History in the Media: Film and Television by Robert Niemi (2006-05-08)

Mankiewicz (Citizen Kane), Casey Robinson, and Joe Sterling, delight recounts the lifetime of Henry Louis “Lou” Gehrig (1903–1941), big apple Yankees first baseman from 1923 to 1939, a great hitter (. 340 lifetime batting average), two times voted the yankee League MVP (1927 and 1936), and referred to as “The Iron Horse” for many consecutive video games performed (2,130), a list that stood for fiftysix years until eventually it used to be damaged by way of Cal Ripken Jr. in 1995. by means of all money owed a modest and first rate guy, Gehrig used to be a lot sought after via activities lovers for his bold abilities, fierce paintings ethic, and unassuming methods. His pressured retirement, after changing into bothered with the always-fatal motor neuron disorder, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, later referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease), was once a tragedy mitigated via Gehrig’s sleek recognition of his destiny. His dignity and braveness have been amply show up whilst Gehrig made his well-known farewell speech at Yankee Stadium (July four, 1939). He declared himself “the luckiest guy at the face of the earth” for having had the chance to play ball so long as he did. So respected a determine used to be Gehrig that he used to be voted into the newly verified Baseball corridor of status via precise election instantly after his retirement, and his staff quantity (4) was once the 1st to be retired in any specialist activity. Made correct after Gehrig’s dying and published presently after America’s access into the second one international warfare, The delight of the Yankees was once a tribute to Gehrig’s tragic stature. The movie additionally had the most obvious ideological goal of reminding its viewers of definitely the right American virtues: own modesty, reasonable play, cohesion, strength of will, and mental resilience, specially in occasions of difficulty and adversity. Baseball was once on the top of its cultural status as America’s hobby, so lionizing a baseball hero was once tantamount to saluting the USA itself. within the movie, Gary Cooper performs Lou Gehrig: stable casting, in a manner, simply because Cooper bore an uncanny resemblance to Gehrig and Cooper’s validated famous person character, because the archetypal American hero—taciturn yet robust and brave—dovetailed properly with Gehrig’s heroic legend. under perfect was once Gary Cooper’s age (forty-one on the time of filming), rank ineptitude as a ballplayer, and the truth that he used to be righthanded, while Gehrig was once left-handed, a predicament circumvented by means of reversing the lettering on Cooper’s uniform and flipping the movie while Cooper used to be proven batting. within the bottom line, The delight of the Yankees erred at the facet of sentimentality yet nonetheless controlled to keep a degree of dignity in response to its topic.