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Death on the Diamond More at IMDbPro »

19 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
An atmospheric mystery, 27 November 1998
Author: Chris Stone (jstone@bellatlantic.net) from USA

As a mystery, Death on the Diamond contains all of the genre trappings to keep you guessing until the end. Nearly half of the cast is set up as "red herrings" and if the unmasking of the real killer is something of a disappointment, it really doesn't matter. The real reason to watch this curio is its cast. Robert Young, one of Hollywood's most underrated leading men, is fine as the cocky star pitcher; his opening scene with Madge Bellamy, who is equally good, crackles with snappy dialogue. Nat Pendleton, as a beefy slugger, and Ted Healy, as a touchy umpire, make a fine comic duo. [Healy's reaction to his pal's untimely demise is surprisingly touching.] And look fast for Walter Brennan as a hot dog vendor and Ward Bond as a cop. The film is rife with an atmosphere of golden age baseball, which helps elevate an average mystery into something imminently watchable.

6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Shooting Redbirds In Season, 23 September 2010

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Seeing that this film was released in September of 1934 when in real life the St. Louis Cardinals were in a tight pennant race with the New York Giants, it's a wonder that this film didn't give some miscreant the idea of doing in the Dean brothers who were to lead the famous Gashouse Gang to the National League pennant and World Series that year.

The Cardinals are in desperate financial straights this year as owner/manager David Landau and daughter Madge Evans put the team in hock to get star pitcher Robert Young. Madge has a thing for Bob, but other players have a thing for Madge.

In the meantime the rejuvenated Cardinals are screwing up all kinds of gambling interests who don't want to see the long-shot Cardinals win the pennant. They'll stop at nothing including murder to see the Redbirds of St. Louis don't triumph. Murders of three players do occur before the culprit is found.

Nat Pendleton and Ted Healy provide the comic relief as a perpetually quarreling catcher and umpire. Someone did some research for this film or was a fan because legendary umpire Bill Klem who was still active in 1934 had an unbelievable aversion to the name of 'Catfish'. In Healy's case Pendleton calls him 'Crawfish' to get his goat.

Some establishing shots will give you a look at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis which is long gone now. Otherwise the cast MGM put together for this film shot it in and around Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, the minor league park of the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League which also now history.

The ending of the film is the very least bizarre. Nearly the entire cast is suspect at one point, but the guilty party in this baseball mystery comes right out of left field. No, the left fielder didn't do it.

Paul Kelly has a very good role as a sportswriter with a nose for news that serves him well, the scoops he does get in this film.

I might have liked the film better had the ending which I can't reveal been so bizarre. It did give one player an opportunity for a grand piece of scenery chewing.

3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Weak murder mystery takes place on baseball diamond..., 23 September 2010

Author: Neil Doyle from U.S.A.

A very youthful looking ROBERT YOUNG plays a star pitcher hired to help the St. Louis Cardinals win the '34 pennant race. He falls in love with the manager's daughter, pretty MADGE EVANS.

The team is soon involved in a series of murders that take place on the baseball field or in the locker room. Since most of the action takes place in broad daylight, there's no chance to build up the suspense to turn this into a crime melodrama. Instead, the heavier touch is on comedy, supplied by NAT PENDLETON and TED HEALEY. Unfortunately, their humorous material is a bit strained for laughs.

Real footage of the Cardinals is integrated with the studio footage shot at Wrigley Field, with mixed results that are more distracting than anything else. Revelation of the murderer comes in the last reel and is far from satisfying, leading to a scene of ham acting at its worst.

Nothing special about this one, even with a cast that includes PAUL KELLY, WILLARD ROBERTSON and pint-sized MICKEY ROONEY in supporting roles.

Some uncredited bits by GARY OWEN, WARD BOND and DENNIS O'KEEFE for those who stay awake during the proceedings.

A Murder Most Impossible, 4 June 2011

Author: Kittyman from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This film has a lot going for it. It is a sports mystery with a fabulous cast (there are cameos by Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, and Mickey Rooney). It has great chemistry between Young and Evans as the leads and Pendleton and Healy in comedic relief. Finally, it has (with two exceptions) fine acting and a good pace.

Sure there are flaws. When the murderer talks early in the picture, more of his motivation could and should have been provided. That would have shortened the film's resolution, and reduced much of the histrionics others have noted. Also, in the locker room, the panning camera cheats when the poisoned player looks for his killer by not including the murderer—we are simply informed of his reactions later. Still, neither of these annoying things, by themselves, spoils the picture.

Unfortunately, however, they're not all the bad news. There is a third glitch, and it completely destroys the mystery. It proves the murder couldn't have committed one of the killings. To wit: at the top of the stands, we are shown an umpire treating his player friend to a hot dog after one game. But suddenly everyone is distracted by loud bangs from below. A black-shirted arm reaches around the stand to substitute poisoned mustard for the regular stuff, and three seconds later (by my watch) we see two umpires and the murderer (now clad in a white outfit) examining firecrackers down on the diamond. Now considering the field is at least one hundred yards away by any route the perp could have taken, he clearly couldn't have committed that particular crime.

Since the director and editor made films for a living, it's hard for me to comprehend how they could have overlooked such an egregious error. Still, they obviously did. But there is an easy solution. Just re-shoot the brief field close-up. Put two period-costumed umpires (with no murderer) by a home plate on some field. Film them picking-up and examining some firecrackers. Then cut the new footage in. Voila! The film is saved; the mystery works, and the DVD can be released.

Fastball with lots of mustard on it, 4 December 2010

Author: sol from Brooklyn NY USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

(there are Spoilers) Unusual murder mystery involving the National League St Louis Cardinels baseball team who's star player seem to be targeted by an unseen assassin in order to keep the team from winning the league pennant.

It's when Cardinel owner manager Pop Clark, David Landau, bought Texas League pitching ace Larry Kelly, Robert Young, for a cool $25,000 that the team started to move up the ladder from the cellar to first place. With the St.Louis mobsters headed by big boss Joe Karnes, Henry C. Gordon, betting heavily against the Cardinels to win he pennant they try to get Kelly to throw an important game against the Cincinnati Reds by leaving an envelope of $10,000.00 in his hotel room. To prove that he's not involved with the Karnes Mob Kelly not only beats the Reds but pitches a no-hitter against them!

With Kelly not going alone with the mob he's later injured when the taxi he's in has it's tire blown out, with a high-powered rifle, causing it to overturn and Kelly put out action for two weeks. With the Cardinals still holding on to first place despite their star pitcher Larry Kelly being on the disabled list three of the top Cardinels players end up dead, with their deaths taking place in the ballpark, under the most suspicious circumstances: Gunshot strangulation and poisoning.

***SPOILERS*** With the pennant now just a game away the Cardinals bring in Kelly to pitch the final game of the season also against the Reds more to get the killer out in the open, with Kelly as bait, then to win the game! In fact it's Kelly himself who catches the killer, while on the mound, by bopping him on the head with a fastball as he tried to sneak a time-bomb into his warm-up jacket! It's then that the real deal or truth comes out to who this assassin is and even more important whom he's working for! ***MAJOR SPOILER*** The person who's been trying to get the team off Joe Clarks hands since spring training by keeping it in last place in order for Joe to be forced to hand it over to him.

P.S Over the top and hysterical final sequence by the killer when he's finally exposed and captured by the police and Cardinel players. This guy gave the performance of his life that should have easily earned him hands down the Academy Award for best actor in 1934 over Cark Gable's performance in the movie "It Happened One Night"! Even though he was in the film "Death on the Diamond" in a supporting role!

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Surprisingly good and surprisingly a lot like "The Natural", 12 October 2010

Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I had relatively low expectations. After all, it is clearly a B-movie about baseball and despite starring Robert Young, he was not yet a top star and the film had all the earmarks of a cheap time-passer. Imagine my surprise when the film actually turned out to be a pretty good little murder mystery as well as possibly some of the inspiration for the Robert Redford film "The Natural"! There seem to be too many similarities between the two films for it to just be a coincidence.

The film begins with the hard-luck St. Louis Cardinals at Spring training. While the Coach claims he's optimistic, he isn't. His only prayer is a rookie (Young). However, despite Young's amazing success, gamblers try to make it hard for him--offering him bribes and encouraging him to be in on the fix. This is a serious problem--not just for the team, but for the Coach who is has agreed to sell off his interest in the team IF they don't win the pennant. So far, all of this sounds almost exactly like "The Natural". What makes it different, however, begins about midway through the film. Suddenly, players start dying--someone is so determined to hurt the Cardinals that they are murdering players. After a while, the bodies really start to stack up and still they have no idea who is behind all this. And, when it comes to this aspect of the story, the film does a great job of throwing in a few surprises--as the ending certainly caught me off guard. Overall, a very interesting B-movie--well-written and full of nice twists and turns.

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Too Small to Cover Bigger Story, 25 September 2010
Author: Michael_Elliott from Louisville, KY

Death on the Diamond (1934)

** (out of 4)

I love a good murder-mystery but I think there are probably lines that shouldn't be crossed. This film passes that line and just keeps going and going and going. The Manager/Owner of the St. Louis Cardinals pays good money to bring in star pitcher Larry Kelly (Robert Young) so that they can win a championship and save the team. Someone else doesn't want them to win and soon players are being killed one by one. It's up to Kelly and the owner's daughter (Madge Evans) to try and strike up a relationship as well as catch the madman. I think having a murder-mystery set on a baseball field is pretty far-fetched but I guess with the right screenplay something entertaining could have been done with it. Sadly, this isn't the screenplay and in the end one can't help be rather bored by the actual story but nevertheless the film manages to be entertaining simply because you haven't seen anything like it before (or since). I think the biggest problem is that the story, in its "B" picture form, just doesn't have enough to make it interesting. Can you imagine if baseball players were really getting picked out what type of stuff would be happening? Terror from the players, the opposite team, the fans coming to the game and I'm pretty sure the media would be all over a player being shot and killed while rounding third base. The story here pretty much looks at the players, the owner and a few cops so there's nothing big or believable that happens. The film offers up everyone as a red herring and I must admit that I laughed out loud when the killer was finally shown. How we learn who it is and what follows almost makes this movie an instant classic. Young and Evans both turn in decent performances and the two seem to be having a good time with all the flirting. Nat Pendleton and Ted Healy are on board and the supporting cast includes Joe Sawyer in a small role and we even have a very young Mickey Rooney playing the ball boy. Ward Bond and Walter Brennan also have small, uncredited roles. Fans of the genre will probably want to check this out if they're like me and just want to see every film of its kind. Others will probably hit the stop button well before the ending but the strangeness of this film and the weird story keeps its mildly entertaining.

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