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Kill the Umpire (1950)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
27 April 1950 (USA) moreTagline:
what a guy! what a lug! what a hero! what a bum!Plot:
Ex-baseball player Bill Johnson, failing at many jobs when his ball-playing days are over, reluctantly takes the advice of his father-in-law... more | add synopsisPlot Keywords:
User Comments:
For the Love of the Game more (14 total)Cast
(Credited cast)| William Bendix | ... | Bill 'Two Call' Johnson | |
| Una Merkel | ... | Betty Johnson | |
| Ray Collins | ... | Jonah Evans | |
| Gloria Henry | ... | Lucy Johnson | |
| Jeff Richards | ... | Bob Landon (as Richard Taylor) | |
| Connie Marshall | ... | Suzie Johnson | |
| William Frawley | ... | Jimmy O'Brien | |
| Tom D'Andrea | ... | Roscoe Snooker |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
78 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)Filming Locations:
Wrigley Field - 42nd Place & Avalon Blvd., Los Angeles, California, USAFun Stuff
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: When Bill Johnson (William Bendix) is bouncing around in the locker room of the umpire school, support wires are clearly visible during the final bounce. moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (14 total)
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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Kill the Umpire (1950)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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| I can relate!! | marmac2768 |
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| On TCM today - Dec 10 2007 | ccloyd |
| Kill The Umpire | roledquist |
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Kill the Umpire had to be a success because it appealed to the fantasy of every baseball fan in the world, the idea that he can be a better umpire than the guys out there doing it. It's kind of like folks singing in the shower and imagining their Crosby or Sinatra.
You can tell the love that went into this comedy because players Bill Bendix and Bill Frawley were both noted baseball fans. The laughs are there, but so is the reverence for the American national pastime.
Poor Bill Bendix, a former ballplayer who can't make a go of it after his playing days are over. Of course this was in the day of the reserve clause with the low salaries. Father-in-law Ray Collins tells Bendix to get back in the game in a way. Become an umpire.
This is heresy of the worst kind. Imagine John McEnroe being told to become a tennis referee. But he makes a go of it.
The scenes in umpire training school are funny enough, but what a reality check poor Bendix gets when he umpires his first game. A man used to hearing the cheers of the crowd for his exploits on the diamond. And he's assigned to the Texas League. Texas baseball fans were legendary in their treatment of umpires. Made old Brooklyn Dodger fans like Bendix himself, look like those attending the races in My Fair Lady.
Bendix and Frawley as the head of the umpire training school are reteamed after both of them were in The Babe Ruth Story. This one works far better.
It's so funny I don't even think you need to be a baseball fan to watch this and enjoy it. But it sure helps.