Editing The Pride of the Yankees

{{Short description|1942 film by Sam Wood}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Pride of the Yankees: The Life of Lou Gehrig
| image          = The Pride Of The Yankees 1942.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Sam Wood]]
| producer       = [[Samuel Goldwyn]]<br />[[William Cameron Menzies]]
| story          = [[Paul Gallico]]
| screenplay     = [[Jo Swerling]]<br />[[Herman J. Mankiewicz]]
| starring       = [[Gary Cooper]]<br />[[Teresa Wright]]<br />[[Babe Ruth]]<br />[[Walter Brennan]]
| music          = [[Leigh Harline]]
| cinematography = [[Rudolph Maté]]
| editing        = [[Daniel Mandell]]
| studio         = [[Samuel Goldwyn Productions]]
| distributor    = [[RKO Radio Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1942|7|14|New York City|1942|8|18|Los Angeles}}
| runtime        = 128 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         =
| gross          = $4.2 million<ref name=tevlin>{{cite journal|first=Richard B.|last=Jewell|title=RKO Film Grosses, 1929–1951: the C.J. Tevlin ledger|journal=Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television|volume=14|number= 1|year=1994|pages=37–49|doi=10.1080/01439689400260031}}</ref><ref name=tevlina>{{cite journal|first=Richard B.|last=Jewell|title=Appendix 1|journal=Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television|volume=14|number= S1|year=1994|pages=1–11|doi=10.1080/01439689408604545}}</ref>
}}
'''''The Pride of the Yankees''''' is a 1942 American [[sports drama|sports drama film]] produced by [[Samuel Goldwyn]], directed by [[Sam Wood]], and starring [[Gary Cooper]], [[Teresa Wright]], and [[Walter Brennan]]. It is a tribute to the legendary [[New York Yankees]] [[first baseman]] [[Lou Gehrig]], who died a year before its release, at age 37, from [[amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]], which later became known to the lay public as "Lou Gehrig's disease".

Though subtitled '''''The Life of Lou Gehrig''''', the film is less a sports biography than an homage to a heroic and widely loved sports figure whose tragic and premature death touched the entire nation. It emphasizes Gehrig's relationship with his parents (particularly his strong-willed mother), his friendships with players and journalists, and his storybook romance with the woman who became his "companion for life", [[Eleanor Gehrig|Eleanor Twitchell]]. Details of his baseball career—which were still fresh in most fans' minds in 1942—are limited to montages of ballparks, pennants, and Cooper swinging bats and running bases, though Gehrig's best-known major league record—2,130 consecutive games played—is prominently cited.

Yankee teammates [[Babe Ruth]], [[Bob Meusel]], [[Mark Koenig]], and [[Bill Dickey]] play themselves, as does sportscaster [[Bill Stern]]. The film was adapted by [[Herman J. Mankiewicz]], [[Jo Swerling]], and an uncredited [[Casey Robinson]] from a story by [[Paul Gallico]], and received 11 [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nominations. It ends with a re-enactment of Gehrig's poignant 1939 farewell speech at [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]]. The film's iconic closing line—"Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth"—was voted 38th on the [[American Film Institute]]'s list of [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes|100 greatest movie quotes]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFI's 100 Movies…100 Movie Quotes |url=https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-movie-quotes/ |access-date=March 7, 2024 |website=AFI}}</ref> The film was also ranked 22nd on AFI's list of most [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers|inspiring]] movies. In 2024, the film was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref name="2024NFR">{{cite web|title=25 Films Added to National Film Registry for Preservation|url= https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/25-films-named-to-national-film-registry-for-preservation/s/55d5285d-916f-4105-b7d4-7fc3ba8664e3|date=December 17, 2024|access-date=December 17, 2024}}</ref>

==Plot==
Lou Gehrig is a young [[Columbia University]] student whose old-fashioned mother wants him to study hard and become an engineer, but the young man has a gift for baseball. A sportswriter befriends Gehrig and persuades a scout to come see him play. When his mother gets sick, Gehrig signs with the team he has always revered, the [[New York Yankees]], to pay for the hospital bills. With the help of his father, he endeavors to keep his career change a secret from his mother.

Gehrig works his way up through the minor leagues and joins the Yankees. His hero, [[Babe Ruth]], is at first condescending and dismissive of the rookie, but his strong, consistent play wins over Ruth and the rest of the team. Gehrig is unknowingly included by his teammates in playing pranks on Ruth on the team train.

During a game at [[Comiskey Park]], Gehrig trips over a stack of bats and is teased by a spectator, Eleanor (the daughter of the ballpark hot dog magnate), who laughingly calls him "tanglefoot". Later, they are properly introduced, leading to a relationship, and then an engagement. Gehrig's mother, who still has not accepted the fact that her son will not be an engineer, does not take this news well; Gehrig finally stands up to her, and marries Eleanor.

The Yankees become the dominant team in baseball, and Gehrig becomes a fan favorite. His father and fully converted mother attend games and cheer for him. In a re-creation of a famous (and possibly apocryphal) story, Gehrig visits a crippled boy named Billy in a hospital. He promises to hit two home runs in a single [[World Series]] game in the boy's honor—then fulfills his promise.

Gehrig is now the "Iron Horse", a national hero at the peak of his career with multitudes of fans, many loyal friends, and an adoring wife. Then he begins to notice, with growing alarm, that his strength is slowly ebbing away. Though he continues to play, and extends his consecutive-game streak to a seemingly insurmountable record, his physical condition continues its inexorable decline. One day, in [[Detroit]], he tells Yankees manager [[Joe McCarthy (manager)|Joe McCarthy]] that he has become a detriment to the team and benches himself. After an examination, a doctor gives him the awful news: Gehrig has a [[ALS|rare, incurable disease]], and only a short time to live.

A short time later, on [[Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day|Lou Gehrig Day]] at [[Yankee Stadium]], an older Billy finds Gehrig and shows him that he has made a full recovery, inspired by his hero's example and the two-homer fulfilled promise. Then, as Eleanor weeps softly in the stands, Gehrig addresses the fans: "People all say that I've had a bad break. But today ... today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth."

==Cast==
As per [[American Film Institute|AFI]] database:<ref>{{cite web | url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/27411 | publisher=American Film Institute | title=The Pride of the Yankees | access-date=December 10, 2023}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Gary Cooper]] as [[Lou Gehrig]]
* [[Teresa Wright]] as [[Eleanor Gehrig|Eleanor Twitchell Gehrig]]
* [[Babe Ruth]] as himself
* [[Walter Brennan]] as Sam Blake
* [[Dan Duryea]] as Hank Hanneman
* Elsa Janssen as Mom Gehrig
* [[Ludwig Stössel]] as Pop Gehrig
* [[Virginia Gilmore]] as Myra
* [[Bill Dickey]] as himself
* [[Ernie Adams (actor)|Ernie Adams]] as [[Miller Huggins]]
* [[Pierre Watkin]] as Mr. Twitchell
* [[Harry Harvey Sr.|Harry Harvey]] as [[Joe McCarthy (manager)|Joe McCarthy]] 
* [[Bob Meusel|Robert W. Meusel]] as himself
* [[Mark Koenig]] as himself
* [[Bill Stern]] as himself
* [[Addison Richards]] as Coach
* [[Hardie Albright]] as Van Tuyl
* [[Edward Fielding]] as Clinic doctor
* [[George Lessey]] as Mayor of New Rochelle
* [[Edgar Barrier]] as Hospital doctor
* [[Douglas Croft]] as Lou Gehrig as a boy
* Gene Collins as Billy, age 8
* [[David Holt (American actor)|David Holt]] as Billy, age 17
* [[Veloz and Yolanda]] as specialty dance team
* [[Frank Faylen]] as Yankees' 3rd Base Coach (uncredited) 
* [[C. Montague Shaw]] as Mr. Worthington (uncredited) 
* [[James Westerfield]] as Spectator (uncredited) 
* [[Lester Dorr]] as Disappointed fan (uncredited)
{{div col end}}

==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"/>

==Acknowledgment in opening credits==
"Appreciation is expressed for the gracious assistance of Mrs. Lou Gehrig and for the cooperation of Mr. [[Ed Barrow]] and the New York Yankees arranged by [[Christy Walsh (sports agent)|Christy Walsh]]."

===Foreword===
"This is the story of a hero of the peaceful paths of everyday life. It is the story of a gentle young man who, in the full flower of his great fame, was a lesson in simplicity and modesty to the youth of America. He faced death with that same valor and fortitude that has been displayed by thousands of young Americans on far-flung fields of battle. He left behind him a memory of courage and devotion that will ever be an inspiration to all men. This is the story of Lou Gehrig." – [[Damon Runyon]]

==Release==
[[File:The Pride of the Yankees Japanese poster1949.jpg|thumb|The 1949 Japanese Theatrical Release Poster]]
Gehrig died on June 2, 1941. The film premiered on July 14, 1942, in [[New York City]] at the [[Astor Theatre (New York)|Astor Theatre]], and was shown for one night only at "forty neighborhood theatres". Preceding the film was the premiere of an [[List of Disney animated shorts#1942|animated short]] called ''[[How to Play Baseball]]'', produced by [[Walt Disney Animation Studios]] at Goldwyn's request.<ref name="bosley">{{cite news|last=Crowther|first=Bosley|title=Pride of the Yankees|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0DEFD71E31E53BBC4E52DFB1668389659EDE|work=The New York Times|date=July 16, 1942|access-date=June 19, 2009}}</ref>

==Reception==

===Critical===
''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine called the film a "stirring epitaph" and a "sentimental, romantic saga ... well worth seeing."<ref>{{cite magazine| title = The Pride of the Yankees | url = https://variety.com/2017/film/news/authorized-lou-gehrig-biopic-luckiest-man-1202475552| magazine = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | year = 1942 | access-date = December 10, 2023}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine said the film was a "grade-A love story" done with "taste and distinction" though it was "somewhat overlong, repetitive, undramatic. Baseball fans who hope to see much baseball played in ''Pride of the Yankees'' will be disappointed. Babe Ruth is there, playing himself with fidelity and considerable humor; so are Yankees Bill Dickey, Bob Meusel, Mark Koenig. But baseball is only incidental. The hero does not hit a home run and win the girl. He is just a hardworking, unassuming, highly talented professional. The picture tells the model story of his model life in the special world of professional ballplayers."<ref>{{cite magazine| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,773361,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071113233811/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,773361,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = November 13, 2007 | title = The New Pictures, Aug. 3, 1942 | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date = August 3, 1942 | access-date = June 19, 2009}}</ref> [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called it a "tender, meticulous and explicitly narrative film" that "inclines to monotony" because of its length and devotion to "genial details".<ref name="bosley"/>

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|94|7.2|33|The equally tragic and heroic story of Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig is eloquently told here with an iconic star turn by Gary Cooper.|ref=yes|access-date=March 23, 2023}}

===Box office===
''The Pride of the Yankees'' was among the top ten box office films of 1942,<ref>{{cite web|title=Best Movies of 1942|url=https://www.bestmoviesof.com/year/1942|website=Best Movies Of|access-date=July 22, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=1942 Top Grossing Movies|url=http://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/1942-top-grossing-movies/|website=Ultimate Movie Rankings|date=September 15, 2015 |access-date=June 2, 2017}}</ref> earning $3,332,000 in [[Theatrical rental|theater rentals]] from the United States and Canada and an additional $855,000 from foreign rentals.<ref name="tevlin"/><ref name="tevlina"/> Despite its wide popularity, RKO took a loss of $213,000 on the film due to the small distribution fee that Samuel Goldwyn had negotiated with the studio. All of Goldwyn's pictures produced a loss for RKO no matter how much money they took in; but the studio considered the arrangement acceptable, because its association with Goldwyn lent prestige to RKO, and enhanced sales of its own movies.<ref name="uni">Jewell, RB. ''Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures''. University of California Press, 2016, p. 17. {{ISBN|0520289668}}</ref>

==Awards and other recognition==
[[File:The Pride of the Yankees2.jpg|thumb|Cooper with Babe Ruth in a publicity photo for the film]]
Film Editor [[Daniel Mandell]] won an [[15th Academy Awards|Academy Award]] for his work on ''The Pride of the Yankees''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Daniel Mandell, Won 3 Film Editing Oscars |date=June 13, 1987 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/13/obituaries/daniel-mandell-won-3-film-editing-oscars.html |work=The New York Times }} Retrieved November 22, 2011</ref> The film received ten additional Oscar nominations:<ref name="Oscars1943">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1943 |title=The 15th Academy Awards (1943) Nominees and Winners |access-date=August 14, 2011|work=oscars.org}}</ref><ref name="NY Times">{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/39137/The-Pride-of-the-Yankees/awards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017202954/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/39137/The-Pride-of-the-Yankees/awards |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 17, 2012 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2012 |title=The Pride of the Yankees |access-date=December 14, 2008}}</ref>

* Best Actor in a Leading Role (Cooper)
* Best Actress in a Leading Role (Wright)
* Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White
* Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
* Best Effects, Special Effects ([[Jack Cosgrove (special effects artist)|Jack Cosgrove]], [[Ray Binger]], [[Thomas T. Moulton]])
* Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
* Best Picture
* Best Sound Recording (Thomas T. Moulton)
* Best Writing, Original Story
* Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay

In the American Film Institute's 2008 list "Ten Top Tens"—the top ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—''The Pride of the Yankees'' was ranked third in the sports category.<ref>{{cite news |author= |date=June 17, 2008 |title=AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres |url=https://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46072 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619034738/https://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46072 |archive-date=June 19, 2008 |access-date=June 18, 2008 |work=ComingSoon.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title= Top 10 Sports | url = http://www.afi.com/10top10/sports.html | publisher= [[American Film Institute]] |access-date= June 18, 2008}}</ref> The film was also ranked 22nd in AFI's 2006 [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers|100 Years...100 Cheers]] list of most inspirational movies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFI's 100 YEARS…100 CHEERS |url=https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-cheers/ |access-date=December 13, 2023 |website=American Film Institute |language=en}}</ref> Gehrig was named [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains|the 25th greatest hero in American cinema]] by the AFI in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFI's 100 Years…100 Heroes & Villains |url=https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-heroes-villians/ |access-date=March 7, 2024 |website=American Film Institute |language=en}}</ref>

==Inaccuracies/artistic license==
As the film opens, Gehrig is depicted belting a home run through a window of the Columbia University athletic building. That building is actually located on the north end of campus, well away from the baseball field; his farthest hits most likely smashed through the windows of a nearby building housing the [[Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism|School of Journalism]].<ref name=TimesRobinson>{{cite news|last=Robinson|first=Ray|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/sports/baseball/for-the-columbia-class-of-41-it-is-always-the-day-after.html|access-date=February 10, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 28, 2011|title=For the Columbia Class of '41 It Is Always the Day After}}</ref>

In the film, Gehrig hits two home runs in a World Series game against the St. Louis Cardinals where Babe Ruth also homers. This never occurred against the Cardinals, but did happen in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series versus the Cubs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN193210010.shtml|title=1932 World Series Game 3, New York Yankees at Chicago Cubs, October 1, 1932}}</ref>

In the film, Gehrig meets Eleanor Twitchell early in his career and marries her shortly after his first World Series.  Actually the two met in 1931, well after Gehrig was an established star. They were married in 1933.

In the scene where Eleanor looks through Lou's scrapbook, a newspaper clipping about Babe Ruth leaving the Yankees has a September 1935 date.  Ruth last played for the Yankees in 1934.  He had started the 1935 season as a Boston Brave, but he retired in late May.

In one of the film's more memorable scenes, a physician matter-of-factly informs Gehrig of his tragic diagnosis, dismal prognosis, and brief life expectancy. In fact, [[Mayo Clinic]] doctors painted an unrealistically optimistic picture of Gehrig's condition and prospects, reportedly at his wife's request.<ref>Krieger, T. Eleanor Gehrig. [http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8bb96875 Society for American Baseball Research]. Retrieved September 29, 2014.</ref><ref>[https://www.espn.com/mlb/flash/gehrigletters Letter from Eleanor Gehrig to Dr. Paul O’Leary of the Mayo Clinic, April 9, 1940]. In a postscript, Eleanor requested that O’Leary address his response to her with a pseudonym (Mrs. E. G. Barrow). O’Leary complied.</ref> Among other things he was given "a 50–50 chance of keeping me as I am" for the foreseeable future, and was told that he "...may need a cane in 10 or 15 years." Deliberate concealment of bad news from patients, particularly when cancer or an incurable degenerative disease was involved, was a relatively common practice at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://moregehrig.tripod.com/id3.html |title=More About His ALS Battle |access-date=April 16, 2008 |last=Kaden |first=S. |year=2002 }}</ref>

===Gehrig's farewell speech===
There is no known intact film of Gehrig's actual speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939; a small portion of the newsreel footage, incorporating his first and last remarks, is all that survives.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/_SKyfGK9brs Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110718155554/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SKyfGK9brs&gl=US&hl=en&amp;has_verified=1 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SKyfGK9brs| title = Lou Gehrig Speech | website=[[YouTube]]| date = September 21, 2009 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> For the movie, the speech was not reproduced verbatim; the script condensed and reorganized Gehrig's actual spontaneous and unprepared remarks, and moved the iconic "luckiest man" line from the beginning to the end for heightened dramatic effect. Gehrig's message remained essentially unchanged.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Yankee Stadium Speech
|-
| "Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

"Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I'm lucky. Who wouldn't consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I'm lucky.

"When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift – that's something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies &mdash; that's something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter &mdash; that's something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body &mdash; it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed – that's the finest I know.

"So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for."
|-
!Film Speech
|-
| "I have been walking onto ball fields for sixteen years, and I've never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. I have had the great honor to have played with these great veteran ballplayers on my left – Murderers' Row, our championship team of 1927. I have had the further honor of living with and playing with these men on my right – the Bronx Bombers, the Yankees of today.

"I have been given fame and undeserved praise by the boys up there behind the wire in the press box, my friends, the sportswriters. I have worked under the two greatest managers of all time, Miller Huggins and Joe McCarthy.

"I have a mother and father who fought to give me health and a solid background in my youth. I have a wife, a companion for life, who has shown me more courage than I ever knew.

"People all say that I've had a bad break. But today ... today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth."
|-
|}

==Adaptations to other media==
''The Pride of the Yankees'' was adapted as an hour-long radio play on the October 4, 1943, broadcast of ''[[Lux Radio Theater]]'' with Gary Cooper and [[Virginia Bruce]] and a September 30, 1949, broadcast of ''[[Screen Director's Playhouse]]'' starring Gary Cooper and [[Lurene Tuttle]].

==See also==
* [[List of baseball films]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|The Pride of the Yankees}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0035211|The Pride of the Yankees}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-pride-of-the-yankees-am37142 ''The Pride of the Yankees'' at AllMovie]
* {{TCMDb title|87109|The Pride of the Yankees}}
* {{AFI film|27411}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|pride_of_the_yankees|The Pride of the Yankees}}

{{Sam Wood}}
{{Samuel Goldwyn}}
{{Jo Swerling}}
{{New York Yankees}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pride Of The Yankees}}
[[Category:1940s biographical drama films]]
[[Category:1940s sports drama films]]
[[Category:1942 drama films]]
[[Category:1942 films]]
[[Category:American baseball films]]
[[Category:American biographical drama films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Biographical films about sportspeople]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of baseball players]]
[[Category:Films about disability in the United States]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films based on works by Paul Gallico]]
[[Category:Films directed by Sam Wood]]
[[Category:Films scored by Leigh Harline]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1920s]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1930s]]
[[Category:Films set in the Bronx]]
[[Category:Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Herman J. Mankiewicz]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Jo Swerling]]
[[Category:Films about the New York Yankees]]
[[Category:Samuel Goldwyn Productions films]]
[[Category:Sports drama films based on actual events]]
[[Category:1940s American films]]
[[Category:English-language biographical drama films]]
[[Category:English-language sports drama films]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:RKO Pictures films]]