NFR Project: 'Knute Rockne, All American'

 

NFR Project: ‘Knute Rockne, All American’

Dir: Lloyd Bacon, William K. Howard (uncredited)

Scr: Robert Buckner

Pho: Tony Gaudio

Ed: Ralph Dawson

Premiere: Oct. 4, 1940

98 min.

This film biography outlines the short but busy life of football coach Knute Rockne (1888-1931). He is best known for incorporating the forward pass into the game, and for his successful coaching of the Notre Dame football squad.

The film reads like a marvelous and continuous series of successes that propelled the honored coach to prominence. Rockne is played by Pat O’Brien, an Irish-American actor who specialized in fast-talking tough guys. Rockne was known for his rapid-fire patter, and O’Brien captures that here.

Rockne is treated worshipfully here; he is almost a secular saint, in fact. How accurate is the film? Well, for one, Rockne was never named an All-American player or coach. Most Hollywood biographies were known for their inaccuracy (Yankee Doodle Dandy, They Died with Their Boots On). Movies almost never let the facts get in the way of a good story. His exploits on the field are summarized with great energy. Interestingly, Rockne was a trained chemist, and almost took that career path instead of coaching.

Ronald Reagan is here, playing the doomed freshman halfback George Gipp, who dies at a tragic young age and, on his deathbed, encourages Rockne to, when things looked bleak for the team, to “win one for the Gipper.” This Rockne did years later, when the team was down in a game. His speech inspired the team to make a comeback and win.

Rockne moves from success to success, right up to the time of his untimely death in an air crash at the age of 43. The movie is inspirational; as such it was adored by boys of all ages.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: The Mark of Zorro.