Lou shows his mother he loves her, not once but many times, and his coy and playful frisking with his wife becomes redundant after awhile. Furthermore, sports fans will protest, with reason on their side, that a picture about a baseball player should have a little more baseball in it. Quite true, this one has considerable footage showing stands and diamonds of the American League, with Lou at bat, running bases and playing the initial bag. What is shown is accurate. But it is only shown in glimpses or montage sequences, without catching much of the flavor or tingling excitement of a tight baseball game.
Fans like to know what's the inning, how many are on, and how many out.
At least, the score. This underemphasis of Gehrig's profession is partially excused by the fact that Gary Cooper , who plays the great hero, doesn't look too good slamming or scooping em up. But when he's in there snagging the hot ones, he isn't likely to be mistaken for the real Lou. The cast is superb, however, and does handsomely under Sam Wood 's direction. Elsa Janssen and Ludwig Stossel are delightful humans as Ma and pop Gehrig, and Teresa Wright has a lovely, gracious quality as Mrs. Lou.