Guest
This black-and-white episode in the televised documentary series “The Greatest Drama” from the 1950s paints the victorious portrait of “The Rock of Notre Dame”: Knute Rockne (1888-1931). A Norwegian-born American immigrant, Knute Rockne became a celebrated and triumphant American Football coach of the Notre Dame University team, which became known for being “Untied and Undefeated“ during their years of success. Rockne tragically died in a plane crash in Kansas, abruptly ending his career in 1931. This Movietone General Telecasting production was written and produced by Michael Sklar, narrated by Raymond Edward Johnson, supervised by Jack Kuhne, and edited by John Hughes. Crowds gathered in the street celebrating (00:08). “The Greatest Drama” title banner (00:10). A celebratory parade (00:19). “The Rock of Notre Dame” title banner (00:29). Knute Rockne (00:36). A football game at a full stadium (00:42). Notre Dame College (00:59). Knute Rockne (01:11). The skyline of the city of Chicago (01:15). A young Knute Rockne playing for a football team in a public park (01:20). A post office in Chicago (01:31). A photo album of Rockne in 1913, his days at Notre Dame University, his following career as a chemistry professor and assistant football coach, him and his wife, and his official position as head coach in 1918 (01:36). Scenes of Rockne training his football team (02:18). A football game in play (02:51). “1919 Untied and Undefeated” written on screen (02:59). “1920 Untied and Undefeated” written on screen (03:05). “Gipp dies of Pneumonia” written on screen (03:10). Photos of Rockne coaching and of members of the team (03:14). Scenes from a football game (03:42). “1923” written on screen (04:27). “1924” written on screen (04:39). Rockne watches his team play a game against the Stanford football team (04:57). A victory parade following the win against Stanford (05:10). The skyline of the City of New York (05:21). The University of Columbia (05:25). False newspaper headlines: “Rockne Quits Notre Dame” (05:36), and “To Coach Columbia” written on screen (05:40). Knute Rockne at the Notre Dame campus (05:50). He is interviewed (06:00). The Notre Dame team trains with Rockne (06:03). A football game against West Point at the Yankee Stadium (06:27). Knute Rockne is speaking to his team in a dressing room during halftime (07:13). The game continues (07:40). Notre Dame wins against the odds (08:14). Rockne speaks at a ballroom event (08:17). A train is driving as photos of Rockne’s team member show (08:54). A full stadium gathered in 1932 to watch a game between Notre Dame and Southern California’s Trojan team (09:20). A celebratory parade after Notre Dame’s win over Southern California (10:09). Rockne is boarding an airplane bound for Hollywood. (Rockne died in the crash of a Transcontinental & Western Air airliner in Kansas on March 31, 1931, while en route to participate in the production of the film The Spirit of Notre Dame). (10:38). The plane is found crashed on a hillside in Kansas resulting in the death of Knute Rockne (10:59). The funeral of Rockne (11:13). The Sacred Heart Church on the Notre Dame campus (11:24). The burial site of Rockne on the campus grounds (11:44). Rockne's unexpected death startled the nation and triggered a national outpouring of grief, comparable to the deaths of presidents. More than 100,000 people lined the route of his funeral procession. We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.“ This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
