1931 image & copy courtesy of the Davenport Iowa History Facebook page.

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1931 image & copy courtesy of the Davenport Iowa History Facebook page.

“The Spirit of Notre Dame”

This is one of the great and historic photographs of Davenport, Iowa, fame. The RKO Orpheum Theatre marquee displays the film title “The Spirit of Notre Dame,” from 1931 starring Lew Ayres, Sally Blane, William Bakewell and Andy Devine.

Also appearing in the film and listed first on the marquee was Elmer Layden, one of the original “Four Horsemen of Notre Dame” and a Davenport High graduate from the class of 1921. Layden, Don Miller, Jim Crowley and Harry Stuhldreher (the Four Horsemen) all appear in the movie, as well as Frank Carideo, Notre Dame quarterback in 1929 and 1930, the last two teams coached by Knute Rockne.

Playing the part of an assistant coach in the film was a man named Nat Pendleton. He was a massively-built, dark-haired, good-looking lug, a former athlete and professional wrestler, who for two decades would play a number of roles as the kind-hearted lunkhead, goon, henchman or Joe Palooka-like buffoon. Though he didn’t stay here long, Nathaniel Greene Pendleton was born on August 9, 1895 on a farm close to Davenport, Iowa.