The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)

Yikes--the print for this public domain flick is a mess! Yes, it's scratchy, a bit blurry and the sound isn't great, but it's also a great chance to see Jackie Robinson himself play in this bio-pic.This biography of Jackie Robinson has sanitized his life just a bit by the filmmakers. However, despite a few omissions here and there, the film is a decent biography--a billion times better and more truthful than the awful bio-pic on Babe Ruth completed just two years earlier. When I say sanitized, I mean some parts of Jackie's life are omitted because they didn't portray the image some folks wanted to give in the film. So, Jackie's military history is pretty much ignored--even though he dealt with A LOT of racism and a court-martial that was motivated by the color of his skin and Jackie's unwillingness to be treated like dirt. I think including it would have made for a better film, as he showed a lot of character but it just didn't fit into the 'turn the other cheek' portrayal in the film. Plus, perhaps it was too big a topic to include in this relatively short film. Overall, a decent film and it was nice to see that Robinson wasn't at all bad as an actor! Well worth seeing and a nice bit of Americana.Some things of note in the film: Jimmie Dodd plays a minor role as a scout for UCLA. Dodd later went on to be the host of the popular kids show, "The Mickey Mouse Show".Robinson was a star in college in basketball, baseball, track AND football. The film talked about all but his track prowess.The films shows such troubles encountered by black ballplayers as not being able to eat in restaurants, being booed just for being black and outright hostility.The use of 'boy' and the almighty N-word might offend many today but it DID add realism to the movie. I'd hate to see political correctness sanitize race films too much.

Continuing to review African-Americans in film in chronological order for Black History Month, we're now at 1950 when the first black to play baseball in the major leagues, Jackie Robinson, stars in his own life story in a motion picture made three years after becoming a player in the Brooklyn Dodgers. Since he's basically playing himself, he doesn't need scenes that challenge him, just recite lines that I'm sure were written in a way to make things easy to remember. We're not meant to be impressed by his acting, anyway, but his athleticism whether catching balls, throwing them, or especially hitting them. No, the real acting challenge came to Minor Watson who-as the actual President of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey-has to present authority and conviction as someone who truly believes in baseball as the democratic sport meant to give fair chances to all Americans of all races and creeds, which was convincing enough to me. So on that note, The Jackie Robinson Story was an inspirational enough movie that can still touch some heartstrings, old-fashioned though some of it may be. P.S. Since it is Black History Month, I'd like to note some of the supporting performers that happen to be people of color: first off, there's Ruby Dee as Jackie's wife, Rae, in one of her earliest roles. Then there's Louise Beavers, who I last saw in the 1934 Imitation of Life back in 2008 when I last did similar reviews for BHM, as Jackie's mother. Both are adequate enough in their parts. The others-Bernie Hamilton as Ernie-a player for the Panthers, Mildred Boyd as a roommate of Rae, Howard Louis MacNeely playing Jackie as a boy, and Kenny Washington as the Tigers manager. He was previously a halfback for the Los Angeles Rams. Two more worth mentioning: Roy Glenn as attorney Mr. Gaines. He would later appear in "Amos 'n' Andy", Carmen Jones, and "The Jack Benny Program" among other movies and TV shows for the next 21 years. And, last but not least, Joel Fluellen as Jackie's older brother Mack. He was born in Monroe in my home state of Louisiana.

I decided to watch this movie because it was listed as one of the 300 titles chosen for the AFI's newest top 100 movies list (inspirational movies). I think that it could have made the list if (1) someone other than Jackie Robinson was playing Jackie Robinson, and (2) they would have made the movie with a more complete look at his life. By having the star play himself, it does a decent job of showing what he was actually like. He obviously understood what was so important about keeping his demeanor in check, always being polite to the manager and other teammates, etc. I think I've heard stories that, when he was actually on the baseball field, he was one of the toughest, meanest SOBs ever in baseball. That would make sense as compared to today's Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, who are one thing to the camera, and another on the playing field. I think it would be in great interest to have this movie redone, showing his entire career (including the Brooklyn Dodgers' only championship in 1955) and his future work to build up the black community. It was sad to notice that, with the movie being only 77 minutes long, some parts actually seemed to include filler (ex: the large amount of play-by-play calling that seemed quite unnecessary). Plus, it would have been nice to have had a larger part for the brilliant Ruby Dee as his wife. So, to conclude, it's not a bad movie, but it lacks the full story of his life to be really great.

It isn't very often that you get to see a hall of famer as a star in a movie about himself. Jackie Robinson actually acts in a leading role in this essentially B movie. This is vintage Truman era B&W which portrays an important slice of Americana. While we get a glimpse of Babe Ruth and Bill Dickey in Pride of the Yankees and a campy set of performances from Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in Safe at Home, Jackie Robinson actually does his best to give a serious performance about one of the most important events in the history of American sports.