The Stratton Story

Texas farm boy Monty Stratton (Stewart) demonstrates a knack for pitching a baseball. With the help of washed-up, catcher-turned-scout Barney Wile (Morgan), he manages to get a tryout with the Chicago White Sox during their spring training in California. He shows promise and is given a contract.

On his first evening at spring training, he is introduced to a young woman named Ethel (Allyson). They start dating and fall in love. Stratton must part from Ethel to go to Chicago. When Stratton is sent down to a minor league team, he proposes marriage. Stratton is called back up to the White Sox and returns to Chicago with his newlywed bride. By the end of the season, they're expecting a child. Next season, he is pitching an away game and doesn't seem to be able to keep his mind on the game. He wishes he was with his wife who's giving birth in Chicago. When he is notified that he has a son, he throws a wild pitch and is taken out of the game—grinning from ear to ear.

As his career progresses, Stratton improves so much that he's voted an all-star in the American League. In the off-season of 1938, Stratton accidentally shoots himself in his right leg while hunting on his farm in Texas. When his leg has to be amputated, it looks as though his pitching career is over. He understandably goes through a very dark, brooding period. Nevertheless, with the support of his wife and a wooden leg, Stratton learns to walk along with his baby boy. He works hard and starts practicing his pitching again. He makes an inspirational, successful minor league comeback in 1946.

The movie indicates that Stratton's debut for the Chicago White Sox was part of a catastrophic 16-0 loss to the New York Yankees. This is not true. According to the baseball reference website Retrosheet, Stratton's MLB debut occurred on Saturday, June 2, 1934 in a White Sox home game at Comiskey Park versus the Detroit Tigers. Detroit already held a 10-0 lead and had two runners on base when Stratton entered the game in relief with two outs in the sixth inning. Stratton retired the Tigers in that inning without any further runs being scored. Over the game's final three innings, Stratton allowed two more runs (both earned) on four hits as the Tigers won easily, 12-0. It was Stratton's only major league appearance of the 1934 season.

• James Stewart as Monty Stratton
• June Allyson as Ethel
• Frank Morgan as Barney Wile
• Agnes Moorehead as Ma Stratton
• Bill Williams as Eddie Dibson
• Bruce Cowling as Ted Lyons
• Cliff Clark as Josh Higgins
• Mary Lawrence as Dot
• Dean White as Luke Appling
• Robert Gist as Earnie
• Gene Bearden as Himself
• Bill Dickey as Himself
• Jimmy Dykes as Himself
• Mervyn "Merv" Shea as Himself

Ronald Reagan had sought the title role but was under contract with Warner Bros., which did not want to release Reagan for the film because they thought the movie would be a failure.[2] Van Johnson was also announced at one stage to play the lead.[3]

Scenes were staged at various baseball parks, including:

Brookside Park in Pasadena, a spring training site for the White Sox.

• Comiskey Park in Chicago, the home field of Stratton's team, the White Sox.
• Gilmore Field, the home of the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League, used in the final scenes of the film, which were set in Texas.
• Wrigley Field, the Los Angeles version, was used in some scenes.
• Stock footage was used of some other American League baseball parks, in establishing shots.

According to MGM records the film earned $3,831,000 in the US and Canada and $657,000 overseas resulting in a profit of $1,211,000.[1] It was one of the most popular films of the year.[4]

The story was also adapted for a CBS Lux Radio Theatre episode in 1949 as "The Stratton Story". Stewart and Allyson repeated their roles for the program.[5]

• The Stratton Story at IMDb
• The Stratton Story at AllMovie
• The Stratton Story at the TCM Movie Database
• The Stratton Story at the American Film Institute Catalog
• The Stratton Story at Rotten Tomatoes