 the pride of the yankees is a 1942 american film 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 only one 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. details of his baseball careerâwhich were still fresh in most fans' minds in 1942âare limited to montages of ballparks, pennants, and cooper swinging bats and running bases, though gehrig's best-known major league recordâ2,130 consecutive games playedâis 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 award nominations. its climax is a re-enactment of gehrig's poignant 1939 farewell speech at yankee stadium. the film's iconic closing lineâ"today, i consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth"âwas voted 38th on the american film institute's list of 100 greatest movie quotes. ==synopsis== lou gehrig (cooper) is a young columbia university student whose old-fashioned mother (elsa janssen) wants him to study hard and become an engineer. but the young man has a gift for baseball. a sportswriter (brennan) befriends gehrig and persuades a scout to come see him play. before long gehrig signs with the team he
1940s_drama_films 1940s_sports_films 1942_films American_baseball_films American_biographical_films Biographical_films_about_sportspeople Black-and-white_films English-language_films Films_based_on_works_by_Paul_Gallico Films_directed_by_Sam_Wood Films_set_in_New_York_City Films_set_in_the_1920s Films_set_in_the_1930s Films_whose_editor_won_the_Best_Film_Editing_Academy_Award New_York_Yankees Samuel_Goldwyn_Productions_films Screenplays_by_Herman_J._Mankiewicz Sports_films_based_on_actual_events