Friday, October 08, 2010

Radio review – Lux - “The Pride of the Yankees” (1943) ***

The Lou Gehrig story is a remarkable one, even without Hollywood dramatization – the son of an immigrant who became one of the greatest baseball players ever, before being struck down while still playing with a disease that was named after him. Gary Cooper is aw shucks and tentative in the lead role but they liked that then. Virginia Bruce replaces Teresa Wright as his wife. The device about the sports writing best friend then wasn’t as hackneyed as it became. The final speech remains very moving - this is perhaps the most famous "guy cry" movie, weepies for men (basically about sports people who become terminally ill eg Brian's Song, The Champ, Bang the Drum Slowly.)

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