''Knute Rockne, All American'' is a 1940 American biographical film that tells the story of

Knute Rockne Knute Kenneth Rockne (; March 4, 1888 – March 31, 1931) was an American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame. Leading Notre Dame for 13 seasons, Rockne accumulated over 100 wins and three national championships. Rockne is ...

, Notre Dame's legendary football coach. It stars Pat O'Brien as Rockne and

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

as player George Gipp, as well as Gale Page,

Donald Crisp Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English people, English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best S ...

, Albert Bassermann, Owen Davis Jr., Nick Lukats, Kane Richmond, William Marshall and William Byrne. The film also includes cameos by football coaches "Pop" Warner,

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

, William H. Spaulding and Howard Jones, playing themselves. It also has a cameo by Olympic star

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...

. Reagan's presidential campaign revived interest in the film, and as a result, some reporters called him the Gipper. The movie was written by Robert Buckner and directed by

Lloyd Bacon Lloyd Francis Bacon (December 4, 1889 – November 15, 1955) was an American screen, stage, and vaudeville actor and film director. As a director, he made films in numerous genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, and c ...

, who replaced William K. Howard after filming had begun. In 1997, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

and selected for preservation in the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

Plot

Lars Knutson Rockne, a carriage builder, moves his family from Norway in 1892, settling in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. His son, Knute, saves up his money and enrolls in college at the Notre Dame campus in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

, where he plays football. Rockne and teammate Gus Dorais star in Notre Dame's historic 35–13 upset over Army at West Point in 1913. The game is historically significant as Notre Dame employed the seldom-used

forward pass In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The legal and widespread use of the forward pass distinguishes grid ...

to great effect. The publicity from the Fighting Irish's surprise win creates Notre Dame football fans around the country. After graduation, Rockne marries his sweetheart Bonnie Skiles and stays on at Notre Dame to teach chemistry, work on synthetic rubber in the chemistry lab (under Father Julius Nieuwland) and, in his spare time, serve as an assistant coach of the Fighting Irish football team under head coach Jesse Harper. Outstanding freshman halfback George Gipp leads the Irish to greater gridiron glory. Gipp is stricken with a fatal illness after the final game of the 1920 season, and on his death bed, he encourages Rockne to someday tell the team to "win one for the Gipper." Notre Dame continues its football success with a backfield of stars dubbed the Four Horsemen. Rockne is killed in a 1931 plane crash on a trip to California, but his legend makes him a campus immortal.

Cast

* Pat O'Brien as

* Gale Page as Bonnie Skiles Rockne *

as George Gipp *

as Father John Cavanaugh * Albert Bassermann as Father Julius Nieuwland * John Litel as Committee Chairman *

Henry O'Neill Henry O'Neill (August 10, 1891 – May 18, 1961) was an American actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles on film during the 1930s and 1940s. Early life Henry O'Neill was born in Orange, New J ...

as Doctor * Owen Davis Jr. as Gus Dorais *

John Qualen John Qualen (born Johan Mandt Kvalen, December 8, 1899 – September 12, 1987) was a Canadian-American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles. Early years Qualen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

as Lars Knutson Rockne * Dorothy Tree as Martha Rockne * Johnny Sheffield as Knute, age 7 * Howard Jones as Himself * Glenn "Pop" Warner as Himself * Alonzo Stagg as Himself * William "Bill" Spaulding as Himself * Kane Richmond as Elmer Layden * William Marshall as Don Miller * William Byrne as Jim Crowley * Nick Lukats as

Harry Stuhldreher Harry Augustus Stuhldreher (October 14, 1901 – January 26, 1965) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played quarterback at University of Notre Dame from 1922 to 1924, where he was a three-time All-A ...

. Also a technical advisor for the film

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called the film "one of the best pictures for boys in years" and wrote that O'Brien conveyed "a valid impression of an iron-willed, dynamic and cryptic fellow who could very well be 'Rock.' As a memorial to a fine and inspiring molder of character in young men, this picture ranks high. But, like the Carnegie Foundation has done on previous occasions, we are inclined to question its overemphasis of the pigskin sport." '' Variety'' called the film "one of the best biographical picturizations ever turned out ... Pat O'Brien delivers a fine characterization of the immortal Rockne, catching the spirit of the role with an understanding of the human qualities of the man." ''

Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informati ...

'' wrote: "Pat O'Brien's life-like Rockne is brilliantly delineated; it's as though Rockne himself were striding across the field once more." ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City–based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publish ...

'' wrote: "Very good! It is the first football picture produced without any 'hokum'; it shows how teams are developed and what the game means to both players and coach ... The football scenes should prove thrilling to all." John Mosher of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' wrote that the story had been "suitably handled for its public of energetic young people and South Bend alumni." The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

in these lists: * 2005: AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movie Quotes: ** Knute Rockne: "Tell 'em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper." – #89

"Win just one for the Gipper"

This quote ranked No. 89 on the

's '' 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes'' list. However, for many years during which

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

held the rights, the Gipper sequence was cut for television showings. For the film's initial release to home video,

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

/UA restored the sequence as part of the original uncut version, and this is the version that has been used for all home video, television and theatrical reissues since. The phrase "win one for the Gipper" was later used as a political slogan by

, who was often referred to as the Gipper because he had played the role of George Gipp in ''Knute Rockne, All American''. At the 1988 Republican National Convention, Reagan told his vice president

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

, "George, go out there and win one for the Gipper."

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Party leaders of the United States Senate, Republican Leader of th ...

used the phrase at the 1996 Republican National Convention, as did President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

at the 2004 Republican National Convention in his acceptance speech when he stated "We can now truly win one for the Gipper" shortly after Reagan's death. The line is spoken by the dying pilot Al Ross in the 1964 film '' Flight to Fury''. The speech is parodied in the film ''

Airplane! ''Airplane!'' (alternatively titled ''Flying High!'') is a 1980 American disaster film, disaster comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams and brothers David Zucker, David and Jerry Zucker in their List of directorial debuts, directoria ...

'', which was released when Reagan was running for the presidency in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Historical accuracy

Neither Notre Dame nor the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

recognizes Knute Rockne as a (first team)

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. Knute Rockne gives the famous "win one for the Gipper," speech at halftime of the 1930 game during his final championship season, but the speech was actually given at halftime of the 1928 game during a season in which Notre Dame finished with a 5–4 record.

References

External links

* *
''Knute Rockne, All American'' at AllMovie
* * ''Knute Rockne, All American'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, Bloomsbury Academic, 2010 , pages 318-32

{{William Howard 1940 films 1940s biographical drama films 1940s sports drama films American biographical drama films American football films Biographical films about sportspeople Biographical films about educators American black-and-white films Films directed by Lloyd Bacon Films set in Indiana Films set in universities and colleges Notre Dame Fighting Irish football Sports films based on actual events United States National Film Registry films Warner Bros. films Films directed by William K. Howard Films scored by Heinz Roemheld Cultural depictions of players of American football Cultural depictions of American people 1940 drama films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films College football in fiction English-language biographical drama films English-language sports drama films