Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)

Director:

Busby Berkeley

Writers:

Harry Tugend (screenplay) and
George Wells (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

abril 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance | Sport

Frase comercial:

A Homerun Of Laughter, Romance And Fun

Plot:

The Wolves baseball team gets steamed when they find they've been inherited by one K.C. Higgins, a suspected...

Plot Keywords:

Male Female Relationship | Baseball Player | Famous Song | Irish American | Clambake

Awards:

1 nomination

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Energetic, amiable and lots of fun to watch...

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
Ramon Blackburn	...	Specialty Dancer (as the Blackburn Twins)
Royce Blackburn	...	Specialty Dancer (as the Blackburn Twins)

También conocida como:

Everybody's Cheering (UK)
Bella dictadora, La (Argentina) [es]
Linda dictadora, La (Venezuela) [es]

Duración:

93 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Clasificación:

USA:Approved (PCA #13472) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivialidades:

The song "O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg" (referring to the shortstop/second base/first base double-play) is modeled on a poem titled "Tinker to Evers to Chance" by Franklin P. Adams, referring to the Chicago Cubs infield of 1903-1910.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the 'Strictly USA' dance number when the dancers start to cheer, a few frames are played in reverse.

Quotes:

Eddie O'Brien: Oh, Miss Higgins! You're the prettiest manager in baseball.
K.C. Higgins: You're certainly the prettiest shortstop.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra (1973) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Yes, Indeedy

Energetic, amiable and lots of fun to watch...

For me, the only drawback to TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME is the fact that I read the ESTHER WILLIAMS biography and in it she expresses what I can only describe as contempt for the way GENE KELLY and his director pal Stanley Donen unfairly treated her on the set of this very entertaining little musical.

Seems that neither one of them was impressed with her popularity as a swimming star (big at the box-office) and out of spite and jealousy razzed her about why on earth she was appearing in a musical at all. Obviously, their first choice for the part (I forget who it was), was unavailable and MGM decided to give her the part of the baseball manager who is the romantic interest of both FRANK SINATRA and GENE KELLY.

Well, watching it without knowing these facts, you can sit back and enjoy the film the way it was meant to be. Actually, Esther acquits herself well in both the acting department and whatever else she does, including a brief swimming scene, and it only makes the treatment she received seem even more unfair as the film unwinds.

Sinatra and Kelly rehash their roles in ANCHORS AWEIGH, with Sinatra again mooning over the girl while Kelly at first resents her before falling in love. For added fun, JULES MUNSHIN is another ball player who gets to strut his stuff once in awhile.

It's all prettily Technicolored in the way that only MGM could do when it came to musicals and it's easy to see that Kelly and Sinatra could kick up their heels in dance routines the way they did in ANCHORS AWEIGH and ON THE TOWN.

And speaking of ON THE TOWN, BETTY GARRETT as a fun loving gal who chases Sinatra around a ball park, seems to be doing a rehearsal for her role in that film.

Summing up: Good summer entertainment, light as a feather stuff from the studio that knew how to make musicals.

Trivia note: On a cable interview several years ago, Donen was still bitter about Williams and made snide remarks about her abilities to an audience that giggled at his comments.