Evening star., 1949-05-29
Films at Last Catch
Flavor of Baseball
The Stratton Story, Merges Pair
Of i. S. Favorite Pastimes
By Joy Cormody

Baseball the American institutions
As such kind of any between
the result should highly favored piece Of entertainment
Oddly enough until The strson sto.y came along cu. Of
has been something akew about baseball movies and at the
worst they have been downright absurd.
Minds keen enough to avoid taxing subjects have
thought this great deal during half decades
the movies and baseball to mix into the ideal entertainment
recipe.
seemingly
Hoywoods maudn sentmentaty about baseball Time after
time affection turned
tribute worship: chdisly
excited account Of something that might have been dramatic
told calmly.
Ruth Story . Specimen.
The notorious recent example Of this spluerng senmen
tality Story" authentic
hero grossly diminished by script that tried to make Him
combination Of Paul Bunyan Frank Merrwen Merlin the Ma
gician and Tram knight who was occasionally amused by
Merins act Holywood approach to Ruth in the picture
seed that discovering him The sensible would have
been to recall him to millions OF Americans who logically fancd
they knew him well.
To its credit hollywood did not come close to the peoples
picture Of diamond hero in Pride Of the Yankees This
the Lou Grs story but in the days before movie titles had to
good honorable citizen whose brilliant had tragic
ending The result fair sort Of picture except for the fact
that Cooper did not look very much like oehs either at the
pride Of the Yankees" did that
HOLLYWOOD would get baseball in focus and turn out winning
"The sHatton Story" is it.
Significantly enough the oehg and satton stories had the
director Sam Wood Getting him for the job perhaps
the picture although quite intelligent too In casting James
Stewart as the hero and June Allyson as his girl
script the production sticks pretty much the
Of Pitcher Monty Satton e perhaps extent be-
Monty himself around the studio to act technical
adviser
not the script writer's that 6ratton-
whose cut OF In brilliant prime by the loss leg In
hunting accden-was the greatest ghand pitcher Of all
time merely he great which he and thus avoids
arguments with movie fans who might recall such other right
handlers Walter Johnson Chry Mahewson Smoky Joe Wood
and Others including Jerome Dean dizzy OF
Monty's
For dramatic the Straon story wisely based
the assumption that the . character human being m
and after that fine pitcher who had tragic luck.
Stewart Permitted Act.
This sensible thing and the fact attention paid
to Sattons diamond life makes its possible for Actor Stewart
to act and not give his full time to trying limitations Of
sensational big league pitcher
pleasanest thing about etraon Story It's
disposition could have been sad about loss Of his leg and
the Of his chooses rather be that Monty
turned this into triumph: that inside himseand in the tn
enabled him to could pitch with artificial leg
In honons Monty for this accomplishment 'The sratton
Story does not dhonor baseball In the clactc
the several shown in the picture shows the oneeggd mounds
being given the works by the opposing team Knowing he
cannot and field his position they bunt him into defeat
IN other words to bear his
movie this would be dirty vllainous trick here.
What the opposing team does to the baseball
which be ne honorable competitive and played to
the h tn this fashion looked better the than in
'The Stratton Story"
Maybe ct last Hollywood making
entertainment out Of Americas other national pastime.