The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)

Instant Favorite.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I give this movie a 10 not because it is an "excellent" movie, which it is not, but because of what there is to be gotten out of it.What there is not to be gotten out of it, from what I have read, is an accurate depiction of what Robinson went through once he joined the Dodgers organization. In 1950, when this movie was made, Robinson was still very much an active player in the league, and the people who made life miserable for him, including players on the Montreal and Brooklyn teams, were very much alive, some still Robinson's colleagues. Just as the name of the league is changed to the International League, so other details are altered or ignored, probably to avoid lawsuits. In that sense, "42" can name names and give facts that this movie could not.On the other hand, what this movie offers is the chance to watch the real Jackie Robinson relive some of the difficult, terrible moments he had to go through to stay in major-league baseball - and pave the way for other Blacks to do the same. Even though this time it is only actors hurling the (I suspect very toned down) insults at him, denying him access to a restaurant, etc., you get to watch his face as he no doubt had to relive what it had felt like to experience those in real life just a few years before.It is a deeply difficult and very moving experience for the viewer as well, different from what I felt watching an actor - and a very fine actor - go through the same episodes in "42". Robinson reacts to everything very quietly. He didn't have a deep, booming voice like James Earl Jones, for example. But if you look at his face, you see that there is real power there, fighting any man's urge to strike back.The best parts of this movie are not easy viewing, but they allow us to experience, to some extent, the injustices against which Robinson had to fight with him. Not 30 years after the fact, but just three or four years later. We see the same Robinson who had just gone through all that, a Robinson who would therefore have remembered how it made him feel only too clearly.This movie doesn't have much to do with baseball. It has a very great deal to do with courage and moral strength.And also: I preferred the performance of Minor Watson here, as Branch Rickey, to Harrison Ford's portrayal in "42". Ford made Rickey a comical curmudgeon. Watson makes him much more human.-----------------------If you want to see a documentary on Robinson, try this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8xS8lZl2RIIt shows that some of the most painful lines in this movie were actually said to or about Robinson.

This does its best for the time it was made in, and while it wasn't a top Hollywood studio, it was given a lot of attention. Baseball players are the heroes of young boys, and like my growing up era as a young baseball fan, I didn't see color. I saw balls, bats, bases and bunts. Home runs, strike outs, double plays, pitchers hitting grand slams and winning the game. The years have gone by, but the memory has remained, as well as the names, like Robinson, long retired. Some white, some black, but like my father, a fan during Robinson's era, said, they are all our heroes.Perhaps too nice and missing much of the racial tension concerning his being named as the first black pro ball player, it lightly deals with serious issues and eliminates much of the controversy. The recent movie about Robinson's life was freer to show all the issues and present all the people involved as real human brings. Robinson as himself is obviously going to be a fantasy view of what he really went through, and a young Ruby Dee is sincere but not really given much of a challenge considering her own considerable talents. Gentle Louise Beavers adds her own grace to the role of Jackie's mother, while Minor Watson is commanding as the white mentor who looks after him. The white characters are painted without grays, either too accepting or totally racist, but it is obvious to me that the writers feared offending baseball fans and professionals who went to see the movie. This is a movie that I wanted to praise because of my own high hopes that it would be fearless in revealing the ugly truths of racism that has greatly changed, if not all disappeared.

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.

THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY is a straight-on look at the beginning of a baseball legend and one of the monumental changes in the history of Major League baseball. Who would be more suited to play Robinson than Jackie himself. In 1947, after being given the chance to play ball for Montreal, Jackie Robinson, became the first black man to play big league baseball playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Branch Rickey(Minor Watson), President of the Brooklyn Dodger franchise, is the man that has the confidence that Robinson is the right choice to break the color line. This black and white feature was filmed just three years after Jackie began his fabled career dealing with racial issues as well as the rest of society. Robinson's story grew grander as he proved himself to be one of the game's greatest players.Alfred E. Green directs the script written by Arthur Mann and Lawrence Taylor. Excitement, fascination and intrigue fill this 76 minute film. Louise Beavers gives a wonderful portrayal of Jackie's mother and a young Ruby Dee is cast as Robinson's wife. Other notables: Richard Lane, Bill Spaulding, George Dockstrade and Ben Lessy.