Country bumpkin Elmer Kane joins the Chicago Cubs as the greatest hitter in baseball. His skill with a bat takes the team to the World Series, but on the way to the championship he has to deal with gamblers and crooked pitchers.
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Title: Elmer, the Great (1933)
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Joe E. Brown | ... | Elmer Kane | |
| Patricia Ellis | ... | Nellie Poole | |
| Frank McHugh | ... | Healy High-Hips | |
| Claire Dodd | ... | Evelyn Corey | |
| Preston Foster | ... | Dave Walker (as Preston S. Foster) | |
| Russell Hopton | ... | Whitey | |
| Sterling Holloway | ... | Nick Kane (as Sterling Halloway) | |
| Emma Dunn | ... | Mrs. Kane | |
| Charles C. Wilson | ... | Mr. Wade (as Charles Wilson) | |
| Charles Delaney | ... | Johnny Abbott | |
| Berton Churchill | ... | Colonel Moffitt | |
| J. Carrol Naish | ... | Jerry (as J. Carroll Naish) | |
| Gene Morgan | ... | Noonan | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Elmer does not want to leave Gentryville, because Nellie is the one that he loves. Even when Mr. Wade of the Chicago Cubs comes to get him, it is only because Nellie spurns him that he goes. As always, Elmer is the king of batters and he wins game after game. When Nellie comes to see Elmer in Chicago, she sees him kissing Evelyn and she wants nothing to do with him anymore. So Healy takes him to a gambling club, where Elmer does not know that the chips are money. He finds that he owes the gamblers $5000 and they make him sign a note for it. Sad at losing Nellie, mad at his teammates and in debt to the gamblers, Elmer disappears as the Cubs are in the deciding game for the Series. Written by Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
29 April 1933 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
De Bom Tamanho See more »Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1
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(1917) (uncredited)
Music by James F. Hanley
Played during the opening credits and often in the score
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Included among the American Film Institute's 2000 list of the 500 movies nominated for the Top 100 Funniest American Movies. See more »Goofs
In the final World Series game with the Yanks at bat and Elmer playing second, the bases are loaded and Elmer has trouble finding the ball in a huge puddle of water when it's hit toward him. You see three base runners cross home plate, but only two runs are posted on the scoreboard. See more »Soundtracks
Indiana(1917) (uncredited)
Music by James F. Hanley
Played during the opening credits and often in the score
See more »
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Joe E. Brown is largely forgotten today and it's too bad. He made a string of fine little films for Warner Brothers in the early to mid 1930s. Ironically he has the final riotous line in the American Film Institute's no. 1 comedy, from their 100 Greatest Comedies list, "Some Like It Hot". Regarding "Elmer the Great," this film recaptures a wonderful era in baseball as well as a nostalgic feel for small town America. Its story is told with the Warner Brothers' successful no frills approach to movie making at that time. There is plenty of warm humor throughout especially from the always wonderful Joe E. Brown as the cantankerous, egoist Elmer Kane, still likable in spite of these character flaws. I wish Joe E. Brown's WB movies were available on DVD. A single packaged trilogy release could be made of his 3 baseball films: "Fireman Save My Child" (WB 1932), "Elmer the Great" (WB 1933) and "Alibi Ike" (WB 1935).