It Happened in Flatbush (1942) User Reviews

"The Greatest Baseball Town In The World"

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 2 November 2010]

Although in 1942 Brooklyn was only one of the five boroughs of Greater New York when it was a city by itself it had a ballclub in the National League that eventually became known as the Dodgers. That club helped Brooklyn keep its individuality and was what made Brooklyn as Lloyd Nolan put it, "the greatest baseball town in the world".

Although you can see a lot more of old Ebbetts Field in the Red Skelton film Whistling In Brooklyn, you get enough of it here in a film about the Dodgers and their run for the pennant. In fact It Happened In Flatbush celebrated what happened in real life, the Dodgers winning their first pennant in 21 years in 1941.

But they lost the World Series in five games to the Yankees, a pattern that would repeat itself until 1955. That series is best remembered for passed ball by Dodger catcher Mickey Owen in game four on what would have been the last out of the game and the Dodgers winning and evening the series up at two games to two. But the Yankee right fielder Tommy Henrich ran to first safely and then the Yankees opened up and won the game. The heart was cut out of the Dodgers with that play.

Something similar has happened to Lloyd Nolan in It Happened In Flatbush. He was a promising shortstop who made an error and cost the Dodgers the pennant back in the day. In fact he was tagged "Butterfingers" and literally run out of the Big Leagues. More modern fans would call this the Bill Buckner syndrome.

Anyway Dodger owner Sara Allgood hires Nolan as manager and then she promptly dies leaving the biggest share to her niece Carole Landis who is a Park Avenue débutante with not much interest in the game. General Manager William Frawley is in Nolan's corner however and to keep his job he puts the moves on Landis.

Let's say she develops an interest in her Brooklyn roots and in baseball and Nolan with the inevitable results.

Watching that I couldn't help thinking of the real Dodger manager at the time, one Leo Durocher who had an eye for the ladies and would soon take as a third wife, movie star Laraine Day. If Durocher had a pretty owner like Carole Landis to deal with instead of the mercurial Larry MacPhail at the time, he would have been in their pitching with Carole.

Baseball players all over organized baseball would have voted Lloyd Nolan an Oscar if they had a vote for punching out the character that Robert Armstrong plays. Armstrong is one of those grudge bearing sportswriters who will pick on a target of some athlete and just always tear him down for whatever the reason. Ted Williams had one such individual in Boston, a guy named Dave Egan and if the Splendid Splinter ever saw It Happened In Flatbush he would have stood and applauded Nolan for doing what he would like to have done. In real life that would probably get you banned, fortunately Armstrong and Nolan had no witnesses.

The misanthropic William Frawley who was in real life a very lonely alcoholic has an unusual number of baseball films in his film credits. That's because he was a huge fan and probably would have paid 20th Century Fox to be in It Happened In Flatbush.

It Happened In Flatbush celebrates the place of my birth and the unique place in American culture it has. Its fans made it the greatest baseball town in the world.

He might have been a Giant fan coming in to bomb the place for all I know

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 4 November 2010]

***SPOILERS*** Things look real bad for the cellar dwelling Brooklyn Dodgers in their fast dwindling chances of winning the National League Pennant . So bad that their manager having all the torture he can take just checked out in the dead on night not even bothering to pick up his severance pay check. The Dodger owner the feisty 70 year old, with a serious heart condition, Mrs. "Mac" McAvoy, Sara Allgood, in a desperate effort to keep the team from going to pot decides to travel down to Clovertown and get that hick towns minor league ball-clubs, the Clovertown Cougars, manager and former Dodger shortstop Frank "Butterfinger" McGuire, Lloyd Noland, to manage her faltering team.

Butterfinger or Frank has been drummed out of Brooklyn seven years ago by for booting an easy ground ball that cost the Dodgers the pennant. Now given a chance to redeem himself Butterfinger McGuire, after a little convincing on Mac's part, is more then willing to give it another try in the big leagues in piloting the Dogers to their first pennant is over 20 years! Of course thing aren't going to be easy for Butterfingers McGuire with the Brooklyn fans and sports writers never letting him forget his previous mistake! What makes things even worse for Butterfingers is that his biggest supporter the Dodger owner Mrs. Mac suddenly dropped dead from a heart attack before he even took charge of the team!

What turns out even harder for Butterfingers McGuire then getting the Dodgers whipped into tip top shape is the new owner of the lovable Bums is the late Mrs. Mac's niece Kathryn Baker, Carole Landis. Kathryn who despite being born and raise in Brooklyn feels she too good, or high class, to run a lowly as well as blue, Dodger Blue, collar working class baseball team like the one that she owns. Kathryn is really into high society and feels that Baseball, and the Dodgers, is beneath her!

It doesn't take long for Butterfingers to get Kathryn to see the light in Ebbets Field as he gets her Dodgers, by him buying top class ballplayer, back in the pennant race. This turns out to be far more exciting to Kathryn then the boring and stuffy high class nightclubs and social events that she spends most of her time attending. As for Butterfingers himself he starts to take the heat when sports writer Danny Mitchell, Robert Armstong, who was responsible of running him out of town seven years ago starts to put the screws on him in his daily sports column.

Despite guiding the Dodgers to within a game of winning the pennant Butterfingers freaks out when the team players, showing just how muddle-brained they are, decides to have him fired for reasons only they, and no one else watching the movie, could figure out. It's that event that brings the best out of Butterfingers who after giving the disgruntled Dodger players a fire and brimstone speech fires the team up to win the big game against the rival St. Louis Cardinals. All this after almost bowing the game by not letting his best pitcher and former tooth-past door to door salesman Roy Anderson, George Holmen, come on the mound and put an end to a ninth inning Cardinals rally! And with that Frank "Butterfiners" Mcguire is not only a hero with the Brooklyn fans as well as sports writers, not to mention the Brooklyn Dodgers themselves, but to Kathryn who earlier dumped him! Kathryn now calling herself Cathy dropped her phony act as a society girl and become a true blue as well as fanatical Dodger fan who has only Frak McGuire, in him showing her how to get to Ebbets Field, to thank for it!

Very enjoyable but not particularly noteworthy

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 3 November 2007]

This film is about a new manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers and how he was able to somehow energize the team enough to make them contenders--though the film didn't seem to indicate exactly why this was the case other than they bought a few hot prospects. In fact, up until the end of the film, it was very odd for a baseball film because it showed so little on-field action. Because of this, some of the actors playing the ball players didn't have to have any skills for the game and several looked nothing like athletes. Or perhaps this COULD just be a comment about the Dodgers of 1942--as most of their stars were fighting in the war! However, this is a rather mild complaint--more of an observation, as I was hoping for more on-field action.

Despite this, it was a moderately enjoyable B-movie starring Lloyd Nolan and Carole Landis (in a less recognizable dark hairdo). The story was entertaining and the acting competent. However, because there have been so many baseball films over the years and because this one isn't particularly outstanding in any way, then it's quite easy to skip and falls into the "time-passer" category. Now this isn't saying it's a bad film or that you should skip it, but there are simply better baseball movies out there as well as many that are of about equal entertainment value.

Very enjoyable baseball movie

[jmdhld · 25 March 2001]

Very enjoyable "B" movie from 1942. Nolan as skipper of Brooklyn Dodgers is good. For once they did not use old Wrigley Field in Los Angeles for the long shot scenes. Instead they used films of the three games played at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn in the 1941 World Series. You can tell from the bunting hanging from the stands. Also some events are very close to actual happenings of the old Dodgers. A most for all us old Brooklyn Dodger fans.

Moider da ump!!: A good day for the Irish!

[weezeralfalfa · 6/10 · 22 September 2020]

The previous year, Fox released "It Happened in Sun Valley". This year(1942), Fox released "It Happened in Flatbush". Flatbush may sound like it's also in the rural West, but actually it's a neighborhood in Brooklyn, and the screenplay is about the seemingly miraculous fictional rise of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team from the basement of the National League to pennant winners(Their nickname: the Dodgers, is never actually used in the film, per an agreement with the actual team brass). The screenplay was motivated by the factual winning of the pennant in 1941 by the Dodgers, after a less successful season(but not bad) in 1940. .......Clearly, this is Lloyd Nolan's movie. As Frank, he plays the Dodger's field manager, and is present in most scenes. William Frawley(Fred Mertz, in the "I Love Lucy" TV series) seems to be the executive manager or president. At first, aging 'Max'(Sara Allgood) is the team owner. But, soon, she dies, and another family becomes the new owners. For some reason?, the youngest member of this family is given the real power. She is Kathryn, played by Carole Landis. I'm used to seeing Carole as a blonde. Thus, I didn't recognize her with her probably brown hair(with the limitations of B&W cinematography). Fans of "Our Gang" or "The Little Rascals" should recognize a slightly older Scotty Becket as the bat boy Squint............Kathryn agrees to invest money in acquiring an ace pitcher and a top-ranked hitter. This pays more dividends than imagined, as pretty soon the Dodgers are leading the league! Incidentally, judging by the names and Irish accents, half the team, including Frank, and various others, are Irish.......... Meanwhile Frank and Kathryn are getting better acquainted in a series of dates, topped by a romantic kiss..........With their winning streak, Frank and the team have become celebrities. Frank is invited to a surprise banquet, where he is the speaker. Unfortunately, he forgets that he has a date with Kathryn at a restaurant, until it is too late. She is angry, and calls off their romance until the end of the film..........Frank makes several impressive speeches in the film. For instance, he was at the trial of a fan who jumped out of the stands to sock the ump in the eye for a bad call at home plate.(This didn't improve the ump's vision!). The judge gave the fan a jail sentence. However, the judge allowed Frank to say his two cents worth, in defense of the fan, and the judge reduced the sentence to a small fine. Later, the Dodgers were in a bad slump. Finally, the players petitioned Frawley to fire Frank. Frank resigned, but Kathryn convinced reluctant Frank to be reinstated. Bravely, he entered the locker room and gave a pep talk. It worked, and we are left with the impression that the Frank-Kathryn romance has heated up again, for a happy ending.

It Happened in Flatbush-Take Me out to the Ball Game ***1/2

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 25 February 2008]

Enjoyable movie. Years back they would have called this a B film. Today, it would rate A+.

Lloyd Nolan provides just the right touch as the baseball manager. His speech intonation reflects a wonderful Brooklyn accent. We bums in Brooklyn would appreciate every minute of it.

Brought back to manage a baseball team by the owner, (Sara Allgood in an all too brief performance) the film depicts the trials and tribulations of managing a last place team to pennant contention.

Romance is in the air as Nolan tries to woo the snooty niece of the recently deceased owner. Carol Landis does well as the niece.

We see Brooklyn at its best here as the faithful root for the Bums of yesteryear.

Wonderful nostalgia.

The Dodgers and the Loons

[churei · 8/10 · 2 August 2008]

Those of us who grew up with, and loved, the Brooklyn Dodgers had gotten a smile and a kick out of this film. Does anyone know if it is available anywhere? Would love to turn back the clock and enjoy this one over again. Great film - hell no! But so much of the Brooklyn spirit....and great dialogue poking fun at non-Brooklynites.Lloyd Nolan, of course, was fine in his role as manager of the team, and the much maligned but beautiful and actually quite talented Carole Landis is a wonderful woman to have around. Then there is the wonderful Sara Allgood...... No, Ray McCarey didn't have the chance to reach the career status of his brother, Leo, but Ray's films are devoid of the sentimental mash that his brother offered. Has anyone actually been able to watch Going My Way anymore? Impossible (even with the joy of seeing Rise Stevens).

Carole Landis Shines In This Baseball Comedy

[HarleanHayworth · 10/10 · 24 December 2015]

It Happened In Flatbush is a very fun and very entertaining baseball comedy from 1942. The beautiful Carole Landis stars as Kathryn Baker, a socialite who inherits a baseball team but knows nothing about sports. Lloyd Nolan, a washed up baseball player, returns to Brooklyn to manage the team. At first he clashes with Landis but eventually (of course ;-) he falls in love with her. Can they work together to save the team and win the big game? Although this is a movie about baseball I thought the personal scenes between Carole and Lloyd were the best. Miss Landis gives an excellent performance and gets to wear some really beautiful gowns. She was one of Fox's most promised starlets but sadly she took her own life in 1948. She appeared in more than forty films during her career and It Happened In Flatbush is one of her better roles. The movie got very good reviews and was a modest hit when it came out in 1942. The talented cast also includes William Frawley, Scotty Beckett, and Sara Allgood. It was directed by Ray McCarey who also worked with Carole on 1941s Cadet Girl. If you're a fan of fun baseball movies or just want to see the lovely Carole Landis you'll enjoy this film.

In 2015 Fox finally released It Happened In Flatbush on DVD.

A fun movie

[dontspamme-76078 · 8/10 · 27 December 2020]

I've been on an old movie kick lately. Some are more watchable than others. This one is in the former category. Although some of the hooliganism gets tiring after a while.

I have been living in Brooklyn for over 25 years, and my father was born and raised here until he went into the army in 1942, so I enjoyed the location shots, such as they were. And speaking of 1942 (the year this movie was released), I presume it was filmed in 1941 because there is not a single mention of the war.

A couple of other observations. 1. They must not have gotten permission to use the real team's name, because the word "Dodgers" is never once used in the movie. Or even "Dem bums". 2. When Nolan is in a taxi, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, there is a streetcar in the left lane. My father talked about the streetcars on the surface streets (and how the kids would climb on the back to ride for free), but I never knew they used the bridges too.

The actual Brooklyn Dodgers played ball for Fox cameramen in this movie

[summamaxima · 8/10 · 19 September 2007]

Following their first National League Pennant win since 1920, The Brooklyn Dodgers team players, though losing the 1941 World Series, went to Hollywood to appear as themselves in this film's field and locker room scenes. Though uncredited on screen, they included Mickey Owen, Dolf Camilli, Billy Herman, Pewee Reese, Arky Vaughan, Dixie Walker, Cookie Lavagetto, Peter Reiser, and pitchers Hugh Casey, Whitlow Wyatt, and Freddie Fitzimmons. However, Lloyd Nolan played the team manager instead of Leo Durocher and Red Barber's substitute was KMPC radio Broadcaster Hal Berger whose 1941 in-studio game recreations fostered the birth of L.A.'s Dodger fan clubs.

An Enjoyable Baseball Flick

[mbrahms26 · 10/10 · 15 January 2022]

This was a nice, nostalgic flick about a bygone baseball era. Nolan and Landis were in top form. My only complaints were 1) the film could not use the actual name of "the Brooklyn team," i.e. The "Dodgers," and 2) most of the Brooklyn fans spoke in Irish brogues. In actuality, Dodger fans in the 1940's came from a variety of European backgrounds, such as Jewish, Italian, Irish, Scandinavian and Polish. Most were actually born and raised in Brooklyn and spoke with distinctive "Brooklyn accents." As for the Irish-Americans in Brooklyn, most could trace their ancestry in the USA back to the 19th Century. They did not speak in brogues!

Brooklyn Goes Bananas

[dougdoepke · 21 January 2012]

Nolan is perfectly cast as the struggling ball club manager. What a fine effortless actor he was, always making dialog sound both natural and spontaneous. The movie had more substance than I expected. It's not a straight Cinderella story of a manager taking a last place team (Brooklyn) to the top. Instead, Maguire (Nolan) has plenty of downs to go with the occasional up, and in the romantic department, as well. And what a dish Carole Landis (Kathryn) is, all outfitted here in upper-class finery, and before she became the more familiar blonde.

The most notable thing about this sports story is how the fans of Brooklyn are portrayed. Note that the movie was made at the beginning of WWII. The preceding decade of the 1930's was the decade of the "common man" when everyday ordinariness was honored by Hollywood's dream factory.

Here, that ordinariness is on display with an emphasis on fighting spirit from both the rowdy fans and the Brooklyn team. On a larger scale, it would take that sort of popular effort and team spirit to win the big war, which amounts to a topical sub-text even in this modest programmer.

Note too how the upper class is portrayed as slightly effete, especially lounge lizard Walter (Allen), Maguire's rival for Kathryn's affections. In the screenplay, Brooklyn stands for the borough of the common man and his combative spirit, while Manhattan receives a rather dismissive upper-class reference. It's Hollywood gearing up for the big war, and, on the whole, a better movie than I expected, but nothing special.

(In passing—I can't help noticing that the Brooklyn team is never referred to as the Dodgers, just as the generic "Brooklyn". Similarly, for St. Louis minus the Cardinals. I expect these generic references allowed the producers to avoid legal problems.)

Great movie

[cervantes1547 · 10/10 · 2 February 2014]

I remember this movie when I was a kid. It is considered a lost movie but I taped it of my satellite dish last summer. and I am glad I have it. Other than appearing on a satellite channel it is impossible to acquire.. Carole Landis played a great part but it is sad that she died so young. The baseball scenes are great especially when the Dodgers win the pennant. Carole Landis' reaction at this moment is so special! Lloyd Nolan who played in the movie A Tree Grows In Brooklyn with the greatest actress who ever lived Peggy Ann Garner did a great job in this movie. It Happened in Flatbush is considered a lost film but I am glad I own a copy and I am also thankful that I have the memories of this great movie!

Minor, Diverting Baseball Comedy

[ReelJohnWilson · 8/10 · 6 March 2019]

There is nothing groundbreaking about this story of washed-up ballplayer Lloyd Nolan taking charge of the Brooklyn Dodgers only to fall in love with the beautiful heiress who co-owns the team, Carole Landis. The inevitability of a happy ending is never in doubt, but this is a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes of free time nonetheless. Use of game footage from actual Dodger games in 1941 adds immediacy and authenticity, and makes the film worth a look for the sake of posterity.

Two teams of nine and four bases in a diamond-shaped design

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 18 April 2024]

This is one of those delightful B films with a sports theme that doesn't exactly wow the viewer but certainly entertains. The picture's two stars, Carole Landis and Lloyd Nolan, share an easy rapport and they'd go on to make MANILA CALLING later in the year. The country was already at war, but it was nice to know that a pleasurable American pastime like baseball might still be enjoyed.

Landis plays a society chick, born in Brooklyn, but now living in posh Manhattan, who doesn't like to remember where she's from originally. But when a wealthy auntie (Sara Allgood) dies, Landis and a bunch of other relatives are left with controlling interest in a Brooklyn baseball team (which is not referred to as the Dodgers, but it is implied).

One amusing plot point is that Landis and the other snooty family members have no real understanding of baseball like Allgood did. To them, it's just an asset they'd rather sell to pocket some more cash. Nolan, an ex-player who was recruited to manage the team by Allgood before she passed on, can see that he's got his work cut out for him with this clan.

Nolan's job will not be confined to just getting the team in shape to win the pennant (something the real-life Dodgers did the year before), but in getting Landis to see the value in holding on to the team. During their interactions, they learn more about each other as well as the different parts of society they inhabit. We know Landis will become a real fan of baseball, and that she will end up with Nolan, but half the fun is in seeing them navigate the divide that exists between them during the early portions of the story.

Director Ray McCarey really seems to get a lot of spirited performances from the cast, more than is probably owed such a simple yet modestly budgeted item. The men cast as the ballplayers are not as in shape as we might expect them to be, but it's evident they play the game well.

There are some likable character actors who bolster the scenes...besides Allgood whose role is all too brief at the beginning, we have William Frawley as an old crony of hers plus Mary Gordon as the mother of a rookie player; and Jane Darwell as Nolan's ma. We also have young Scotty Beckett as a wise beyond his years batboy who steals almost every scene in which he appears. Sadly, Beckett would die of a drug overdose in 1968.

This is not the most spectacular baseball flick ever made, but it's fun to watch. Carole Landis seems very relaxed and at ease on screen. She didn't have the most peaceful life, and died in 1948 from a drug overdose. Ray Carey also died in 1948 from a drug overdose. Though unhappy times were ahead for some, IT HAPPENED IN FLATBUSH is a cheerful motion picture in which they all hit a home run.