First lady says Jackie Robinson movie left her, president ‘visibly physically moved’

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Rachel Robinson, widow of baseball great Jackie Robinson, speaks to a workshop for high school and college students with cast members of the movie "42" in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday,April 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON – Michelle Obama says a new movie chronicling the rise of baseball great Jackie Robinson, including the racial discrimination he suffered on and off the ball field, left her and the president visibly moved after they saw it over the weekend.

She said the film, “42,” also had them wondering “how on earth” the Robinsons lived through it.

Mrs. Obama commented Tuesday before an interactive workshop she held for high school and college students after a screening in the White House movie theatre. Students also got to question Robinson’s widow, Rachel, and cast and crew members, including Chadwick Boseman, who plays Robinson in the movie.

President Barack Obama was holding a separate White House screening of “42” for the cast and crew Tuesday evening.

The film opens nationwide on April 12.

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