Movie-A-Day #105: The Jackie Robinson Story (1950).

When Jackie Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, he was doing more than just becoming the first black player in modern baseball history. He was also taking the cause of racial equality and civil rights for all Americans on his shoulders. And it was his grace under the pressure of violent racism that served as an inspiration and a rallying cry for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. “The Jackie Robinson Story” is his authorized biopic, with Robinson playing himself and Ruby Dee playing his wife Rachel. Frankly, he wasn’t nearly as great of an actor as he was an athlete, and being made just three years after the fact, the film is a little to close to the subject to give it the treatment it deserves. But it’s still interesting to watch.