Shortly after
Lou Gehrig’s famous farewell speech, movie producer Samuel Goldwyn purchased
the rights to the story. The ultra-suave Gary Cooper was recruited to play the
role of Gehrig, but his baseball skills were limited and adjustments had to be
made. A natural righty, Cooper was too awkward to pull off a convincing
facsimile of Gehrig’s powerful left-handed swing. Despite technical assistance
from former NL batting champ Lefty O’Doul, the sequences had to be shot
right-handed with Cooper instructed to run to third base when he hit the ball.
The film was later “flopped” with the number on Cooper’s back reversed.
In an
attempt to add some authenticity to the film, Babe Ruth was recruited to play
himself on screen. Unfortunately, “The Sultan of Swat” didn’t have much swat
left in him at the age of forty seven. With the Babe unable to generate the
titanic blasts of his glory years, director Sam Wood called upon another former
big league great, Babe Herman, who at thirty-nine was finishing up his career in
the Pacific Coast League. Herman was also used as a stand-in for Cooper in
faraway shots. Wood’s efforts paid off as The Pride of the Yankees was
nominated for eleven Academy Awards.
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