Editing The Pride of the Yankees (section)

==Production==
[[Samuel Goldwyn]] displayed little interest in [[Sam Wood]]'s initial proposal to make a movie tribute to Gehrig, as he had no knowledge of or interest in baseball.  In addition, conventional Hollywood wisdom dictated that sports pictures were box-office poison, as women, who made up more than half the audience and made most movie-going decisions, did not like them. After Wood screened newsreel footage of Gehrig's famous "luckiest man" speech, however, Goldwyn—with tears in his eyes—agreed to produce the picture.<ref name = "TCM"/>

In a 1941 press campaign publicizing plans for the film, [[RKO Pictures]] announced a major talent hunt for Gehrig's portrayer, but Goldwyn and Wood reportedly never considered casting anyone but Cooper in the title role.<ref name = "TCM">[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/87109/the-pride-of-the-yankees#articles-reviews?articleId=18600 ''The Pride of the Yankees'']. TCM.com, retrieved December 10, 2023.</ref> Although he was ideally suited to the part due to his physical resemblance to Gehrig and the quiet strength and masculine appeal that he projected, Cooper was reluctant to accept it because he, like Goldwyn, had no interest in baseball. By one account, he had never watched a game nor even swung a bat prior to taking the role.<ref name = "Columbia"/> Another problem was Cooper's age (41), particularly in scenes involving Gehrig as a young man. Cinematographer [[Rudolph Maté]] lighted Cooper from below during those early scenes to conceal lines and wrinkles, then gradually reduced and finally eliminated the lighting effect as the story progressed.<ref name = "TCM"/>

Another important (and problematic) casting decision was Babe Ruth, as himself. Ruth's health had been declining steadily since his retirement in 1935, and by 1942 he weighed nearly 270 pounds. He was put on a strict diet to achieve a presentable weight before filming began. This rapid weight loss, on the heels of a [[heart attack]] followed by a [[car accident]], combined with the tough shooting schedule and Ruth's propensity to keep late hours, weakened him significantly. By the time filming wrapped, he had developed [[pneumonia]] severe enough to require a period of hospitalization.<ref name = "TCM"/>

Multiple published sources<ref>Meyers, Jeffrey: Gary Cooper, American Hero. New York, Cooper Square Press, February 27, 2001, pp. 88–91. {{ISBN|0815411405}}</ref><ref>Povich, Shirley (July 13, 1942). "Gehrig Tribute to Open Saturday." ''Washington Post'', p. C-1.</ref> have asserted that Cooper, who was right-handed, could not master a convincing left-handed swing. To remedy the problem, the story went, he was filmed wearing a mirror-image uniform and swinging from the right side of the plate, then running to third base instead of first; technicians then purportedly [[Flopped image|flopped]] the print of the film. Tom Shieber, Senior Curator at the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame]], has shown, however, that Cooper did indeed learn to bat left-handed, and never wore a backwards Yankees uniform nor ran to third base after swinging.<ref name=Sandomir>{{cite news|last=Sandomir|first=Richard|title=Reversing Course on Reports About a Classic|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/sports/baseball/researcher-concludes-pride-of-the-yankees-film-was-not-flipped.html|access-date=February 10, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 8, 2013}}</ref> Film footage was, in fact, flopped only once, during a brief sequence portraying Gehrig's minor league days at Hartford, in order to make Cooper appear to be throwing left-handed — a far more difficult task for a right-hander to master. ("[Cooper] threw the ball like an old woman tossing a hot biscuit," said [[Lefty O'Doul]], who tried unsuccessfully to teach him a convincing left-handed throw.)<ref name = "Columbia">"The Pride of the Yankees, Remembered". ''Columbia'' Magazine, April/May 1989, p.18.</ref> Scenes requiring Cooper to throw a ball as a Yankee were filmed using his stand-in, the left-handed [[Babe Herman]].<ref name="Shieber">Shieber, Tom (February 3, 2013). The Pride of the Yankees/Seeknay. [http://baseballresearcher.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-pride-of-yankees-seeknay.html?showComment=1360016904537 Baseball Researcher]. Retrieved February 5, 2013</ref>

Scenes purporting to depict Yankee Stadium, Comiskey Park, and other ballparks were all filmed at [[Wrigley Field (Los Angeles)|Wrigley Field]] in Los Angeles, home of the [[Los Angeles Angels (PCL)|Los Angeles Angels]] of the old [[Pacific Coast League]], and a popular venue for baseball movies of the era, as well as the [[Home Run Derby (TV series)|''Home Run Derby'']] television series.<ref name="Shieber"/>