The Pride of the Yankees (1942)

While football may be the new favorite sport of most people, my family remains firmly in the baseball camp.  Yes, we do love college football, but when it comes to professional sports, baseball---especially Boston Red Sox baseball---is where it's at in our house.  For that reason, we gravitate to baseball films, and my favorite, bar none, is 1942's The Pride of the Yankees.  Starring Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright, this 5-star film tells the story of baseball great Lou Gehrig, who as probably everyone knows, was struck down with ALS---the disease which now bears his name---in the prime of life.

The movie begins when Lou is about ten, and it chronicles his early baseball years, his hazing by the team, his courtship of Eleanor, his "Iron Horse" years, the beginning of his descent into the world of ALS, and ultimately, his "Luckiest Man" speech.  While the film has many comical moments, at its core, it remains the story of a man afflicted with a devastating illness. 

As my regular blog readers know, I am a mega-huge Coop fan. It's rare that I don't like one of his movies, rare that I don't like the character he is portraying. But this film is just about my absolute favorite. The Pride of the Yankees is my third favorite Cooper film, behind only Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Ten North Frederick.

Coop and Teresa Wright, who would be paired together again two years later in Casanova Brown, have terrific chemistry in this movie.

Both Cooper and Wright were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances here. Neither won; however, Teresa was also nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category that same year, for her role in Mrs. Miniver, and she did win that Oscar.  In all, The Pride of the Yankees received 11 Academy Award nominations, coming away with the win in the Best Film Editing category.

In my mind, The Pride of the Yankees is not only the best baseball film of all-time, but it is a delightful breath of fresh air. In this day of scandalous baseball, with its obscene salaries and rampant steroid use, we need to be reminded of what a "true baseball hero" Lou Gehrig was. He was an honorable man both on and off the field. Instead of whining about the devastating hand he had been dealt, he exhibited strength and courage in the face of great adversity. Our world needs more men like him. I think this film ought to be required viewing for today's professional athletes (along with 1950's The Jackie Robinson Story).

Besides Cooper and Wright, the film also features Walter Brennan and Dan Duryea.  And the legendary Babe Ruth takes to the screen too, playing himself.  In my Red Sox-lovin' household, a watching of this film provides my one and only allowed opportunity to look positively on a man wearing the Yankee pinstripes.

A definite must-see, The Pride of the Yankees is out on DVD, so it should be very easy to track down.  Do keep the tissues handy, as you're sure to need them.

Happy viewing!!

The Steel Trap (4 stars)

The Steel Trap, from 1952, is a suspenseful drama starring Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright.  A film which reunited the Shadow of a Doubt stars, The Steel Trap made its TCM premiere last week.  I had been awaiting the airing of this film for a couple years, so I was thrilled to finally have had the opportunity to catch it...and, I must say, I was not disappointed.

Jim Osborne (Joseph Cotten) has worked at his bank job for eleven years, starting as a teller and now finding himself in the position of assistant manager.  Though not fancy, Jim's life is comfortable and happy---wife, daughter, modest home, stable job.  Jim, however, wants more, and he begins to wonder about the possibility of stealing money from the bank's vault.  The more he dwells on the idea, the more convinced he is that he could get away with it, and within a couple days, Jim puts his plan into action.

Having discovered that Brazil had revoked its extradition treaty, Jim knows that Brazil is the destination to which he will go.  His plan is to abscond with $1 million at the close of business on Friday and then be safely in Brazil before the robbery is discovered when the bank opens on Monday.

Of course, Jim's wife, Laurie (Teresa Wright), and his daughter will have to go to Brazil with him, for his intent is to stay there forever.

As fate would have it, nothing goes as Jim plans---Laurie, who thinks they are simply taking a short trip, wants to leave their daughter home with her mother; the passport office is closed when they arrive; they need to take a later flight; and on and on.  Whatever can go wrong, does go wrong, pushing Jim to the point of total franticness and triggering Laurie's awareness that there is something strange going on.

The Steel Trap was definitely an enjoyable viewing experience.  The storyline itself was quite exciting, but adding to the overall suspense was the Dimitri Tiomkin score.  Especially during the scene in the bank vault, the score was utterly perfect!   Joseph Cotten was fantastic in his role.  I could SO feel the anxiety and stress his character was struggling with.  You may be surprised to find Teresa Wright as a blonde in this film.  Having never seen her as anything but a brunette, I was not expecting those blonde tresses.  She looked good, but I really prefer her dark.

To my knowledge, this film is not out on DVD, so it may be hard to catch.  If you can track it down, though, be sure to do so.  It is definitely an exciting, entertaining film.

Happy viewing!!

The Best Years of Our Lives (5 stars)

The Best Years of Our Lives, the Academy Award winning film from 1946, is our family's annual Veteran's Day movie.  I have to admit, that is a hardship for me.  Oh, not because I don't like it...on the contrary.  I absolutely, totally love this film.  It is easily one of my top ten favorite movies of all time, which means, I really would prefer to watch it more often than once a year; however, to keep it "special," watching it once a year is precisely what I am doing.  (Sort of like keeping It's a Wonderful Life for the once-a-year Christmas night viewing.)  Since today is Veteran's Day, it's time for me to enjoy this beloved film once more, and even though most everyone probably knows it, I'm re-running the review I posted when I first began this blog in February.

The Best Years of Our Lives was the Academy Award winner for best picture in 1946. In fact, it won many Oscars that year, including Fredric March for Best Actor and Harold Russell for Best Supporting Actor and William Wyler for Best Director. It was this movie that shut-down the beloved It's a Wonderful Life in the Oscars that year.

A bit on the long side (about ten minutes shy of three hours), The Best Years of Our Lives is a wonderful movie that explores a problem that was very much in existence in those early days after the second world war....the plight of the war veterans who were returning home to a country that in many ways had gone on without them while they were away. The movie stars Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Harold Russell, and Virginia Mayo.

The movie begins when Al Stevenson (Fredric March), Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), and Homer Parrish (Harold Russell), all war veterans from different branches of the service, attempt to find flights home to the hometown they share in common. Unable to find an available commercial flight, they are routed onto a military craft, and lifelong friendships are born as the men get to know one another.

Al is an Army veteran who has been married to Millie (Myrna Loy) for twenty years and has two upper teenage children. Fred, a bomber pilot, had a whirlwind romance and married Marie (Virginia Mayo) only a few short days before leaving for war. And Homer, who joined the Navy fresh out of high school, has two hooks in place of arms, the result of a shipboard tragedy. (I must digress here and say that Harold Russell, who plays Homer, was not a professional actor at all. Rather, like his character, he was a real disabled Navy veteran, who had lost his arms at sea...He actually won two Academy Awards for this role...the best supporting actor and an achievement award as well.)

Anyhow, the men's arrival home is difficult, as life has gone on without them. Al barely recognizes his children, so grown they are. Fred's wife has taken a job and moved out of his parents' home and into an apartment of her own. And when he finally tracks her down, she is none too keen on the fact that he is not a man in uniform anymore. And Homer, painfully aware that his two hooks are disturbing for his family and high school sweetheart to look at, withdraws into himself.

The first night home, Al takes his wife and daughter Peggy (Teresa Wright) to a local bar, where he unexpectedly meets up with his two new friends, Fred and Homer. When Al and Fred end up totally drunk and completely passed out, Millie and Peggy take them back to the Stevenson apartment so they can sleep it off. Peggy puts Fred in her bed, removes his shoes, and heads to the couch. In the middle of the night, however, she is awakened by Fred screaming, as he has a nightmare about a bombing raid. She soothes him, and then they both go back to sleep. In the morning, she drives him to his wife's apartment, and there is a definite connection between them.

Fred's reunion with his wife does not go well. She doesn't like that he now needs to find a civilian job or the fact that he is a man out of uniform. (The uniform was one of the reasons she had wanted to marry him!!) Add to that, she wants to party and be out all the time, including hanging out with other men. When the only job Fred is able to obtain is as a soda jerk at the drugstore where he formerly worked, Marie belittles him.

Al, who is a bank executive, begins to be unsettled with the bank's treatment of war veterans who are applying for loans. When these men, who have faithfully served their country, are denied loans because of insufficient collateral, Al is angered and often attempts to extend loans anyway.

And Homer, feeling like a freak show with his two hooks, is angry all the time. He no longer wants to marry Wilma and completely withdraws from her...and everyone, except for Al and Fred.

To reveal anything more about this movie would spoil your viewing pleasure, so I'll stop here. I hope that I've whet your appetite, that I've made you interested in the characters so that you want to discover how things turn out. I totally love this movie....it's on my top 10 list, and although I am an It's a Wonderful Life fan, I am SO in agreement with all the awards The Best Years of Our Lives racked up.

Not only is this film out on DVD, but TCM airs it frequently, so you shouldn't have a problem tracking it down.  I think it's a definite must-see!!  Happy viewing!!

Casanova Brown (4 stars)

Casanova Brown, from 1944, is the second pairing of Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright.  Their first pairing was in The Pride of the Yankees (5 stars from me) in 1942, and they had great chemistry together there. Here in Casanova Brown, which is a rather slapstick comedy, they also work great together.

On the eve of his wedding to Madge, Casanova (Cass) Brown (Coop) receives a letter from a maternity hospital in Chicago.  After first dismissing the letter as nothing more than an advertisement or perhaps a mistake, Cass begins to question whether there is more to the situation than he's aware of.  He relates to his future father-in-law (fabulously played by Frank Morgan) of how the previous fall, on a trip to New York, he had met lovely Isabel Drury (Teresa Wright), had a whirlwind romance with her and gotten married.  However, her parents didn't approve of Cass due to the fact that the "stars weren't in the right alignment on the day of his birth"...thus, they annulled the marriage, and Cass left New York, once again a single man.  (The scene where Isabel's parents disapprove of the marriage is very slapstick...and quite entertaining.)

Unsure if his and Isabel's one night together resulted in pregnancy, Cass decides that he must respond to the letter from the maternity hospital, so he heads off to Chicago before ever marrying Madge.  After consulting with the doctor, he discovers that Isabel did, in fact, have a child and that she intends to put the child up for adoption.  Cass, however, refuses to allow his baby to be "given to strangers," so he kidnaps the baby from the hospital nursery and hides out with her in a nearby hotel.

Although Cass has zero knowledge about how to take care of a baby, he is determined to try.  And he is just as determined to not be discovered by Isabel or the doctor.  It's a series of comical moments---and alot of fun---watching the new daddy in action.

As I said, this movie is often slapstick, but this crazy-about-Coop gal finds it completely and totally delightful.  It's really Coop's show; although Teresa Wright gets second billing, you don't see all that much of her.  Frank Morgan actually gets more screen time than Teresa does...and he's quite hilarious.

Anyhow, this cute but silly movie is out on DVD and should be readily available.  Also, it's on Net Flix in their "instant viewing" inventory.  Hope y'all get a chance to see it.

Happy viewing!!

The Best Years of Our Lives (5 stars)

The Best Years of Our Lives was the Academy Award winner for best picture in 1946. In fact, it won many Oscars that year, including Fredrich March for Best Actor and Harold Russell for Best Supporting Actor. It was this movie that shut-down the beloved It's a Wonderful Life in the Oscars that year.

A bit on the long side (about ten minutes shy of three hours), The Best Years of Our Lives is a wonderful movie that explores a problem that was very much in existence in those early days after the second world war....the plight of the war veterans who were returning home to a country that in many ways had gone on without them while they were away. The movie stars Fredrich March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Harold Russell, and Virginia Mayo.

The movie begins when Al Stevenson (Fredrich March), Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), and Homer Parrish (Harold Russell), all war veterans from different branches of the service, attempt to find flights home to the hometown they share in common. Unable to find an available commercial flight, they are routed onto a military craft, and lifelong friendships are born as the men get to know one another.

Al is an Army veteran who has been married to Millie (Myrna Loy) for twenty years and has two upper teenage children. Fred, a bomber pilot, had a whirlwind romance and married Marie (Virginia Mayo) only a few short days before leaving for war. And Homer, who joined the Navy fresh out of high school, has two hooks in place of arms, the result of a shipboard tragedy. (I must digress here and tell y'all that Harold Russell, who plays Homer, was not a professional actor at all. Rather, like his character, he was a real disabled Navy veteran, who had lost his arms at sea...He actually won two Academy Awards for this role...the best supporting actor and some sort of achievement award as well.)

Anyhow, the men's arrival home is difficult, as life has gone on without them. Al barely recognizes his children, so grown they are. Fred's wife has taken a job and moved out of his parents' home and into an apartment of her own. And when he finally tracks her down, she is none too keen on the fact that he is not a man in uniform anymore. And Homer, painfully aware that his two hooks are disturbing for his family and high school sweetheart to look at, withdraws into himself.

The first night home, Al takes his wife and daughter Peggy (Teresa Wright) to a local bar, where he unexpectedly meets up with his two new friends, Fred and Homer. When Al and Fred end up totally drunk and completely passed out, Millie and Peggy take them back to the Stevenson apartment so they can sleep it off. Peggy puts Fred in her bed, removes his shoes, and heads to the couch. In the middle of the night, however, she is awakened by Fred screaming, as he has a nightmare about a bombing raid. She soothes him, and then they both go back to sleep. In the morning, she drives him to his wife's apartment, and there is a definite connection between them.

Fred's reunion with his wife does not go well. She doesn't like that he now needs to find a civilian job or the fact that he is a man out of uniform. (The uniform was one of the reasons she had wanted to marry him!!) Add to that, she wants to party and be out all the time, including hanging out with other men. When the only job Fred is able to obtain is as a soda jerker at the drugstore he formerly worked at, Marie belittles him.

Al, who is a bank executive, begins to be unsettled with the bank's treatment of war veterans who are applying for loans. When these men, who have faithfully served their country, are denied loans because of insufficient collateral, Al is angered and often attempts to extend loans anyway.

And Homer, feeling like a freak show with his two hooks, is angry all the time. He no longer wants to marry Wilma and completely withdraws from her...and everyone, except for Al and Fred.

To reveal anything more about this movie would spoil y'all's viewing pleasure, so I'll stop here.  I hope that I've whet your appetite, that I've made y'all interested in the characters so that you want to discover how things turn out. I totally love this movie....it's on my top 21 list, and although I am an It's a Wonderful Life fan, I am SO in agreement with all the awards The Best Years of Our Lives racked up.

For our family, The Best Years of Our Lives is a Veteran's Day tradition. It is THE PERFECT Veteran's Day movie, though I must admit, viewing this movie only once a year is a bit of a hardship for me.  I love it so much and could actually watch it more often than we do.