Knute Rockne, All American (1940)

My Review

“Knute Rockne, All American” is a sports drama about the true story of the legendary Notre Dame football coach. Director Lloyd Bacon (“The Oklahoma Kid” 1939) put together an excellent film about how football teams are developed and what the game means for players and coaches. The lucid screenplay was written by Robert Buckner.

Pat O’Brien played the title role with his usual aplomb; the picture shows how Rockne inspired his players. One of the co-stars of the film was Ronald Reagan, who appeared as George Gipp, the star player who was stricken with a fatal illness, and in the death bed scene urged the team to “win one for the Gipper.” This phrase from a ten minute scene was used years later by Reagan when he ran for President in 1980.

Co-stars include Gale Page, Donald Crisp, Albert Bassermann, John Qualen, and football personalities Jim Thorpe, William Spaulding, and Glenn “Pop” Warner as themselves. “Knute Rockne, All American” was a modest success at the box office for producer Hal B. Wallis and Warner Bros. Pictures. It was filmed on location at University of Notre Dame in Indiana and on the Warner Bros. soundstages in Burbank.