Knute Rockne All American (1940)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Lloyd Bacon

Writers:

Robert Buckner (screenplay)
Mrs. Knute Rockne (private papers)

Release Date:

5 October 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Sport

Plot:

The story of legendary Notre Dame football player and coach Knute Rockne.

Plot Keywords:

Coach | Chemistry | Norway | Forward Pass | Teacher

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Pat O'Brien	...	Knute Rockne
Gale Page	...	Bonnie Skiles Rockne
Ronald Reagan	...	George Gipp
Donald Crisp	...	Father John Callahan, C.S.C
Albert Bassermann	...	Father Julius Nieuwland (as Albert Basserman)
John Litel	...	Committee Chairman
Henry O'Neill	...	Doctor
Owen Davis Jr.	...	Gus Dorais
John Qualen	...	Lars Knutson Rockne
Dorothy Tree	...	Martha Rockne
Johnny Sheffield	...	Knute, Age 7 (as John Sheffield)
Moreau Choir of Notre Dame	...	Themselves
Nick Lukats	...	Four Horseman
Kane Richmond	...	Four Horseman
William Marshall	...	Four Horseman
William Byrne	...	Four Horseman
Howard Jones	...	Himself
Glenn 'Pop' Warner	...	Himself
Amos Alonzo Stagg	...	Himself (as Alonzo Stagg)
William 'Bill' Spaulding	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddy Chandler	...	Worker (scenes deleted)
Pat Flaherty	...	Worker (scenes deleted)
William Haade	...	Worker (scenes deleted)
Frank Mayo	...	Reporter (scenes deleted)
John Ridgely	...	Reporter (scenes deleted)
Erville Alderson	...	Kansas Farmer Witnessing Airplane Crash (uncredited)
Rudolph Anders	...	Elder in Norway (uncredited)
Peter Ashley	...	Player (uncredited)
Evelyn Atchinson	...	Bathing Beauty (uncredited)
Tommy Baker	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
Tommy Bennett	...	O'Reilly (uncredited)
Georgie Billings	...	Boy Quarterback (uncredited)
Wade Boteler	...	Trainer (uncredited)
Egon Brecher	...	Elder in Norway (uncredited)
David Bruce	...	Reporter When Knute is Ill (uncredited)
Cliff Clark	...	Danny, Post Office Paymaster (uncredited)
Richard Clayton	...	O'Flaherty, a Student (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr.	...	Messenger (uncredited)
Joe Cunningham	...	Reporter on Train (uncredited)
Donald Curtis	...	West Point Football Player (uncredited)
Billy Dawson	...	Knute Rockne Jr., Age 12 (uncredited)
Edgar Dearing	...	Doc, Knute's Friend at Kansas City Airport (uncredited)
Dudley Dickerson	...	Train Porter (uncredited)
David Dickinson	...	Bill Rockne, Age 10 (uncredited)
Lucile Fairbanks	...	Telephone Operator (uncredited)
James Flavin	...	Army Assistant Coach (uncredited)
Bunky Fleischman	...	Bill Rockne, Age 5 (uncredited)
John Gallaudet	...	Notre Dame Coach Harper (uncredited)
Peter B. Good	...	Bill 'Billy' Rockne, Age 2 (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	...	Man Wheeling Knute's Wheelchair (uncredited)
Jack Grant Jr.	...	Bill Rockne, Age 14 (uncredited)
Billy Gratton	...	Jackie Rockne, Age 4 (uncredited)
Creighton Hale	...	Callahan's Secretary (uncredited)
Harry Harvey Jr.	...	Boy (uncredited)
Michael Harvey	...	Player (uncredited)
Harry Hayden	...	Committee Member (uncredited)
Patricia Hayes	...	Jeannie Rockne, Age 10 (uncredited)
George Haywood	...	Student (uncredited)
Oscar 'Dutch' Hendrian	...	Assistant Coach Hunk Anderson (uncredited)
William Hopper	...	New York Reporter When Knute is Ill (uncredited)
George Irving	...	Doc, a Notre Dame Professor (uncredited)
Danny Jackson	...	Boy (uncredited)
Lois James	...	Bathing Beauty (uncredited)
Dickie Jones	...	Boy Captain (uncredited)
Brian Keith	...	Student at Train Station (uncredited)
Owen King	...	Western Union Clerk in Kansas City (uncredited)
Marilyn Kinsley	...	Bathing Beauty (uncredited)
Lois Lindsay	...	Bathing Beauty (uncredited)
Pete Mehringer	...	Player (uncredited)
Carlyle Moore Jr.	...	Player Eating Bonnie's Chicken (uncredited)
Paul Panzer	...	Extra at Train Station (uncredited)
Steve Pendleton	...	Player #12 (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Army Coach (uncredited)
George Reeves	...	Distraught Player (uncredited)
Sam Rice	...	Extra at Committee Hearing (uncredited)
Ruth Robinson	...	Molly, Gipp's Mother (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Jeff, Reporter on Train (uncredited)
Billy Sheffield	...	Knute Rockne, age 4 (uncredited)
Edwin Stanley	...	Committee Member (uncredited)
Phil Thorpe	...	Boy Center (uncredited)
Ruth Tobey	...	Isobel (uncredited)
Charles Trowbridge	...	Professor (uncredited)
Frederick Vogeding	...	Elder in Norway (uncredited)
David Wade	...	Knute Rockne, Age 7 (uncredited)
Pierre Watkin	...	Commissioner at Hearing (uncredited)
Garry Watson	...	Boy (uncredited)
Charles C. Wilson	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Robert Winkler	...	Tommy (uncredited)
Jack Wise	...	Football Fan at Game (uncredited)
Maris Wrixon	...	Telephone Operator (uncredited)

Directed by
Lloyd Bacon

Writing credits
Robert Buckner		(screenplay)
Mrs. Knute Rockne		(private papers) (as Mrs. Rockne)

Produced by
Robert Fellows	....	associate producer
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Heinz Roemheld		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Tony Gaudio		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ralph Dawson

Art Direction by
Robert M. Haas		(as Robert Haas)

Costume Design by
Milo Anderson		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jack L. Warner	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Don Alvarado	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Frank Anthony	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Jesse Hibbs	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Charles Lang	....	sound

Special Effects by
Byron Haskin	....	special effects
Rex Wimpy	....	special effects

Editorial Department
Don Siegel	....	montage (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Ray Heindorf	....	orchestral arranger

Other crew
J.A. Haley	....	technical advisor
Nick Lukats	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• First National Pictures
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical) (as Warner Bros. Pictures) (Inc.)
• Hosh Posh Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Hosh Posh Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

A Modern Hero (UK)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:G (video rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #6204)

Filming Locations:

University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, USA

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

One of only two movies to be filmed on the University of Notre Dame campus. The other was Rudy (1993).

Quotes:

George Gipp: Win one for the Gipper!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977)

Soundtrack:

Carolina in the Morning

Affectionate, Winning Football Bio...

When Warner Brothers decided to produce the biography of Notre Dame's legendary football coach, Knute (pronounced Ka-Newt) Rockne, there were major hurdles that had to be faced. Rockne had only passed away nine years earlier, at 43, and his image and distinctive speaking style were well-known to football fans, nation-wide, through newsreels and radio, as was his Cinderella-like story (born in Voss, Norway, he and his family had emigrated to Chicago, Illinois when he was five, he worked to pay tuition to attend Notre Dame, then went on to revolutionize football as both a player and coach). Any film about Rockne had to secure the permission of his widow, Bonnie Skiles Rockne, and the cooperation of Notre Dame, and both wanted final approval of both the script, and the actor to play 'Rock'.

While the script, focusing on Rockne's devotion to 'his boys', making football more exciting, and his unshakable faith in the importance of athletics and education to America's youth, would win Mrs. Rockne and Notre Dame's support, casting the coach would prove a challenge. When stocky, darkly handsome 41-year old Irish American actor Pat O'Brien (best known as James Cagney's frequent co-star) was announced to play the craggy Norwegian American Rockne, there was some concern raised whether he was 'right' for the role. But in full makeup, O'Brien was quite convincing, and he could mimic the coach's staccato speaking style perfectly. Knute Rockne would become O'Brien's 'definitive' role, as well as his personal favorite, in a career that spanned over sixty years.

From his introduction to football as a boy (played by Johnny 'Tarzan's Boy' Sheffield), as he admonishes his father (veteran character actor John Qualen) to "speak American, Papa...We're in America, now", through his years working at a Post Office earning tuition money, to his courtship of Bonnie Skiles (Gale Page) and on-field partnership with 'Gus' Dorais (Owen Davis Jr.), who would toss Rockne the forward pass against Army that would revolutionize the game, the story is both entertaining and informative (Rock, it is revealed, could have made a "first class" chemist).

Then Ronald Reagan appears, as flippant, yet private George Gipp, and the film achieves it's legendary status. Coach Rockne and player Gipp, as portrayed by O'Brien and Reagan, have a 'father/son'-like bond that is irresistible, and in less than ten minutes of screen time, Reagan establishes himself as no longer a 'B' actor, but a star to be reckoned with. The "Win One for the Gipper" speech has become one of the best-loved in movie (and sports) history, and, while it has been parodied frequently through the years (particularly while Reagan was President of the United States), it is still quite moving.

While Gipp's untimely death casts a momentary pall on the film, his place is soon taken by the legendary "Four Horsemen", as Rockne introduces 'the backfield shift' to football. The coach becomes the spokesperson of College Football, defending both himself and such legends as Alonzo Stagg, 'Pop' Warner, Howard Jones, and Bill Spaulding (playing themselves), against charges of gambling and football's place in an academic environment.

Through it all, Bonnie Rockne offers loving support to her often preoccupied but devoted husband and their large family. The bond they share is so intimate that she 'feels' the airplane crash that takes his life, in the film's tragic finale.

Punctuated by Notre Dame's classic fight song, KNUTE ROCKNE ALL AMERICAN is certainly not a 'perfect' film (watch how frequently jersey numbers appear, disappear, and change, as vintage newsreel footage is used during big games), but the overall result is both rousing and sentimental. It's easy to see why "Rudy" Ruettiger would be inspired by it, and would want to add his own chapter to Notre Dame's illustrious history.

The film certainly deserves it's 'classic' status!