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Take Me Out to the Ball Game (film)
Encyclopedia
Take Me Out to the Ball Game is a 1949
Technicolor
musical film
starring Frank Sinatra
, Esther Williams
, and Gene Kelly
. The movie 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.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game is a period piece
set in 1908. The plot revolves around a fictional American League
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. (Katherine Catherine) 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 win a big bet by impairing Kelly's play and getting him kicked off the team.
, 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. Similarly, Sinatra's role of Dennis Ryan was said to have originally been intended for professional baseball player Leo Durocher
.
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.
1949 in film
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
starring Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Esther Williams
Esther Williams
Esther Jane Williams is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star.Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team...
, and Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
. The movie was directed by Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley was a highly influential Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer. Berkeley was famous for his elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns...
. The title and nominal theme is taken from the unofficial anthem of American baseball, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game prior to writing the song. The song is traditionally sung during the seventh-inning stretch of...
". The movie was released in the United Kingdom as Everybody's Cheering.
Plot summary
Period piece
-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres...
set in 1908. The plot revolves around a fictional American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
team, the Wolves, and two of its players, Eddie O'Brien (Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
) and Dennis Ryan (Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
), who are also part-time vaudevillians
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
.
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
Esther Williams
Esther Jane Williams is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star.Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team...
). 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
Betty Garrett
Betty Garrett was an American actress, comedienne, singer and dancer who originally performed on Broadway before being signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
). And all of them must contend with a number of gangsters looking to win a big bet by impairing Kelly's play and getting him kicked off the team.
Production
Esther WilliamsEsther Williams
Esther Jane Williams is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star.Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team...
, a star in swimming-themed musicals, did not enjoy her experience filming with star, story-writer and choreographer Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
. In her autobiography, she describes her time on the film as "pure misery", claiming that Kelly and Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen ; is an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are Singin' in the Rain and On the Town, both of which he co-directed with Gene Kelly. His other noteworthy films include Royal Wedding, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Face, Indiscreet, Damn...
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
Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley was a highly influential Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer. Berkeley was famous for his elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns...
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
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
was originally slated to star, but was replaced because of substance abuse
Substance abuse
A substance-related disorder is an umbrella term used to describe several different conditions associated with several different substances .A substance related disorder is a condition in which an individual uses or abuses a...
problems. Similarly, Sinatra's role of Dennis Ryan was said to have originally been intended for professional baseball player Leo Durocher
Leo Durocher
Leo Ernest Durocher , nicknamed Leo the Lip, was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,009 career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League history. Durocher still ranks tenth in career wins by...
.
Cast
- Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
as Dennis Ryan - Esther WilliamsEsther WilliamsEsther Jane Williams is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star.Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team...
as K.C. Higgins - Gene KellyGene KellyEugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
as Eddie O'Brien - Betty GarrettBetty GarrettBetty Garrett was an American actress, comedienne, singer and dancer who originally performed on Broadway before being signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
as Shirley Delwyn - Jules Munshin as Nat Goldberg
- Edward ArnoldEdward Arnold (actor)Edward Arnold was an American actor. He was born on the Lower East Side of New York City as Gunther Edward Arnold Schneider, the son of German immigrants Carl Schneider and Elizabeth Ohse.-Acting career:...
as Joe Lorgan - Richard Lane as Michael Gilhuly
Musical numbers
- "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" - Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, reprise by Esther Williams
- "Yes, Indeedy" - Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra
- "O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg" - Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin
- "The Right Girl for Me" -Frank Sinatra
- "It's Fate Baby, It's Fate" - Frank Sinatra and Betty Garrett
- "Strictly U.S.A." - Betty Garrett, Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams and Gene Kelly
- "The Hat My Dear Old Father Wore upon St. Patrick's Day" - Gene Kelly
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".Awards
Harry Tugend and George WellsGeorge Wells (screenwriter)
George Wells was an American screenwriter.Along with co-writer Harry Tugend, Wells was nominated for the 1950 Writers Guild of America Award in the category of "Best Written American Musical" for Take Me Out to the Ball Game. They lost to Betty Comden and Adolph Green, for On the Town.-External...
were nominated for the 1950 Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
in the category of "Best Written American Musical". They lost to Betty Comden
Betty Comden
Betty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...
and Adolph Green
Adolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
, for On the Town
On the Town (film)
On the Town is a 1949 musical film with music by Leonard Bernstein and Roger Edens and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It is an adaptation of the Broadway stage musical of the same name produced in 1944, although many changes in script and score were made from the original stage...
, another MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
musical comedy, also produced by Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a Jewish American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.- Biography :Freed began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago...
, and also starring Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Betty Garrett
Betty Garrett
Betty Garrett was an American actress, comedienne, singer and dancer who originally performed on Broadway before being signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
and Jules Munshin, which was released four months after Take Me Out to the Ball Game.