This Eagle Lion film release is a sincere effort and it speaks volumes that the real Jackie Robinson played himself. "Baby Face" director Alfred E. Green's "The Jackie Robinson Story" isn't necessarily unforgettable, but it is entertaining. Little Jackie (Howard Louis MacNeely) plays ball with the neighborhood white kids. He distinguishes himself on the field without a glove. Relying strictly on his agility and bare hands, our small fry hero takes everything that the coach can hit. So impressed is the coach that he gives little Jackie a battered old baseball mitt. The mitt has a tear in it, and you can see the stuffing sticking out of it. Nevertheless, little Jackie is so ecstatic that he charges home and proudly shows his mom (Louise Beavers) that he is the proud owner of a baseball glove. Of course, all she can see is the tear in the seat of his pants. Later, after Jackie has grown up, he attends Pasadena Junior College. He distinguishes himself as an athletic. Although his older brother excelled in sports and graduated from college, Mike (Joel Fluellen of "Friendly Persuasion") winds up toiling as a lowly street cleaner. He explains to Jackie that it is a steady job. After Jackie is drafted for military service, he joins a team in the Negro League and distinguishes himself again. Jackie's performance on the diamond as a baseball player convinces Brooklyn Dodgers scout Clyde Sukeforth (Billy Wayne of "The Sniper") to bring him to the attention of Brooklyn Dodgers' President Branch Rickey (Minor Watson of "Yankee Doodle Dandy) who is willing to put him on the roster. Jackie starts out with the Dodgers' minor league club the Panthers. Eventually, after he distinguishes himself on the field again, Jackie winds up playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Rickey doesn't mince words with Jackie. He warns Jackie that playing ball is one thing while enduring the rampant racism is another. He doesn't want Jackie to fight back. Naturally, life is rocky for Jackie, but he puts up with the racism and shows the world that he is a great baseball player. Jackie Robinson delivers a wooden performance, but the producers have surrounded him with a strong cast. Actress Ruby Dee is cast as his long-suffering wife. This isn't the greatest baseball picture, but it is affecting. Green never lets the pace slacken.

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

After Jackie Robinson had his career year in 1949(batting champion and National League Most Valuable Player, he was apparently talked into appearing in this cheaply made autobiographical story by Dodger President Branch Rickey. According to a recent biography of Robinson the film was made in California in the early months of 1950 and rushed into movie houses in time for the 1950 baseball season.Jackie Robinson was one of the most gifted athletes of the last century. He could easily have had a career in football, track, or basketball. But acting was not one of the skills God blessed him with. The poor man looks nervous and apprehensive and wondering what he was doing there. The movie touches on a few highlights of his early life, skipping over his military career which was very important because he felt the sting of racism there and was courtmartialed in the army, but acquitted. I won't go into that story, a television movie was made of it.There's no real explanation of just WHY it was Robinson who Branch Rickey selected to integrate the Brooklyn Dodgers and major league baseball. The skimpy screen play does concentrate on Rickey and his role in bringing integration to baseball. That's not surprising since the screenplay was authored by Arthur Mann who was Rickey's own publicist. Later on Mann wrote a hagiography of Rickey. Branch Rickey was a complex man himself and not quite the pure knight the film makes him out to be although he does deserve a lot of credit. Rickey was not above a lot of sanctimonious moralizing in his life and actor Minor Watson caught some of that aspect of him. A book and/or movie should be done about that man as well.Ruby Dee got her first real notice on the screen in this film as Rachel Robinson, Jackie's wife. There's was one of the great love stories of the last century, but you'd never know it. Ms. Dee said that she had little to go on in creating the character of Rachel for the screen, but that after meeting her when the shooting was well over halfway done, she wished she had met her before. Her interpretation of the dutiful wife would have been a lot different.In fact one of the reasons that Rickey did choose Robinson as opposed to other black athletes was that Robinson was a very religious man who was very much in love with his wife. No stories about him running around and nightclubbing would occur to ruin Rickey's great experiment.In fact other than the Robinson family and Branch Rickey the only other real characters in the story are Dodger coach and scout Clyde Sukeforth and Montreal Royal Manager Clay Hopper. No mention at all of any of Jackie's famous teammates. Another example of the skimpiness of the screenplay.Ruby Dee said that Robinson was a very nice man who felt out of place in the film. Maybe one day a good film about Robinson the ballplayer and civil rights activist will be made. I can see Denzel Washington in the part.Having seen the film 42 I can recommend that one as a far better telling of The Jackie Robinson Story.

A wonderful film that acts as a homage to Jackie Robinson (played by himself). The early life of the first black Major League baseball player is shown in a way that makes the picture wholesome and appropriate for all audiences. Ruby Dee is perfect as Robinson's loving wife who stands behind her husband when it seems that no one else will. "The Jackie Robinson Story" was made in 1950 so the social issues and the intense prejudices that Robinson faced are only given a minute glimpse. I have been wanting a movie to be made that goes into greater detail about this individual's life as Robinson was just as important to Civil Rights as people who fought vehemently for equality in the 1960s. The integration of baseball is something that most never believed would happen before 1947 and many forget just how important a piece of American history that is. Not the best film ever made, in fact it is not even great for its time period. I still like and respect the production for what it is though. 4 stars out of 5.