A couple years before he died, Lou Gehrig (yes, THAT Lou Gehrig) co-starred in an amiable little western called "Rawhide". The title refers to the name of Gehrig's ranch---to which he's retiring. However, when he arrives he finds there is a 'protective association' that controls all the local ranches. What this actually turns out to be is a protection racket run by some mobsters. In other words, if you don't join, 'accidents' happen to your spread and you can't buy needed materials. However, Lou is tough and he and his new buddy (the crooner Smith Ballew) decide to fight instead of knuckling under to their bullying tactics. Much of the rest of the film is a battle of wills and fists between these men.The film had some very nice singing. Ballew had a very good voice and the lyrics were catchy. As for Gehrig, I am pretty sure his singing was dubbed. I also was surprised by his speaking voice, as it was 100% New York--and sounded nothing like Gary Cooper in "Pride of the Yankees". Because of this, it further accentuated the 'fish out of water' aspect of the film with this city boy taking up an odd new life as a rancher! It's all a bit surreal but also pleasant and worth seeing just for its curiosity factor.

RAWHIDE (1938) ** (out of four) After finishing the baseball season, the real Lou Gehrig travels to Montana to visit his sister where he learns an evil banker is stealing all of their land. This really isn't a good movie but it's quite fun seeing the baseball legend act. I wouldn't say he gave a good performance but it's worth watching either way. I'm not sure if Gehrig was acting or just playing himself but he's always got a smile on his face, which is quite charming considering the pain he must have been feeling at the time. There really isn't too much footage out there of Gehrig so this film, warts and all, is pretty important.

I noticed in the credits of Rawhide before the film started it listed that Lou Gehrig was appearing in the film due to the arrangement of Christy Walsh. Walsh was Gehrig's business manager, he got Gehrig as a client through his team mate Babe Ruth whose business affairs Walsh also managed. I guess this western was another money making project for Gehrig to do off season. In fact the film begins with Lou in New York's Grand Central Station telling reporters he's off to live with his sister who has a ranch in Montana and if likes it he's through with baseball.Not exactly being a trained thespian, Lou played the only role he could have played, Lou Gehrig. When he arrives in Montana, Lou discovers his sister is being squeezed by the Cattleman's Association which in that neck of the woods is nothing more than a protection racket. In fact he's got the best line in the film when he tells the bad guys that hearing their operation and how it works he has a feeling he's back in New York right now. Lou and sister Evalyn Knapp get a lawyer to fight them. But not just any lawyer, a singing cowboy lawyer in the person of Smith Ballew. Between the three of them, the villains are of course routed.In real life Lou Gehrig was an only child and in real life he did go to spring training with the Yankees in 1939. But it was his last one because that disease that bears his name was starting to take its toll. In fact during the second half of the 1938 season and the World Series against the Cubs, Lou's statistics fell off dramatically. As a western star, Lou Gehrig would not have given John Wayne any concern about a rivalry. But I would point out that in the film the Jackie Robinson Story where Jackie played himself, he was plainly ill at ease in front of the camera. And that was a project dreamed up by Branch Rickey who was running the Dodgers at the time.Rawhide is a curiosity and certainly would have been long forgotten, but for the presence of a sports legend.

While not Oscar deserving, Gehrig did a commendable job, considering it was his first (and last) movie. The movie was made a year before he retired from baseball due to the disease that claimed his life two years later.