Knute Rockne. His story, a classic 1940 flick, combines vintage action with heart tugging sentiment. Yes, this is the film with the famous halftime pep talk and Ronald Reagan's "win just one for the Gipper" deathbed plea. Lloyd Bacon, directed. Reagan, in his third best vehicle (behind King's Row and The Killers), plays George Gipp, the Fighting Irish's first All- American, who died of pneumonia in 1920; the always-reliable Pat O'Brien plays Notre Dame coach Rockne as a living, breathing icon--part father confessor, part Patton, part idealized father figure. Before he spurs the lads to victory, he changes the face of the sport--by inventing the forward pass, no less.
Knute Rockne, revolutionizing football with his strategies, winning close to 90 percent of his games, and helping establish the University of Notre Dame's Fighting Irish. But victories alone do not mean success to Rockne. He wants to shape his players into responsible and honorable men.(and footage of actual Notre Dame contests) with two superb performances: Pat O'Brien in the title role and Ronald Reagan as George Gipp, the gifted but doomed halfback whose deathbed plea is "win just one for the Gipper." The line remains one of cinema's most memorable. And for the rest of his life, Reagan would often be called the Gipper. This Movie spells it out, it was a time when men were real men.
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