Drama,Family
United States of America
The Pride of the Yankees is a 1942 biographical film about the life and career of Lou Gehrig, one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Directed by Sam Wood and starring Gary Cooper as Gehrig, the film tells the story of Gehrig's rise to fame, his struggles with ALS, and his retirement from baseball.
The film takes us back to Gehrig's childhood in New York City and his early days playing baseball. It then follows his career with the New York Yankees, from his debut in 1923 to his retirement in 1939. Along the way, we see Gehrig's close relationship with his parents, his wife Eleanor, and his teammate and close friend Babe Ruth.
The film also dramatizes Gehrig's struggle with ALS, a disease that eventually took his life at the age of 37. We see Gehrig's determination to keep playing despite the progression of the disease, and his emotional farewell speech at Yankee Stadium in which he famously proclaimed himself "the luckiest man on the face of the earth."
The Pride of the Yankees is a moving tribute to one of baseball's greatest legends, and a celebration of Gehrig's character and values. The film was a critical and commercial success, and is now considered a classic of Hollywood biographical filmmaking. Cooper's performance as Gehrig is widely praised, and the film's depiction of Gehrig's battle with ALS helped raise awareness of the disease and inspire research into finding a cure.
