Friday 8pm JACKIE ROBINSON (1950) Biography/drama - Jackie Robinson plays himself in this true story of the man who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier.
After a successful baseball career in college and as a coach in the military, Jackie Robinson (playing himself) attracts the attention of Major League Baseball's Branch Rickey (Minor Watson). Rickey wants Robinson to play in the minor leagues, believing he can become the first player to break the color barrier and play in the majors. The only catch: He is forbidden from defending himself against racial bigotry. Supported by his wife (Ruby Dee), Robinson is steadfast in his determination to win.
PRODUCTION
- Principal photography for the film took place in the off-season following his third season with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Much of the film was shot at Gilmore Field, home of the PCL Hollywood Stars.
TRIVIA:
- Roy Glenn seen here in the uncredited role of Mr. Gaines, the Florida attorney, was very well known for a later role in a pivotal movie about race, the classic Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).
- When Jackie and Rae Robinson are on the bus traveling to Florida to join the baseball team they are sitting on the very last seat in the rear of the bus. Above them there is a sign that reads; "COLORED, Sit In Rear." This is just one example of what the colored people had to endure at that time.
- When Jackie Robinson gets a draft notice in the mail, he doesn't explicitly say what it is. He only says it begins with the word "Greetings." In 1950 audiences would have remembered that World War II draft notices began that way. It was a popular source of dark humor at the time.
