The Pride of the Yankees (1942) - 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, his friendships with players and journalists, and his storybook romance with the woman who became his "companion for life," Eleanor. Details of his baseball careerwhich were still fresh in most fans' minds in 1942are limited to montages of ballparks, pennants, and Cooper swinging bats and running bases, though Gehrig's best-known major league record2,130 consecutive games playedis prominently cited. Yankee teammates Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel, Mark Koenig, and Bill Dickey play themselves, as does sportscaster Bill Stern. The film 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 line"Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth"was voted 38th on the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest movie quotes.
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Jayden Daniels gets first NFL win as Commanders beat Giants
Led by a single-game franchise-record seven field goals from kicker Austin Seibert, the Washington Commanders defeated the New York Giants 21-18 at Northwest Stadium, Landover, Md., September 15, 2024. (Photos by Brian Murphy for the Washington Times)
