Take Me Out to the Ball Game (film)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Promotional poster
Directed by Busby Berkeley
Produced by Arthur Freed
Screenplay by Harry Tugend
George Wells
Story by Gene Kelly
Stanley Donen
Starring Frank Sinatra
Esther Williams
Gene Kelly
Music by Adolph Deutsch
Cinematography George J. Folsey
Edited by Blanche Sewell
Production
company
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
 March 9, 1949 (NYC premiere)
April 13, 1949 (US)
Running time
 93 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $2,025,000[1]
Box office $4,344,000[1]

Take Me Out to the Ball Game is a 1949 Technicolor musical film produced in the Arthur Freed unit of MGM. It stars Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, and Gene Kelly, features Betty Garrett, Edward Arnold and Jules Munshin, and was directed by Busby Berkeley. The title and nominal theme is taken from the unofficial anthem of American baseball, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". The movie was released in the United Kingdom as Everybody's Cheering.

Plot

In 1908, a fictional American League baseball team, the Wolves,[2] Two of its players, Eddie O'Brien (Gene Kelly) and Dennis Ryan (Frank Sinatra), 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. (Katherine Catherine) Higgins (Esther Williams). Eventually, Dennis falls for her, and then Eddie as well, while Dennis is the object of the affections of an ardent fan, Shirley Delwyn (Betty Garrett). All of them must contend with a number of gangsters led by Joe Lorgan (Edward Arnold) looking to win a big bet by impairing Eddie's play and getting him kicked off the team.[3]

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, although she does have a brief swimming sequence where she casually sings the title song. 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.[4] Similarly, Sinatra's role of Dennis Ryan was said to have originally been intended for professional baseball manager (and former player) Leo Durocher.[5]

Cast

Musical numbers

Deleted songs

The song "Boys and Girls Like You and Me", sung by Frank Sinatra to Betty Garrett, was filmed but cut from the released film; the video outtake survives today and is included as an "extra" on the DVD.[6][7]

"Baby Doll", sung by Gene Kelly to Esther Williams and includes a dance, was deleted from the released film. This video also survives and is included on the DVD.[7][8]

Reception

Take Me Out to the Ball Game was a box office success, earning $2,987,000 in the US and Canada and $978,000 overseas, resulting in a profit of $675,000.[1]

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".[9]

Awards and honors

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.

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ↑ The Wolves start the season is playing on on the road against the Washington Senators, and later the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, and Cleveland Indians, all American League teams.
  3. ↑ Take Me Out to the Ball Game at Turner Classic Movies
  4. ↑ Williams, Esther (1999). Million Dollar Mermaid. Harcourt Brace. ISBN 0-15-601135-2.
  5. ↑ Take Me Out to the Ball Game at Allmovie.com
  6. ↑ Frank Sinatra - Boys And Girls Like You And Me on YouTube
  7. 1 2 DVD release of Take Me Out to the Ball Game at Amazon.com
  8. ↑ Gene Kelly's pre-recording of "Baby Doll" on YouTube
  9. ↑ Crowther, Bosley (1949-03-10). "Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly in 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game'". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  10. ↑ "AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-13.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Take Me Out to the Ball Game (film).
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.