Main Cast: James Stewart, June Allyson, Frank Morgan, Agnes Moorehead, Bill Williams
Release Year: 1949
Country: US
Run Time: 106 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Both Van Johnson and Gregory Peck were considered for the role of baseball star Monty Stratton in the 1949 biopic The Stratton Story before settling upon the real Stratton's own first choice, James Stewart. The film covers several years in the 1930s, as Texas farm boy Stratton rises from the minors to the Chicago White Sox. Along the way, Monty marries an Omaha gal named Ethel (June Allyson), who gives him a son. In November 1938, Monty accidentally shoots himself in the leg while on a hunting excursion. When the leg has to be amputated, it looks as though Stratton's pitching career is over. He broods over his bad luck for months before snapping out of his self-pity and learning to walk with his new prosthesis. To prove to himself that he's overcome his handicap, Monty takes a job pitching with the Southern All-Stars. His return to baseball is rough sledding (the other team persistently bunts balls out of his reach), but Monty Stratton is finally able to make a successful comeback. Only occasionally playing fast and loose with the facts (the time-frame of Stratton's real-life return to baseball is telescoped by several years), The Stratton Story was one of the best and most profitable baseball pictures ever turned out by Hollywood. Fans of the game will get an extra kick from the presence in the cast of big-leaguers Bill Dickey and Jimmy Dykes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The Stratton Story was a home run at the box office when released, when the name "Monty Stratton" still held considerable recognition factor. Viewers today won't know much about him, but once they start watching, they're bound to get hooked. Stratton is not a great film, but it's one that most people will find hard to resist. Even those who object to the manipulative nature of some of the storytelling, or to what are now some fairly clichéd situations probably will be willing to let those objections pass, for Stratton's heart is so much in the right place that most can't help but like the old lug. The story may be manipulative, but it's a doozy -- and truth to tell, scenarists Douglas Morrow and Guy Troper do an excellent job of tugging at the heartstrings while still keeping things light. They're helped enormously in this by the presence of James Stewart in the title role, who knows how to reach down into the depths when necessary but also knows how to toss off lines and bring unexpected lightness at key moments. June Allyson turns in one of her best performances in a role that could get easily have been sailed through, Frank Morgan adds some humor and Agnes Moorehead is stern yet winning. Inspirational yet controlled, Stratton is a winner. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Bruce Cowling - Ted Lyons; Cliff Clark - Higgins; Mary Lawrence - Dot; Dean White - Luke Appling; Robert Gist - Larnie; Eugene Bearden - Western All-Stars Pitcher; Bill Dickey - Himself; Jimmy Dykes - Himself; Jessie Arnold - People in Theater; Polly Bailey - Person in Theatre; William Norton Bailey - Person in Theatre; William H. Bassett - Stratton Baby; Pat Flaherty - Western Manager; Lee Tung Foo - Waiter; Holmes Herbert - Doctor; John Kerr - Yankee Coach; Florence Lake - Mrs. Appling; Mitchell Lewis - Conductor; Alphonse Martell - Headwaiter; Fred Millican - All-Star Catcher; Anne Nagel - Mrs. Piet; Gene Persson - Boy; Jack Powell - Umpire; Michael Ross - Pitcher; Sid Saylor - Person in Theatre; Charles Smith - Theater Usher; Kenneth Tobey - Detroit Player; George Melford - Person in Theatre; George Ovey - Person in Theatre; Vangie Beilby - Person in Theatre; Mabel Smaney - Person in Theatre; Robert Graham; Fred Somers - Giants Manager; Cy Stevens - Person in Theatre; James Nolan - Reporter; Barbara Woodell - Mrs. Shea
Credit
Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Paul Groesse - Art Director, Helen Rose - Costume Designer, Sid Sidman - First Assistant Director, Sam Wood - Director, Ben Lewis - Editor, Adolph Deutsch - Composer (Music Score), Adolph Deutsch - Musical Direction/Supervision, Jack Dawn - Makeup, Harold Hal Rosson - Cinematographer, Jack Cummings - Producer, Ralph S. Hurst - Set Designer, Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer, Arnold A. Gillespie - Special Effects, Warren Newcombe - Special Effects, Douglas Shearer - Sound/Sound Designer, Douglas Morrow - Screenwriter, Guy Troper - Screenwriter
James Stewart plays the part of Stratton, who in the off-season of 1938 accidentally shoots himself in his right leg while on a hunting excursion. When his leg has to be amputated, it looks as though his pitching career is over. Nevertheless, with a wooden leg and his wife Ethel's (June Allyson) support, Stratton is able to make a successful minor league comeback in 1946.
Stratton commented that Mr. Stewart "did a great job of playing me, in a picture which I figure was about as true to life as they could make it".
Other names in the cast include Frank Morgan as scout and personal coach "Barney Wile", Agnes Moorehead as Ma Stratton, and the big-leaguers Gene Bearden, Bill Dickey and Jimmy Dykes in cameo appearances. Moorehead reportedly met her second husband, actor Robert Gist, during the making of this film.
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