The Winning Team (1952)

Poor health and alcoholism force Grover Cleveland Alexander out of baseball, but through his wife's faithful efforts, he gets a chance for a comeback and redemption.

Director:

Lewis Seiler

Writers:

Ted Sherdeman (screenplay), Seeleg Lester (screenplay)

Stars:

Doris Day, Ronald Reagan, Frank Lovejoy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Doris Day	...	Aimee Alexander
Ronald Reagan	...	Grover Cleveland Alexander
Frank Lovejoy	...	Rogers Hornsby
Eve Miller	...	Margaret Killefer
James Millican	...	Bill Killefer
Russ Tamblyn	...	Willie Alexander (as Rusty Tamblyn)
Gordon Jones	...	George Glasheen
Hugh Sanders	...	Joe McCarthy
Frank Ferguson	...	Sam Arrants
Dorothy Adams	...	Ma Alexander
Bob Lemon	...	Jesse 'Pop' Haines
Jerry Priddy	...	Jerry Priddy
Peanuts Lowery	...	'Peanuts' Lowery (as Peanuts Lowrey)
George Metkovich	...	George Metkovich
Irv Noren	...	Irving Noren (as Irving Noren)

Storyline

In 1911, Grover Cleveland Alexander - Alex to his friends - is a Nebraska country hayseed who says he wants to settle down, marry his girlfriend Aimee Arrants and be a farmer to offer Aimee a secure and stable life. However he always seems to drop everything whenever the opportunity to play baseball, specifically as a pitcher, arises. This focus on baseball does not sit well with either Aimee or her father, who see it as Alex solely wanting to have fun while shirking responsibility. When Alex is asked to pitch in a game against a visiting professional team, he seizes the chance and throws a three hitter en route to winning the game. That leads to a stint on that pro team, the money from which he promises to use to buy Aimee her farm. When an eye injury seems to end his career even before it begins, he changes his focus to being a farmer to please his now wife Aimee Alexander, but thoughts of baseball that can never be in his life still torture him. When his injury does eventually heal...

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | baseball | comeback | world series | vertigo | 

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Taglines:

And here comes the pitch, Yes, the pitch, the pitch for the warmest, most wonderful, most human story ever told, the true story of Grover Cleveland Alexander!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film's success, grossing about $1.7 million, was a contributing factor in Doris Day placing 7th on the 1952 list of Top Ten Box Office Stars.

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Goofs

Alexander did not play for the House of David until after he retired from Major League Baseball, not before the 1926 World Series as depicted in the film. Thereafter, he toured with the House of David for ten years, often playing against the Kansas City Monarchs, playing against Satchel Paige and other Negro League immortals.

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Quotes

Sideshow heckler: How does it feel to be livin' off the fleas?
Grover Cleveland Alexander: Well, it's better than havin' 'em live offa me.

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Connections

Featured in Diamonds on the Silver Screen (1992)

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Soundtracks

Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile!
(uncredited)
Music by Felix Powell
Played during the military parade

User Reviews

Good Film Even Without the Truth

Winning Team, The (1952)

*** (out of 4)

Pretty good, if watered down, drama about the career of Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander (Ronald Reagan) who started life on the farm but quickly made a name for himself as a pitcher. When his career was apparently over he started to suffer from alcoholism but his wife (Doris Day) gets him back into shape so that he can make a comeback. Once again we have a bio-pic that has been fictionalized but even with this the movie manages to be very entertaining from start to finish thanks to some very good performances. I think there are a few minor issues with one of them being the fact that the studio forced the producer's to cut down on some of the more darker moments. The alcoholism issue is only touched for a few seconds and Alexander's battle with epilepsy is pretty much overlooked. Another minor problem is that this is a movie about Alexander yet a lot of the attention goes to the wife. Day got top-billing but this is certainly Reagan's movie but at the same time there are many scenes that are obviously here just to give Day more scenes and this includes a really bad singing sequence around Christmas time. With all of that said, the rest of the movie is pretty much a winner. Baseball fans are really going to eat up seeing how they were playing back in the day plus we get to view the old-time uniforms and even better is that we get to see some of the old baseball stadiums. There's also quite a bit of stock footage used to try and re-create some moments of the 1926 World Series, which was against the New York Yankees and their Murderers Row. This was Reagan's final film at Warner after fifteen-years worth of service and they certainly let him go out on a high note. I thought Reagan was very believable in the role and manages to look quite natural as a pitcher and he also managed to be very believable in the part of the farm boy. The early scenes with him struggling with his disease were extremely well-done and this ranks as one of the actors better performances. Day is also in top-form even though I think we could have used a little less of her character. Frank Lovejoy gets a good bit as Rogers Hornsby and we get some real-life players including Jerry Priddy, Bob Lemon, Peanuts Lowery and Irving Noren. Frank Ferguson, who most will remember from ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, plays Day's father here. Again, if you're wanting to truth on Alexander then it's best you go read a book but if you're just looking for some quick entertainment then this film does the job.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 May 1953 (Australia)

Also Known As:

The Big League

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1