The Jackie Robinson Story
About The Jackie Robinson Story
Jackie Robinson, playing himself, is a boy given a worn glove by a stranger who has watched him field. At UCLA he stars in several sports and watches his brother Mack, an athlete, working as a street cleaner. Drafted in the war, he serves as an athletic director. Afterward he plays for a Black professional club and is away from his college sweetheart, Rae. Dodgers scout Clyde Sukeforth brings him to Branch Rickey. Robinson thinks the offer is a joke. Rickey tells him he will have to take abuse and not strike back. He signs with the Montreal Royals, marries Rae, and leads the league in hitting. Rickey brings him up to Brooklyn. Fans and some teammates jeer. He starts at first base, in a slump, then the Dodgers win the pennant. He drives in the tying run and scores the winner.
Cast & crew
More about The Jackie Robinson Story
Alfred E. Green directed. Arthur Mann and Lawrence Taylor wrote the script, drawing on Robinson's autobiography My Own Story. Ernest Laszlo photographed it. Herschel Burke Gilbert wrote the music. Jewel Pictures produced it. Eagle-Lion Films released it in the United States on 16 May 1950. Wikipedia lists 77 minutes. Another listing says 76. Ruby Dee plays Rae. Minor Watson, Louise Beavers, Richard Lane, and Harry Shannon are in the cast. Robinson plays himself. The film is in the public domain in the United States.
Themes
Background
The film covers Robinson's path from UCLA and wartime service to the Montreal Royals and the Brooklyn Dodgers, the first Black player in the modern major leagues.
Making
Robinson reenacts the Rickey meeting, the Montreal season, and the pennant game four years after he first played for Brooklyn.
Look
Ernest Laszlo photographed the UCLA scenes, the Rickey office, and the pennant game.
Music
Herschel Burke Gilbert wrote the score.
Preservation
The film is in the public domain in the United States.
Notes
- Green had directed The Jolson Story.
- Mack Robinson's street-cleaning job is the contrast the film uses for Jackie's worry about a degree.
- The Montreal year is shown as a batting title before the call to Brooklyn.
- Pat Flaherty, Dick Lane, and Roy Glenn are also credited.
- A print is on the Internet Archive and Wikimedia Commons.
Scenes
- A stranger hands the boy a beat-up glove.
- Rickey tells him the abuse will come and he cannot hit back.
- He drives in the tying run and scores the winner as the Dodgers take the pennant.
Influenced by
- Jackie Robinson's My Own Story
Also available
- Internet Archive (Jackie_Robinson_Story_The)
- Wikimedia Commons (The Jackie Robinson Story (1950).ogv)
