehrig's prominence and gives a performance that isn't his standard one. According to legend, Cooper knew nothing about baseball and had to be coached, especially with regard to batting as a left hander. The film concludes on a poignant note as Gehrig retires from baseball during ceremony with thousands of fans cheering him. "The Pride of the Yankees" is not without propaganda value. Released early during World War II, the film espouses all the positive values of being an American.

richard-1787 Last night I watched "The Stratton Story," also directed by Sam Wood, and tonight "The Pride of the Yankees." To me, there is no comparison. "Pride" falls short of "Stratton." Some of that is a matter of personal taste. For me, James Stewart was one of the greatest Hollywood actors. In "Stratton" I see him develop his character a piece at a time. I never get a sense of who Gehrig is in this movie, but then, Gary Cooper has never made an impression on me.I'm no great fan of June Allyson, but she does a decent job in "Stratton," and there is real chemistry between her and Stewart. You truly believe that they are a couple in love. Theresa Wright's short success has always mystified me, and I find no chemistry between her and Cooper - who has never seemed to have any chemistry to me.This movie also runs too long. Until Gehrig finally falls ill, near the very end of a 2+ hour movie, there is no real tension. It is just one success after the next. At one point, for example, there is a suggestion that there is a rivalry between Babe Ruth and Gehrig, but that goes nowhere. To me, this a a poor, loose script.Cooper does a fine job with Gehrig's speech before the microphone when he is honored in Yankee Field. It would be hard not to be moved by that speech, no matter who read it, but Cooper does a fine job.Other than that, I didn't get much out of this movie, and very much prefer Wood's later effort, "The Stratton Story."