The Kid from Left Field (1953)

Coop's an ex-ballplayer is now a peanut vendor, who takes too much of an interest in the game. But he's passed on his craze for baseball to his son, Christie. When his dad gets fired, Chris... See full summary »

Director:

Harmon Jones

Writer:

Jack Sher

Stars:

Dan Dailey, Anne Bancroft, Billy Chapin

Won 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dan Dailey	...	Larry 'Pop' Cooper
Anne Bancroft	...	Marian Foley
Billy Chapin	...	Christie Cooper
Lloyd Bridges	...	Pete Haines
Ray Collins	...	Fred F. Whacker
Richard Egan	...	Billy Lorant
Bob Hopkins	...	Bobo Noonan
Alex Gerry	...	J.R. Johnson
Walter Sande	...	Barnes
Fess Parker	...	McDougal
George Phelps	...	Tony
John Gallaudet	...	Hyams
Paul Salata	...	Larson
John Beradino	...	Hank Dreiser (as John Berardino)
Gene Thompson	...	Jim Cary, Pitcher

Storyline

Coop's an ex-ballplayer is now a peanut vendor, who takes too much of an interest in the game. But he's passed on his craze for baseball to his son, Christie. When his dad gets fired, Chris makes friends with the former team owner's niece (and her boyfriend Pete), and not only gets his dad's job back, but a batboy position for himself. With his dad's help, Christie begins to make a few suggestions here and there. And as a publicity stunt, the team makes him their youngest manager on record. But when Chris gets sick, Coop has to come to the rescue.

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Plot Keywords:

baseball | sports team

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Taglines:

The wackily wonderful story that waves pennants in your heart!

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Genres:

Comedy | Sport

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

July 1953 (USA)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Remade as The Kid from Left Field (1979)

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Soundtracks

"National Emblem"
(uncredited)
Music by Edwin Eugene Bagley
Played when Larry sends Christie off on his first day as bat boy

User Reviews

Interesting "fantasy" movie

Great actors, mediocre movie. The premise of this movie has been used in many movies. You know, where a team is slumping terribly and along comes some 'magical' external influence to change it all around (eg. Major League). The problem with the screenplay of this movie is how they depicted the teams' slump, with balls rolling through infielder's legs, dropped easy fly balls, and batters clueless as to their hitting slumps. And worst of all was when the outfielder had his glove out to catch a fly ball and the ball hit him square in the forehead. Good for laughs, but jeeeez, these guys are MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS. But the KID solves the problems of these major league players (more fantasy). Fun to watch anyway, but only got my 5/10.