Two turn-of-the-century baseball players, who work in vaudeville during the off-season, run into trouble with their team's new female owner and a gambler who doesn't want them to win the pen... Read allTwo turn-of-the-century baseball players, who work in vaudeville during the off-season, run into trouble with their team's new female owner and a gambler who doesn't want them to win the pennant.Two turn-of-the-century baseball players, who work in vaudeville during the off-season, run into trouble with their team's new female owner and a gambler who doesn't want them to win the pennant.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
- Dancer
- (uncredited)
- Wolves Player
- (uncredited)
- Zalinka
- (uncredited)
- Girl in Bathing Suit
- (uncredited)
- Kid
- (uncredited)
- Girl on Train
- (uncredited)
- Wolves Player
- (uncredited)
- Wolves Player
- (uncredited)
- Wolves Player
- (uncredited)
- Wolves Player
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFrank Sinatra's career was struggling at the time and this was made during a period when the only time he did well at the box office was when paired with Gene Kelly. Two of his previous solo appearances, It Happened in Brooklyn (1947) and The Kissing Bandit (1948) did very poorly at the box office.
- GoofsDuring the Opening Day scene, the color of the opposing team's uniforms changes from gray & red to gray & green.
- Quotes
Eddie O'Brien: Denny talks about you in his sleep. He keeps waking me up. Like, last night, for instance, all of the sudden he woke up yelling, "Slide, Katherine, Slide!"
K.C. Higgins: Denny even dreams baseball.
Eddie O'Brien: He wasn't dreaming about baseball.
K.C. Higgins: Well, how do you know?
Eddie O'Brien: Because when I leaned over to wake him up he embraced me. Like this! And then he kissed me. Like this.
[kiss]
- ConnectionsEdited into Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972)
- SoundtracksTake Me Out to the Ball Game
Music by Albert von Tilzer
Lyrics by Jack Norworth
Performed by Gene Kelly (uncredited) and Frank Sinatra (uncredited)
Reprised by Esther Williams (uncredited)
It would be a lot easier for them to stick to their simple frustrations if they both didn't find themselves rapidly falling in love with Katherine as soon as she became their new owner. Along with the difficult task of trying to get their team, the Wolves, to win another pennant, the boys must find a way to control themselves around Katherine, as well as work out some sort of cogent lines for respect when it comes to flirting and mingling with her.
Punctuating this muddled relationship triangle are the film's most enthusiastic and accomplished features - its musical numbers. One of the first involves both Eddie and Dennis singing an infectious, harmonious ballad about past lovers called "Yes Indeed" with a ravishing song and dance number to accompany it. This is where the film finds its energy put to good use being that scenes that take place on the actual baseball field are slight and the relationship drama is overall petty and largely uninteresting. Having Kelly and Sinatra serve as vaudevillian performers in addition to rather narcissistic baseball players is a nice touch that works to lift the film out of whatever drudgery it would've succumbed to had it just been about the love triangle.
With that, Williams holds her ground quite nicely in a film that's populated and controlled by men and their raging hormones and pride. Her character's snarky comments and incorruptible demeanor makes her a dominant force in the film that doesn't make her easily fazed by the multitude of sexually charged comments being spewed her way for much of the film. As a result, she becomes an admirable presence with a great deal of energy and charm to offset the frequently simple-minded behavior of Eddie and Dennis.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game was the final film directed by Busby Berkeley, but was originally supposed to be directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. With Kelly's success as a performer, he was originally contracted by MGM to direct this film, but after the studio hired Berkeley to helm the project, Kelly and Donen were shifted to a screen writing credit by their producer Arthur Freed. As part of a compromise, Freed allowed Kelly to direct some of the musical scenes he did with Sinatra, despite leaving the bulk of the directorial duties to Berkeley. The result is a film that's charming through all its discombobulation, yet always watchable thanks to its gifted performers, especially Williams, who shouldn't be overshadowed by the performers with bigger names.
Starring: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Esther Williams. Directed by: Busby Berkeley.
- StevePulaski
- Mar 25, 2016
- Permalink
- How long is Take Me Out to the Ball Game?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,725,970 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 33 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1