Don’t know what I was thinking when I left The Stratton Story out of my entry on movie trailers. One of the better bio-pics. Plus it has one of my favorite actors, Jimmy Stewart, in the lead.
Several items of note:
The Stratton Story was directed by Sam Wood, the same man who gave us The Pride of the Yankees.- Monty Stratton was credited as technical advisor on the project.
- Real-life baseball figures who appeared included Bill Dickey (also in POTY), Jimmy Dykes, and Merv Shea; Max West, Al Zarila, Gus Zernial, Lou Stringer, Hank Sauer, George “Catfish” Metkovich, and Lou Novikoff were all uncredited.
- Stewart may have been the Kevin Costner (The Heart of the Game, Field of Dreams, Bull Durham) or Dennis Haysbert (Mr. Baseball, Major League franchise) of his generation of movie stars when it comes to appearing in baseball movies. He also appeared as Robert ‘Dutch’ Holland, an all-star player, albeit fictitious, who returns to military service in Strategic Air Command. June Allyson appeared as his wife in that one, too.
- Frank Morgan, who plays Stratton’s mentor, Barney Wile (not to mention the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz, among many other great co-starring turns), acquits himself pretty well in the “action scenes.” A lot better than Tony Perkins as Jimmy Piersall in Fear Strikes Out, anyway.
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