The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)

Thanks for the memories!

Such a frustrating disappointment

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Subject matter is 5 stars, the movie itself, 3. It was fun to see this the day after Major League Baseball honored Jackie Robinson Day, and I'm glad I saw the black and white version, and not the colorized one! Super cool to see Jackie playing himself, and during his playing career no less! I've always loved his voice! And it was also super cool to see a young Ruby Dee playing his wife! What a lucky guy! I've always thought Rachel Robinson was one of the most beautiful women in the world, and Jackie gets another gorgeous lady to play his wife in a movie! What I didn't like about the film was how it was put together. Lots of short, choppy scenes that were very uneven and herky jerky. And the ends of many of those scenes were just awkwardly done. Very disruptive to the storytelling, in my opinion. But watching Jackie was well worth it, and I'm glad I finally watched this! And little things like having the umpire behind the pitcher made me appreciate the game of baseball and its long, long history.

Made only a few years after Jackie Robinson joined the Major Leagues, this film is a truly inspirational story of the first man who broke baseball's color barrier, paving the way for future stars like Mays, Aaron, Clemente and the rest. Along the way, even Robinson had to be convinced that a black player would ever get the chance - "Baseball's one sport that'll never let me in". To his credit, executive Branch Rickey stayed true to his principles in signing Robinson, and a number of scenes in the picture spotlight Rickey (Minor Watson) waxing philosophically about fair play and sportsmanship, and a man's right to make a living no matter what his color. The best was the way he dressed down a handful of players who presented a petition against playing with Robinson, offering one of them an exit strategy in case he persisted.Though the film uses a fairly broad brush to illustrate the prejudice shown against Robinson, most of the examples seem fairly mild given the era. The terms 'shine' and 'nigger' are used, but sparingly, and one of the more graphic examples was the dimwit who compared Robinson to a black cat. The situations for the most part didn't appear life threatening, but I'm sure there must have been more serious incidents directed against the ball player during his early career.The movie is certainly no award winner, and Robinson exhibits a surprising lack of charisma portraying himself. No doubt he was self conscious about the task at hand. A number of scenes took on a stagy look, like the one where Jackie steals second base and gets into a tiff with the opposing team's player. We're reminded of the film's low budget restrictions when the same fans are shown in the stands for different games, sitting in the exact same seats. All in all though, the picture is a few notches better than "The Joe Louis Story" that came out three years later.One thing I'll note with some degree of interest, something I watch for in early pictures like this, are the nostalgic nuggets of a time gone by. Keep an eye on the advertising billboards in center field during one of the Montreal Royals games; you'll see ads for Admiral TV, White Rock beverages, Auto-Lite, and Wildroot Hair Cream Oil. A later view (presumably from the same stadium) adds a couple more for Rayve Home Permanent and Coca-Cola.What I'd really like to see is a modern day version of the Jackie Robinson story that does a more thorough job of his college and military years, with a lot better look at his International League and Dodgers career. This picture for example, didn't mention any of his teammates by name (except that short Branch Rickey scene in his office), nor any of the opposition that would have come up against him and his team. There was that one Montreal player Shorty (Ben Lessy), but it looked like he was thrown in for comic relief and didn't really seem necessary.Closing on a trivia note, does anyone recall the name of the second black Major League player? It was Larry Doby, signed by the Cleveland Indians only eleven weeks after Robinson, making him the first in the American League.

Sure, many can criticize this film for what it didn't show, but it's a movie, not a mini-series. So, they had to gloss over the fact that his brother Mack (Joel Fluellen), with a college education and an Olympic medal was a milkman; didn't touch on the Army at all; and left out Satchel Paige.What was worth watching was Robinson'e play for UCLA and branch Rickey's (Minor Watson) valiant efforts to get him into major league baseball. It is no secret that I love watching baseball movies From Fever Pitch to The Natural to "A League of their own;" I'll watch baseball movies over baseball games. This was a good one. Robinson did a very good acting job playing himself. Of course, as Ringo Starr said, "All I have to do is smile and act naturally." Well, he did much more that that.So, head on over to the Internet Archive and check it our: http://www.archive.org/details/Jackie_Robinson_Story_The

I think this movie had really bad production value. The lack of acting makes me think they should mark it as an early docudrama. It may have had no money available for its making. I feel bad that it was a ruff ride into the Major League for Jackie Robinson.I believe he was much better than many of the white players of his day. He had to be really great to break the color barrier of the time. No getting around that this was a really bad movie.Wish there was more info about its makers. They may have been limited by the quality of actors that were willing to take on the project. Maybe no money to get good people.