This piece in the museum is a movie that came out in 1950 called The Jackie Robinson Story[1]. Lawrence Taylor and Louis Pollock created the film’s script, which was directed by Alfred E. Green, and Jackie Robinson played the role of himself. [2] The film was created with the purpose of showing the challenges and difficulties that Robinson went through, while also showing his resultant successes. Jackie Robinson was an African American baseball player, famously known for “breaking the color line” in Major League Baseball.[3] With that being said, it is important to note the significance of the time period this film was created in, which was the civil rights movement. [4] This also took place shortly after the end of World War II, which was when the Allied forces defeated the Axis forces, putting an end to Nazism in Germany[5]. The film touched on Robinson’s transition from serving in the army during World War II, to playing baseball in the “Negro Leagues.”[6]
Through this film, we can tell that this time period was one filled with racism and segregation specifically towards African Americans. We saw that the baseball scouts towards the film’s beginning were debating on giving Robinson a chance to participate in organized baseball, solely because of the color of his skin. However, we can see Branch Rickey, who managed the Dodgers, have faith in Robinson, and enough of it to bring him to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. [7]The director of the film chose some scenes that highlighted the message he was trying to convey regarding the struggles Robinson went through. An example was when Robinson played for the Black Panthers, and he went into a restaurant trying to buy dinner.[8] When Robinson enters the shop, it was clear that he was unwanted by the owner and was told his team was not allowed to eat inside the restaurant because of their skin color[9]. Another example includes when he and his wife were riding the bus and sitting under a sign that stated “COLORED SIT IN REAR.” [10] This was due to Jim Crow Laws, which imposed racial segregation by justifying it using the “separate but equal” statement[11]. This racism did not stop when Robinson walked onto the baseball field. During a scene when Robinson arrives to the training team in Montreal, it is seen that his teammates were not including him in any of the drills and would not even look at him. Another scene shows the baseball game being cancelled with a sign that reads “CANCELLED. In accordance with ordinance no. 11725 relating to prohibition of sports events between whites and colored.” [12] During many scenes when Robinson would be up to bat, he would get taunted, and people are seen yelling things at him.
The director also shows the concept of integration during the time period of the mid-1900s. The film starts off with a group of white men playing baseball, who give Jackie Robinson an extra glove that they had. Robinson was thrilled, and this helps the watcher understand Robinson’s passion for baseball. The Brooklyn Dodgers’ signing of Robinson in 1947 truly helped to break the color line, as Robinson was the first African American to participate in the MLB. [13]As Rob Edelman, author of The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of its Era stated, the director does a great job of getting his message across that, “in due course, fairness will prevail.”[14] Robinson playing in the MLB increased the number of black fans in attendance at the Dodger’s games, since African Americans finally felt a sense of representation of their race in baseball.[15] This film showed this by displaying African Americans in the crowd of the games who were cheering on Robinson. Themes of integration are also shown through the manager of the Dodgers, Branch Rickey, who ignores the racists around him, and ends up signing Jackie Robinson. [16]The message of the civil rights movement is effectively spread in this film. It helps raise awareness to the racism that was going on at that time, and helps people like me who were not alive during the civil rights movement to gain a deeper understanding of the reality, and the hardships that African Americans had to face.
When the film came out, there was some controversy surrounding it, and the box office profits were not very high. [17] Many believed that the film was produced only to make profits off of it, rather than to promote the civil rights movement.[18] Others believed the film portrayed Italian Americans in a bad light because the Italian American characters shown in the film were racist and in opposition of Robinson.[19] Robinson himself even believed the film had room for improvement.[20] For example, he said, “But later I realized it had been made too quickly, that it was budgeted too low, and that, if it had been made later in my career, it could have been done much better.”[21] While the film did have room for improvement in these areas, I still agree that it’s release was a powerful statement toward the civil rights movement.
[1] Rob, Edelman. “The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of its Era.” Nine 20, no. 1 (Fall, 2011): 40-55,172. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/jackie-robinson-story-reflectionera/docview/928973169/se-2.
[2] Rob, Edelman. “The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of its Era.” Nine 20, no. 1 (Fall, 2011): 40-55,172. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/jackie-robinson-story-reflectionera/docview/928973169/se-2.
[3] Glenn, Stout. “Tryout and Fallout: Race, Jackie Robinson, and the Red Sox.” Massachusetts Historical Review 6 (2004): 11–37. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25081187
[4] Rob, Edelman. “The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of its Era.” Nine 20, no. 1 (Fall, 2011): 40-55,172. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/jackie-robinson-story-reflectionera/docview/928973169/se-2.
[5] Shi, D. E (2022). America: A Narrative History (Brief Twelfth Edition) (Volume 2) (12th ed.) New York, NY: W.W. Norton
[6] Shi, D. E (2022). America: A Narrative History (Brief Twelfth Edition) (Volume 2) (12th ed.) New York, NY: W.W. Norton
[7] Rob, Edelman. “The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of its Era.” Nine 20, no. 1 (Fall, 2011): 40-55,172. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/jackie-robinson-story-reflectionera/docview/928973169/se-2.
[8]Alfred, Green “The Jackie Robinson Story.” Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Jackie_Robinson_Story_(1950).ogv
[9] Alfred, Green “The Jackie Robinson Story.” Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Jackie_Robinson_Story_(1950).ogv
[10] Alfred, Green “The Jackie Robinson Story.” Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Jackie_Robinson_Story_(1950).ogv
[11] Shi, D. E (2022). America: A Narrative History (Brief Twelfth Edition) (Volume 2) (12th ed.) New York, NY: W.W. Norton
[12] Alfred, Green “The Jackie Robinson Story.” Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Jackie_Robinson_Story_(1950).ogv
[13] Shi, D. E (2022). America: A Narrative History (Brief Twelfth Edition) (Volume 2) (12th ed.) New York, NY: W.W. Norton
[14] Rob, Edelman. “The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of its Era.” Nine 20, no. 1 (Fall, 2011): 40-55,172. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/jackie-robinson-story-reflectionera/docview/928973169/se-2.
[15] Michael, J. Klarman “Brown, Racial Change, and the Civil Rights Movement.” Virginia Law Review 80, no. 1 (1994): 7–150. https://doi.org/10.2307/1073592.
[16] Rob, Edelman. “The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of its Era.” Nine 20, no. 1 (Fall, 2011): 40-55,172. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/jackie-robinson-story-reflectionera/docview/928973169/se-2.
[17] Rob, Edelman. “The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of its Era.” Nine 20, no. 1 (Fall, 2011): 40-55,172. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/jackie-robinson-story-reflectionera/docview/928973169/se-2.
[18] Rob, Edelman. “The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of its Era.” Nine 20, no. 1 (Fall, 2011): 40-55,172. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/jackie-robinson-story-reflectionera/docview/928973169/se-2.
[19] Rob, Edelman. “The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of its Era.” Nine 20, no. 1 (Fall, 2011): 40-55,172. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/jackie-robinson-story-reflectionera/docview/928973169/se-2.
[20] Rob, Edelman. “The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of its Era.” Nine 20, no. 1 (Fall, 2011): 40-55,172. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/jackie-robinson-story-reflectionera/docview/928973169/se-2.
[21] Rob, Edelman. “The Jackie Robinson Story: A Reflection of its Era.” Nine 20, no. 1 (Fall, 2011): 40-55,172. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/jackie-robinson-story-reflectionera/docview/928973169/se-2.