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MR. ROBINSON GOES TO HOLLYWOOD: Lobby cards from Jackie Robinson movie highly collectible among fans of baseball icon
“You’ll hit with him! You’ll run with him! You’ll slide with him!”
Thus reads one of the title lobby cards for the movie “The Jackie Robinson Story.” The movie was released 76 years ago on May 16, 1950. The title card tells us one of the best parts about the film: Jackie Robinson stars as himself in this story about overcoming adversity.
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The title card is part of a set of eight lobby cards depicting scenes from “The Jackie Robinson Story.” The cards were meant to be displayed in theater lobbies, giving a preview of the movie and drawing moviegoers in to see the film. Each card promoting the Jackie Robinson movie measures 11-by-14 inches, the standard size for American lobby cards.
Lobby cards, which are no longer used in movie theaters, are highly collectible. They are classified as “ephemera,” a term that comes from a Greek word referring to something designed to be temporary. Ephemera, which are usually paper items, are to be used or enjoyed for a day or a short time and then typically tossed in the trash basket. Examples include ticket stubs, letters, greeting cards, newspapers, magazines, posters, postcards, and pamphlets. Lobby cards were printed on cardstock, and usually a set of eight different cards were made to advertise a movie for a time.
Original “The Jackie Robinson Story” lobby cards are rare. In 2009, a complete set was sold in a Lelands auction for $698.61. As for another variety, a Cuban set of lobby cards for the Jackie Robinson movie was sold by Lelands in 2007 for $657.25. Individual lobby cards from the set come up for sale online from time to time.
One of the American lobby cards in the Robinson set shows Jackie talking with Branch Rickey (played by Minor Watson), the Brooklyn Dodgers general manager who hopes that Robinson will break the color barrier in the majors.
Also in Rickey’s office in that movie scene is Clyde Sukeforth (played by Billy Wayne), who had just made a trip to scout Robinson at a Panthers game. (In the Negro Leagues Robinson actually played for the Kansas City Monarchs, but in the movie the team is named the Black Panthers.)
With Robinson present, Rickey asks Sukeforth if he thinks Robinson is the right person for the job. “Well, he can run, he can hit, and he can field,” says Sukeforth.
“But can he take it?” asks Rickey. Rickey then turns to Robinson and says that whatever troubles come, Jackie must respond by turning the other cheek.
“Mr. Rickey, do you want a ballplayer who’s afraid to fight back?” Robinson asks. “I want a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back,” Rickey responds.
“No matter what happens on the ball field, you can’t fight back,” Rickey says. “That’s going to be the hard part. You can’t fight back.”
Another lobby card in the set features Robinson playing first base for the Montreal Royals, the top farm club of the Dodgers. In the movie, Robinson is surrounded by reporters as soon as he takes the field for his first practice with Montreal.
“What are you going to do if a pitcher throws at your head?” a reporter asks.
“Same as you’d do,” Jackie answers with a smile. “Duck!”
Robinson is tested in a different way during a road game at Syracuse. A spectator sitting near the dugout drops a black cat on the field next to Robinson and says, “Here’s a brother of yours, Jackie. Why don’t you take him along? He wants to get into baseball too.” A flash of anger comes across Robinson’s face while the mocker and his friend laugh it up together. But rather than lose his cool, Robinson picks up the cat and carries it into the dugout, where the cat sits on Jackie’s lap as he gently pets it.
In Robinson’s 1948 autobiography “Jackie Robinson: My Own Story,” Robinson described a slightly different incident with a cat. Here we read that it was one of the Syracuse team members who had the feline, and when Jackie stepped up to bat, the Syracuse player came out of the dugout with the black cat and shouted, “Hey Robinson! Here’s one of your relatives!” Laughter erupted from the Syracuse bench, and Robinson was upset. But Jackie responded by hitting a double. Soon after, he was dashing for home on a teammate’s hit, and on the way Jackie yelled to the Syracuse bench, “I guess that relative of mine is happy now, isn’t he?”
BROOKLYN BROTHERS
Three of the eight “The Jackie Robinson Story” lobby cards, besides the title card, feature Jackie wearing a Brooklyn hat (Robinson’s first season with the Dodgers came in 1947).
In one of those three, Robinson is standing off to the side as a Dodger teammate, an imaginary veteran named Karpen, goes nose to nose with an umpire. On the previous play, Robinson slid into second base on a double and toppled down an opposing infielder named Kelly. Kelly responded by jumping on Robinson and taking a couple swings at Jackie’s head. Here again, Jackie does not retaliate, and Kelly is tossed out of the game.
As Kelly argues about the ejection, Karpen and another Dodger named Tony leave the dugout and go out onto the field. But before they get there, two opposing team members approach the umpire.
“You better get Robinson off the field,” one of the opposing players says to the umpire.
“Yeah, get him off,” the other chimes in. “Get him out of here.”
Now Karpen and Tony arrive to defend Robinson. “Anybody lookin’ for a little argument?” Karpen asks.
Although Karpen had directed his words to the other team, the umpire answers instead. “Yes, I am!” says the ump. “You’re out of the game, too!”
What is significant about this scene is that previously, both Karpen and Tony had signed a petition to keep Robinson off the Dodgers. Now, however, both are willing to go out onto the field and defend their new teammate. It looks like they have warmed up to Jackie.
“Play ball,” the ump says, and soon Jackie is crossing home plate.
Seventy-six years later, “The Jackie Robinson Story” still tells one of the great American narratives of the 20th century. And the lobby cards, the ephemera meant to be used for a short time, offer a glimpse into something to remember for generations to come.
