Take Me Out to the Ball Game (film)

Infobox Film
name = Take Me Out to the Ball Game


caption =
director = Busby Berkeley
producer = Arthur Freed
writer = Harry Tugend & George Wells (screenplay)
Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen (story)
starring = Gene Kelly
Frank Sinatra
Esther Williams
Betty Garrett
Jules Munshin
music = Adolph Deutsch
cinematography = George J. Folsey
editing = Blanche Sewell
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released = flagicon|USA April 1949
runtime = 93 min
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross = US$4,000,000
amg_id = 1:48429
imdb_id = 0041944

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1949 Technicolor movie musical starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. The title and nominal theme is taken from the unofficial anthem of American baseball, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". It was released in the United Kingdom as "Everybody's Cheering".

Plot summary

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a period piece set in 1908. The plot revolves around a professional baseball team, the Wolves, and two of its players, Eddie O'Brien (Gene Kelly) and Dennis Ryan (Frank Sinatra), who are also part-time vaudevillians. The ball club's status quo is turned on its head when the team winds up under new ownership, and the distress this causes the team is only increased when the new owner is revealed to be a woman, K.C. Higgins (Esther Williams). Eventually, Sinatra falls for her, and then Kelly as well, while Sinatra is the object of the affections of an ardent fan, Shirley Delwyn (Betty Garrett). And all of them must contend with a number of gangsters looking to get the team to throw one of its games for a big gambling payoff. [http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=30058&mainArticleId=194225 Take Me Out to the Ball Game] at Turner Classic Movies]

Production

Esther Williams, a star in swimming-themed musicals, did not enjoy her experience filming with star, story-writer and choreographer Gene Kelly. In her autobiography, she describes her time on the film as "pure misery", claiming that Kelly and Stanley Donen treated her with contempt and went out of their way to make jokes at her expense. Williams asserts that Kelly was uncomfortable with the height difference between them, Williams being 5'10", while Kelly was 5'7". Director Busby Berkeley originally planned a swimming number for Williams, but the idea was rejected by Gene Kelly. Williams did, however, form a strong bond with Frank Sinatra. Williams also claimed that she was not the first choice for the role of club-owner K.C. Higgins: Judy Garland was originally slated to star, but was replaced because of substance abuse problems. [cite book | last = Williams | first = Esther | authorlink = Esther Williams | coauthors = | title = Million Dollar Mermaid | publisher = Harcourt Brace | date = 1999 | location = | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-15-601135-2] Similarly, Sinatra's role of Dennis Ryan was said to have originally been intended for professional baseball player Leo Durocher. [ [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:48429 Take Me Out to the Ball Game] at Allmovie.com]

Main cast and characters

*Edward Arnold as Joe Lorgan
*Richard Lane as Michael Gilhuly

Reception

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was a box office success, going on to gross $4,000,000. It received modestly positive reviews, although some reviewers felt the cast was better than the material, and the film lacked a "consistent style and pace". [cite news | last = Crowther | first = Bosley | coauthors = | title = Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly in 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' | work = | pages = | language = | publisher = New York Times | date = 1949-03-10 | url = http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B06E2D61F38E23BBC4852DFB5668382659EDE | accessdate = 2008-05-19]

Awards

Harry Tugend and George Wells were nominated for the 1950 Writers Guild of America Award in the category of "Best Written American Musical". They lost to Betty Comden and Adolph Green, for "On the Town", another MGM musical comedy, also produced by Arthur Freed, and also starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett and Jules Munshin, which was released four months after "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

References

External links