Director Sam Wood was the man behind "Pride of the Yankees" which told the story of Lou Gehrig. Seven years later, he took on another real-life hero who survived tragedy-Monty Stratton. A farmboy with great talent as a pitcher, Stratton's career took a sudden tragic turn which cost him a leg. Jimmy Stewart adds on another American hero to his career of fictional and real-life men in MGM's touching tale that manages to be inspiring rather than a pale imitation of its predecessor. In their first of three pairings, Stewart and June Allyson are a perfect coupling, while veteran actors Frank Morgan and Agnes Moorehead give excellent performances as the man who discovered Stratton and his hard working mother. Morgan adds humor without being silly, while Moorehead is initially grim, a world-weary character who shows sudden sweetness the moment Stewart marries Allyson and brings her a grandson.
Some real-life ball players make cameos as themselves to offer authenticity. The film manages to be sweet without overdoing the sentimentality, and Allyson doesn't get too teary as she would in later films. She's very peppy in the scene where they play catch after Stewart's hunting accident. This is a feel-good All American story of survival, what Gary Cooper referred to in "The Pride of the Yankees" as a bad break which made him feel the luckiest man alive.
Some real-life ball players make cameos as themselves to offer authenticity. The film manages to be sweet without overdoing the sentimentality, and Allyson doesn't get too teary as she would in later films. She's very peppy in the scene where they play catch after Stewart's hunting accident. This is a feel-good All American story of survival, what Gary Cooper referred to in "The Pride of the Yankees" as a bad break which made him feel the luckiest man alive.