Knute Rockne All-American today on TCM

[BGIF]

It's football day on TCM. They're showing a half dozen movies from the 30's, 40's and 50's. Two of the better ones are:

Knute Rockne, All-American at 1:45 pm central and Trouble Along The Way at 5:00 pm central.

Knute Rockne was made in 1940, 10 years after his death. Good flick. Pat O'Brien as The Rock and Ronald Regan as The Gipper.

An issue glossed over in the story was the "love/hate" relationship between Rockne and the UND administration. Donald Crisp plays Fr. Callahan, C.S.C., President of ND. At one tender moment Fr. Callahan asks, "Do we have you Rock?" asking if Rockne will stay at ND or leave for one of the many lucrative offers he had. In reality at the time the relationship was highly contentious. Rockne and the football team had brought great exposure to the little school from the Midwest. The administration didn't like the school being known as Rockne's Notre Dame.

Rockne had leveraged his popularity in battles with the administration over building the new stadium, admissions, academics, scholarships, travel, budgets, etc. His tragic death in 1930 was mourned throughout the nation. At the same time there were those in the administration that were relieved that the power struggle was resolved quietly. The Legend was replaced by an assistant, scholarships cut, admissions tightened and a flock of athletes left before the next season.

Fr. Callahan is fictitious. The President at the time was Fr O'Donnell, C.S.C. who wrote the lyrics to the Notre Dame Alma Mater which was first played at Rockne's funeral. UND and Mrs. Rockne had script approval so the controversy is downplayed. George Gipp's family took issue and took legal action resulting in some cutting.

Note Rockne's age in the movie, both he and Gipp were in their mid 20's which wasn't uncommon in college at the time.

 

[gkIrish]

It's football day on TCM. They're showing a half dozen movies from the 30's, 40's and 50's. Two of the better ones are:

Knute Rockne, All-American at 1:45 pm central and Trouble Along The Way at 5:00 pm central.

Knute Rockne was made in 1940, 10 years after his death. Good flick. Pat O'Brien as The Rock and Ronald Regan as The Gipper.

An issue glossed over in the story was the "love/hate" relationship between Rockne and the UND administration. Donald Crisp plays Fr. Callahan, C.S.C., President of ND. At one tender moment Fr. Callahan asks, "Do we have you Rock?" asking if Rockne will stay at ND or leave for one of the many lucrative offers he had. In reality at the time the relationship was highly contentious. Rockne and the football team had brought great exposure to the little school from the Midwest. The administration didn't like the school being known as Rockne's Notre Dame.

Rockne had leveraged his popularity in battles with the administration over building the new stadium, admissions, academics, scholarships, travel, budgets, etc. His tragic death in 1930 was mourned throughout the nation. At the same time there were those in the administration that were relieved that the power struggle was resolved quietly. The Legend was replaced by an assistant, scholarships cut, admissions tightened and a flock of athletes left before the next season.

Fr. Callahan is fictitious. The President at the time was Fr O'Donnell, C.S.C. who wrote the lyrics to the Notre Dame Alma Mater which was first played at Rockne's funeral. UND and Mrs. Rockne had script approval so the controversy is downplayed. George Gipp's family took issue and took legal action resulting in some cutting.

Note Rockne's age in the movie, both he and Gipp were in their mid 20's which wasn't uncommon in college at the time.

DVR'ed Knute a few days ago in anticipation. Have never seen it and am looking forward to it.

 

[BGIF]

Trouble Along The Way at 5:00 pm central.

Trouble Along The Way at 5:00 pm central.

John Wayne plays a divorced, single parent, has been college football coach banned from coaching in several conferences. He's hired by a small Catholic college to resurrect their moribund football program. He brings in a bunch of ringers for a cut of the profits, he fakes transcripts, etc, breaking all the rules at a time when college football was truly a sewer.

The movie was made in the early 50's a few years after the NCAA installed The Sanity Code trying to stop the widespread recruiting abuses.

In one scene, you'll hear the coaches daughter say, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing". The quote is largely attributed to Vince Lombardi but it wasn't his when the movie was released he was an assistant coach at Army.

 

[woolybug25]

Damn it! I missed it and didn't dvr it. Love this flick.

Question... how has this movie not been remade? Its a classic football movie that not only was a success in the box office originally, but starred a future US President?

Follow up question.... who would play Rockne and Gipp in todays crop of actors?

My picks:

Rock - Bruce Willis
Gipp - Joseph Gordon-Levitt (now that he's bulked up)

 

[BGIF]

Damn it! I missed it and didn't dvr it. Love this flick.

Question... how has this movie not been remade? Its a classic football movie that not only was a success in the box office originally, but starred a future US President?

Follow up question.... who would play Rockne and Gipp in todays crop of actors?

My picks:

Rock - Bruce Willis
Gipp - Joseph Gordon-Levitt (now that he's bulked up)

Q.1. How has it not been remade? Simple times and Hollywood have changed. In 1939 when the film was made the Spanish Civil War was ending and Hitler was marching.

I read some years ago that Washington and the Hollywood faction opposed to Hitler wanted biopic movies like this to promote American ideals and The American Dream. The immigrants who came with little. Showing up late for dinner because he was playing football in the hood, his father chews him out in Nowegian, a young Rockne, replies, "Speak English, we live in America now." Do you think you'd hear that line today?

In the movie, Rockne tells Fr Nieuwland that after 3 years as a chemistry instructor and coach he's giving up teaching to be a fulltime coach. Today Rockne would have $150,000 in student loans, Bonnie would be shopping with food stamps, and the kids would be getting breakfast and lunch through a federal program.

At the end of the movie, Rockne responds to a Hearing Committee question about the value of sports in education. His response was flag waving rah rah about our kids getting soft and the need to build them up. No mention of Participation Trophies.

In 1939 the producers wanted Cagney to play Rockne but ND put the kabosh on that as they didn't approve of Cagney's choice in the Spanish Civil War. That opened the door for Pat O'Brien who leaned far right. For Gipp the producers wanted William Holden or John Wayne. Ronald Reagan was told he didn't look like a football player so he showed them pictures of himself as a HS football player to get a screen test.


Considering today's politics in Hollywood and Washington the remake cast would probably look like:

Knute Rockne: Ed Asner

Bonnie Skiles Rockne: Jeanne Garafalo or Ashley Judd were original choices but both lost out to Ellen Degeneres as the LGBTs threatened to boycott as there was no diversity in the 1939 production.

Fr Callahan: Al Franken

Fr Nieuwland: Al Gore

George Gipp: George Clooney replaced by Barrack Obama (see diversity above, plus the DNC and the producers thought a Oscar would look nice besides a Nobel Prize.)

Narrator/sportscaster: Ed Schultz, Keith Obermann, or Martin Bashir

Director: Hillary Rodham Clinton recognizing her expertise in revisionist history and how well an Oscar Winner would play in 2016.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

One of my all-time favorites.

 

[woolybug25]

Q.1. How has it not been remade? Simple times and Hollywood have changed. In 1939 when the film was made the Spanish Civil War was ending and Hitler was marching.

I read some years ago that Washington and the Hollywood faction opposed to Hitler wanted biopic movies like this to promote American ideals and The American Dream. The immigrants who came with little. Showing up late for dinner because he was playing football in the hood, his father chews him out in Nowegian, a young Rockne, replies, "Speak English, we live in America now." Do you think you'd hear that line today?

Why would a remake be made in any other time than Rockne's? If they remade it, its a real story. So the timing in the story would be the same. The comment about "speaking english" isn't politically incorrect, his parents were immigrants.

In the movie, Rockne tells Fr Nieuwland that after 3 years as a chemistry instructor and coach he's giving up teaching to be a fulltime coach. Today Rockne would have $150,000 in student loans, Bonnie would be shopping with food stamps, and the kids would be getting breakfast and lunch through a federal program.

Again... why would they have to change the time it took place? The remake would be telling the same story of Rockne.

At the end of the movie, Rockne responds to a Hearing Committee question about the value of sports in education. His response was flag waving rah rah about our kids getting soft and the need to build them up. No mention of Participation Trophies.

What?

In 1939 the producers wanted Cagney to play Rockne but ND put the kabosh on that as they didn't approve of Cagney's choice in the Spanish Civil War. That opened the door for Pat O'Brien who leaned far right. For Gipp the producers wanted William Holden or John Wayne. Ronald Reagan was told he didn't look like a football player so he showed them pictures of himself as a HS football player to get a screen test.

Savvy Ronny. I'll tell you what though, John Wayne would have been great.

 

[ACamp1900]

Someone rep BGI for me... sob earns too many from me accroding to the site...

 

[alaskandomer]

Years ago, WNDU showed this film after the late news the Friday night before each SC game. I've kept that quaint tradition alive each year in my living room (I have managed to acquire two copies on VHS). To me, one of the coolest things about the movie is the cameo appearances of several other great coaches (as themselves)- Pop Warner, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Howard Jones, Bill Spaulding.

 

[4irishnation]

Q.1. How has it not been remade? Simple times and Hollywood have changed. In 1939 when the film was made the Spanish Civil War was ending and Hitler was marching.

I read some years ago that Washington and the Hollywood faction opposed to Hitler wanted biopic movies like this to promote American ideals and The American Dream. The immigrants who came with little. Showing up late for dinner because he was playing football in the hood, his father chews him out in Nowegian, a young Rockne, replies, "Speak English, we live in America now." Do you think you'd hear that line today?

In the movie, Rockne tells Fr Nieuwland that after 3 years as a chemistry instructor and coach he's giving up teaching to be a fulltime coach. Today Rockne would have $150,000 in student loans, Bonnie would be shopping with food stamps, and the kids would be getting breakfast and lunch through a federal program.

At the end of the movie, Rockne responds to a Hearing Committee question about the value of sports in education. His response was flag waving rah rah about our kids getting soft and the need to build them up. No mention of Participation Trophies.

In 1939 the producers wanted Cagney to play Rockne but ND put the kabosh on that as they didn't approve of Cagney's choice in the Spanish Civil War. That opened the door for Pat O'Brien who leaned far right. For Gipp the producers wanted William Holden or John Wayne. Ronald Reagan was told he didn't look like a football player so he showed them pictures of himself as a HS football player to get a screen test.


Considering today's politics in Hollywood and Washington the remake cast would probably look like:

Knute Rockne: Ed Asner

Bonnie Skiles Rockne: Jeanne Garafalo or Ashley Judd were original choices but both lost out to Ellen Degeneres as the LGBTs threatened to boycott as there was no diversity in the 1939 production.

Fr Callahan: Al Franken

Fr Nieuwland: Al Gore

George Gipp: George Clooney replaced by Barrack Obama (see diversity above, plus the DNC and the producers thought a Oscar would look nice besides a Nobel Prize.)

Narrator/sportscaster: Ed Schultz, Keith Obermann, or Martin Bashir

Director: Hillary Rodham Clinton recognizing her expertise in revisionist history and how well an Oscar Winner would play in 2016.

LMAO The single funniest thing I have read in a month.

 

[4irishnation]

Years ago, WNDU showed this film after the late news the Friday night before each SC game. I've kept that quaint tradition alive each year in my living room (I have managed to acquire two copies on VHS). To me, one of the coolest things about the movie is the cameo appearances of several other great coaches (as themselves)- Pop Warner, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Howard Jones, Bill Spaulding.

What's a VHS ?????

 

[ACamp1900]

LMAO The single funniest thing I have read in a month.

I believe the title of that remake would be "Bat Shit Crazy Group Think: The Knute Rockne Story"

 

[alaskandomer]

What's a VHS ?????

Don't make fun of your elders

 

[woolybug25]

Merry Christmas, Bug.

$8.19 + free shipping

Amazon.com: Knute Rockne All American: Pat O'brien, Ronald Reagan, Donald Crisp, Llyod Bacon: Movies & TV

 

[BGIF]

It's also available on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and vu do.

 

[palinurus]

Tomorrow, December 14, is the 93rd anniversary of the passing of George Gipp. Thought this was a good place to note this and to post this old SI article on The Gipper. Gipp really was a fantastic athlete and football player and still holds several records in the Irish record book, which is no mean feat, given how much time has passed and how great this program has been since then.

Who was George Gipp of Notre Dame, and why does his - 12.30.91 - SI Vault