The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) {DVD Review}

Reviewed by Jason Lockard

On April 12th, 2013 "42" opened in theaters. 42 is a biographical film about Jackie Robinson the very first African-American to play in the major leagues of baseball, but Jackie Robinson’s story was told before 63 years ago in 1950 and now thanks to Legend films we can discover this gem of a film for the first time in color.

The Jackie Robinson Story follows Jackie Robinson was a courage man who grew up a poor, but found his way to college at UCLA and became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track. After college he was called to the Army after fulfilling his call of duty Jackie found himself starring in the negro baseball leagues. It wasn’t long before Jackie broke the color barriers becoming the first man to play in the major leagues when Branch Rickey signed Jackie to join The Brooklyn Dodgers. This film stars the man himself Jackie Robinson reliving the racism and hatred he had to endure to make the baseball for all colors.

I’ve watched the film in black and white and when Legend Films sent me their release I saw it in their new colorized version. The colorization is remarkable! And the bonus features include the original B&W restored version of the film, The theatrical trailer and information on The Jackie Robinson Foundation.

This is a film everyone should see the story of a courageous man played by the man himself and now you can see it in beautiful color! One word awesome! I highly recommend everyone head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of Legend Films release The Jackie Robinson Story in Color!