Dan Dailey gives substance and accurate flair to his portrayal of Jerome "Dizzy" Dean, a great pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs in the 1930s and 1940s who went on to become a radio and TV broadcaster despite being grammar-challenged. Those of us of a certain age remember Dean's TV work on games of the week and credit him with instilling a real understanding and love of the sport. This film captures that mutual affection beautifully. The early-1950s Technicolor treatment and splashy gloss only serve to underscore the mood and temperature of the times. An exemplary element of the film, way ahead of its time, is the depiction of discrimination against certain segments of society. A very good, vastly underrated film.
Review of The Pride of St. Louis
