Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Busby Berkeley

Writers:

Harry Tugend (screenplay) and
George Wells (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

April 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

A Homerun Of Laughter, Romance And Fun

Plot:

The Wolves baseball team gets steamed when they find they've been inherited by one K.C. Higgins, a suspected...

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | Beautiful Woman | Dance | Tap Dancing | Sports Team

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Frank Sinatra	...	Dennis Ryan
Esther Williams	...	K.C. Higgins
Gene Kelly	...	Eddie O'Brien
Betty Garrett	...	Shirley Delwyn
Edward Arnold	...	Joe Lorgan
Jules Munshin	...	Nat Goldberg
Richard Lane	...	Michael Gilhuly
Tom Dugan	...	Slappy Burke
Ramon Blackburn	...	Specialty Dancer (as the Blackburn Twins)
Royce Blackburn	...	Specialty Dancer (as the Blackburn Twins)

Also Known As:

Everybody's Cheering (UK)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #13472) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The idea for the movie was conceived by Gene Kelly, who wanted to pay tribute to the early days of baseball. The movie takes place between 1909 and 1911, as evidenced by Ryan's picture on a new T206 baseball card.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Ryan and O'Brien are performing their Vaudeville act they sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" which was written in 1908 but they sing the version with the re-written lyrics done in 1927. This film take place circa 1910.

Quotes:

Eddie O'Brien: Oh, Miss Higgins! You're the prettiest manager in baseball.
K.C. Higgins: You're certainly the prettiest shortstop.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Some of the Best (1949)

Soundtrack:

The Hat My Dear Old Father Wore upon St. Patrick's Day

All it needed was Betty Garrett...

The first half of this movie had its moments, but I didn't particularly enjoy it. It does indeed have many resemblences to On the Town, which came after it, only this time in a baseball field at the turn of the 20th century. The "O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg" number was okay, and so was Frank Sinatra (playing a young naif again!) crooning to Esther Williams. But all it really needed was Betty Garrett to come in and give it a big energy boost. Her "Fate" number, sung as she chases Frank around the bleachers, was the first number to really grab my attention, (repeated in a taxi cab in On the Town). Then came the clambake, with "Strictly USA" and Gene Kelly's "St. Patrick's Day" number to keep the energy level up and the nodding-off level down. (By the way, yes, Gene and Stanley Donen were in charge of the musical numbers. Busby Berkley directed the rest of the film.) From then on, it wasn't too bad, especially the clever little vaudeville number at the end, penned by Betty Comden and Adolph Green along with the rest of the songs, (except the title one, of course). So, all the movie needed was Betty Garrett to really get off the ground. Interesting.