I watched this film last night, for the first time in many, many years. What an amazing (true) story! I can’t imagine anyone else but Gary Cooper playing the role of Gehrig (I love Cooper anyway, but he was especially perfect in this role). I didn’t care for Teresa Wright so much as his wife, Eleanor . . . she was a little too “sweet” for the part, it should have been someone a little more “tomboyish.” But I loved Gehrig’s mother (in spite of some overacting), and it was fun seeing Walter Brennan before his “old and cantankerous” period. It was also fun to see some of the actual baseball players from that era, especially Babe Ruth.
My main criticism is that they didn’t show the later stages of the disease, and finally his death. They just ended it with (excerpts from) his famous Yankee Stadium speech. And the little-boy-in-the-hospital scene was just too cloyingly sentimental. I just wanted to smack that kid.
Overall, a truly great movie, especially for Gary Cooper fans.