Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)

Two turn-of-the-century baseball players, who work in vaudeville during the off-season, run into trouble with their team's new female owner and a gambler who doesn't want them to win the pennant.

Director:

Busby Berkeley

Writers:

Harry Tugend (screenplay), George Wells (screenplay)

Stars:

Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly

2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

The Wolves baseball team gets steamed when they find they've been inherited by one K.C. Higgins, a suspected "fathead" who intends to take an active interest in running the team. But K.C. turns outs to be a beautiful woman who really knows her baseball. Second baseman Dennis Ryan promptly falls in love. But his playboy roommate Eddie O'Brien has his own notions about how to treat the new lady owner and some unsavory gamblers have their own ideas about how to handle Eddie.

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Plot Keywords:

swimming | baseball | baseball team | home run | pennant race | 

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Taglines:

M-G-M's Gay Technicolor Musical!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

La linda dictadora

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,725,970 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There was no soundtrack album, but three of the stars made commercial discs of a few songs, on MGM Records. Two Gene Kelly-Betty Garrett duets were recorded , "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (music by 'Albert Von Tilzer', lyrics by Jack Norworth), done in a swinging tempo, and "Yes, Indeedy" (music and lyrics by Roger Edens, Betty Comden and Adolph Green). Also, recorded on MGM Records, a Garrett solo, "It's Fate Baby, It's Fate" (music and lyrics by Edens, Comden and Green) and recorded on Columbia Records, Frank Sinatra's charming ballad, "The Right Girl for Me" (music and lyrics by Edens, Comden and Green).

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Goofs

Theodore Roosevelt is portrayed as throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game. The practice of presidents throwing out the first pitch did not begin until the presidency of William Howard Taft, Roosevelt's successor.

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Quotes

Shirley Delwyn: [singing] If you should run to China or Turkey or Sweden, Or Herzegovina or Mars, It wouldn't matter where you'd be, A force will pull you back to me, It's written in the stars, It's fate, baby, it's fate...

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Connections

Featured in The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Frank Sinatra (1978)

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Soundtracks

The Right Girl for Me
(uncredited)
Music by Roger Edens
Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Sung by Frank Sinatra

User Reviews

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.