On July 4, 1939, baseball great Lou Gehrig—only 36, but forced into retirement by ALS—delivered his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium; he died two years later, and his widow, Eleanor, wanted nothing more than to keep his memory alive. Sensing that a film about Gehrig's life was exactly what a nation at war needed, producer Samuel Goldwyn quickly agreed to make The Pride of the Yankees. Considered too old for the part, star Gary Cooper had to prove himself, learning to hit and catch a baseball for the first time, and his chemistry with co-star Teresa Wright transformed this already-compelling story. Using original scripts, letters, memos, and other rare documents, Richard Sandomir goes behind-the-scenes to explain how the classic film was made.