Knute Rockne All American **** (1940, Pat O’Brien, Gale Page, Ronald Reagan, Donald Crisp) – Classic Movie Review 7304

Director Lloyd Bacon’s 1940 sports drama Knute Rockne All American (also known as Knockout: A Modern Hero) is an enjoyable, if hokey biography of America’s legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute ‘Rock’ Rockne (played by Pat O’Brien), which gains added interest now because third-billed Ronald Reagan plays the star of the team, George ‘The Gipper’ Gipp.

The restored full version running 98 minutes includes a pep-talking O’Brien working the team up to win and Reagan’s famous ‘go out there and win just one for The Gipper’ speech.

At the head of a notable Warner Bros cast, Gale Page plays Bonnie Rockne, Donald Crisp is Father John Callahan and Albert Bassermann is Father Julius Nieuwland, while Tarzan’s Boy, Johnny Sheffield, plays Rockne at the age of seven. Robert Buckner’s original screenplay is based on the private papers of Mrs Knute Rockne and the reports of Rockne’s intimate associates and friends.

All in all Knute Rockne All American is a good try by director Bacon.

Also in the cast are John Qualen, Owen Davis Jr, Nick Lukats, Kane Richmond, William Marshall, William Byrne, John Litel, Henry O’Neill, Dorothy Tree, Howard Jones, Glenn ‘Pop’ Warner, Alonzo Stagg, William ‘Bill’ Spaldiing, Erville Alderson, Wade Botelier, Egon Brecher, Eddy Chandler, Cliff Clark, Frank Coghlan Jr, Joe Cunningham, Donald Curtis, Edgar Dearing, Dudley Dickerson, Pat Flaherty, James Flavin, John Gallaudet, Billy Gratton, William Haade, Creighton Hale, Harry Hayden, William Hopper, George Irving, Brian Keith, Owen King, Frank Mayo, Lee Phelps, George Reeves, Sam Rice, John Ridgley, Jeffrey Sayre, Billy Sheffield, Edwin Stanley, Charles Trowbridge, Pierre Watkin, Charles C Wilson, Robert Winkler, Jack Wise and Maris Wrixon, as well as as The Moreau Choir of Notre Dame.

Knute Rockne: ‘Now I’m going to tell you something I’ve kept to myself for years. None of you ever knew George Gipp. He was long before your time, but you all know what a tradition he is at Notre Dame. And the last thing he said to me, “Rock,” he said, “sometime when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go out there with all they’ve got and win just one for the Gipper. I don’t know where I’ll be then, Rock,” he said, “but I’ll know about it and I’ll be happy”.’

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7304

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