It's a baseball romantic drama set in the late 1930s, and is "based on" the experience of Monty Stratton, a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox whose career was cut short by a hunting accident that resulted in the amputation of his leg.
Monty Stratton (James Stewart) was a big (6' 5") Texas country boy working the family cotton farm with his mother (Agnes Moorehead) after his father died. An ex-major-league catcher, Barney Wile (Frank Morgan) happens to see Stratton pitch in a local game and believes he has the stuff to be a big-league pitcher. Wile wrangles a try-out with the Chicago White Sox. Stratton impresses enough to get a contract and has a brief tour in the majors. He meets Ethel (June Allyson) and they marry.
Stratton's career goes well for two years, but the accident knocks him for an emotional loop that takes a while to bounce back from. He finally tries a prosthetic leg and teaches himself to pitch again after a fashion. The film closes with Stratton appearing in a semi-pro all-star game.
The movie is unadulterated cornpone that is just another 1940s romance that has little relationship to reality. Most of the baseball images are mediocre, and the dialogue is brimming with clichés. Stewart is his "aw-shucks" worst and June Allyson is overly saccharine.
In real life Stratton did not pitch again until 1946, eight years after his accident. He had two years in the minors (1946 & 1947), with a few additional appearances after the movie came out.
Monty Stratton (James Stewart) was a big (6' 5") Texas country boy working the family cotton farm with his mother (Agnes Moorehead) after his father died. An ex-major-league catcher, Barney Wile (Frank Morgan) happens to see Stratton pitch in a local game and believes he has the stuff to be a big-league pitcher. Wile wrangles a try-out with the Chicago White Sox. Stratton impresses enough to get a contract and has a brief tour in the majors. He meets Ethel (June Allyson) and they marry.
Stratton's career goes well for two years, but the accident knocks him for an emotional loop that takes a while to bounce back from. He finally tries a prosthetic leg and teaches himself to pitch again after a fashion. The film closes with Stratton appearing in a semi-pro all-star game.
The movie is unadulterated cornpone that is just another 1940s romance that has little relationship to reality. Most of the baseball images are mediocre, and the dialogue is brimming with clichés. Stewart is his "aw-shucks" worst and June Allyson is overly saccharine.
In real life Stratton did not pitch again until 1946, eight years after his accident. He had two years in the minors (1946 & 1947), with a few additional appearances after the movie came out.