The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Nominated producer(s): Samuel Goldwyn Productions
Director: Sam Wood
Starring: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Babe Ruth, Walter Brennan
Studio: RKO Radio Pictures
Other Oscar noms/wins:
best actor (Gary Cooper), best actress (Teresa Wright), original story (Paul Gallico), screenplay (Herman J. Mankiewicz, Jo Swerling), art direction-interior decoration black-and-white (Perry Ferguson, Howard Bristol), cinematography black-and-white (Rudolph Maté), film editing (Daniel Mandell, winner), sound recording (Thomas T. Moulton), special effects (Jack Cosgrove, Ray Binger, Thomas T. Moulton), music scoring of a dramatic or comedy picture (Leigh Harline)
America’s favorite pastime has a special place in our hearts, with major heroes emerging from it, such as New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig.
Released one year after Gehrig’s death from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (better known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease”), the baseball film is a wonderful tribute with sensational performances by Gary Cooper as the MLB player and Teresa Wright as his wife Eleanor.
Delivering one of the most essential scenes in film history, Cooper’s retirement speech on the Yankee Stadium diamond sets off the waterworks in a profound way.
The film lost the Oscar top prize to William Wyler’s schmaltzy domestic war melodrama, Mrs. Miniver.
