Baseball Murders

DEATH ON THE DIAMOND-1934-Interesting drama set in the world of major league baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals aren't given much chance of winning but their owner/manager Pop Clark (David Landau) stakes everything on an egotistical pitcher Larry Kelly (Robert Young). Things take an upward turn but gamblers try a fix. When they give another pitcher 10 thousand dollars to blow a game he instead throws a no hitter! The gangsters cause a car wreck that injures him. Thrown in his the typical love triangle with Larry, Pop's daughter Frances (Madge Evans) and slugger Spencer (Joe Devlin) who is shot to death before scoring a game winning run! It's obvious he was killed by someone in the stands but a stupid cop thinks Kelly did it out of jealousy! Ted Healy is featured as O'Toole, a dumb umpire (with bad eyesight) everyone calls Crawdad. Nat Pendelton plays another player who's poisoned. After another star pitcher is killed Pop wants Kelly to pitch but Frances objects. It turns out the mob had nothing to do with the killings. It's the work of a crazy groundskeeper! Somehow Kelly wins an important game with an inside the park home run in the finale.
Mickey Rooney and Edward Brophy are in it too as well as un-credited roles by Walter Brennan, Ward Bond, Bruce Bennett, Marc Lawrence and Bobby Watson and lines like "You can't tell the American people they can't have baseball!".

Director Edward Sedgwick started in silents, directed several Buster Keaton sound films, the terrible Laurel & Hardy feature AIR RAID WARDENS and many forgotten low budget films. His last work was on TV's I LOVE LUCY.

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The First 42

THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY-1950-This is a low budget biography (unlike the recent 42) of the the great African American baseball player who broke major league baseball's "color line". And Jackie Robinson plays himself!

It starts with little Jackie getting his first beat up glove, then in jr. high school breaking the high jump record (held by his brother) and later playing for the UCLA bruins. He gets drafted while his girlfriend Rae (Rudy Dee) becomes a nurse. He says "Baseball is one sport they'll never let me in". He joins the Negro league anyway and faces discrimination and almost blows his chance with the Dodgers when he thinks it's a joke! Branch Rickety (Minor Watson) recruits him and gives him the lowdown on what's going to happen. He needs a player with "the guts not to fight back". His mom (Louise Beavers) tells him to listen to God. He joins the Brooklyn farm team and is immediately ignored. His manager doesn't even consider him a human being! He takes a lot of abuse (much much worse in real life) but proves himself and wins over some bigots and makes a speech in DC.

Bernie Hamilton, Joe Devlin, Joe Kirk, Dick Wessel and Ben Welden have roles. It's a good little film hampered only by it's low budget. Director Alfred E. Green made two other Hollywood "bios": THE JOLSON STORY and THE EDDIE CANTOR STORY.

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Pride Of The West

RAWHIDE-1938-New York Yankees baseball legend Lou Gehrig crosses over into acting in this low budget modern day western. 


Gehrig (playing himself) decides to quit baseball to go and live a quiet life on his sister Peggy's (Evalyn Knapp) ranch in Montana! He runs afoul (no pun intended) of Mr. Saunders (Arthur Loft) and his crooked bandits. His gang strong arms local ranchers to join his "association"

.

The real star though is singing cowboy Smith Ballew who plays Larry Kimball, a lawyer and love interest for Peggy. He and Lou have a great fight in a saloon where Gehrig uses some billiard  balls to take out the bad guys. The Iron Horse isn't too bad (he even sings briefly!) and says things like "What kind of country is this anyway?" and "This will be more fun than  the World Series". 

Ballew does two cool songs and after the very happy ending Lou finds out The Yankees have met his
contract demands and goes back to New York!

RAWHIDE (a 20th Century production)  is an amazing time capsule capturing for posterity a sports legend who a mere 3 years later would be dead....
   

Director Ray Taylor made over a 150 films from 1926 to 1949 including FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE and THE GREEN HORNET.  The Gehrig biography THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES would be made in 1942 with Gary Cooper in the lead role. RAWHIDE  is available on DVD. 

Thanks again to Ton for digging up this one!

And thanks to anyone who reads this!

   

Yer Saaafe!

SAFE AT HOME-1962-Slight comedy made for kids and NY Yankees fans.

A little boy named Hutch (Bryan Russell) lives a on a boat with his dad (Ken Lawton) in Florida. He likes to play baseball and loves The New York Yankees. When a teammate makes him mad he tells them he and his father are good friends with Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Naturally he gets into a lot of trouble over this so he decides to visit the Yanks spring training facility and ask the two sluggers for help. William Frawley (a regular on TV’s MY THREE SONS at the time) is their wisecracking coach and then real life manager Ralph Houk appears as himself. Whitey Ford has a cameo too. Parts of it are dumb but it’s nice to see the two baseball legends try to act.

Patricia Barry is the father’s love interest. Russell played Ann-Margret’s little brother in BYE BYE BIRDIE the next year. Director Walter Doniger worked mostly in TV but made a few other movies including THR STEEL JUNGLE, UNWED MOTHER and HOUSE OF WOMEN.

One of SAFE AT HOME's screenplay credits is for Steven Ritch. An actor of the same name played the lead in a late 50’s horror film THE WEREWOLF. Not sure though if they are one in the same!

"Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant"-Cary Grant

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Silent Baseball Games

THE BUSHER-1919-A young baseball player (Charles Ray) goes to the big city and forgets his girlfriend (Coleen Moore) until a rival (John Gilbert) shows up. Clichéd by today’s standards this was a big hit in its time. Star Ray was a matinee idol until he lost his fortune investing (and starring) in an independent flop. He later tired unsuccessfully to break into the NY Theater and then played bit roles in some talkies. Like many ex-silent stars he died unusually, from an impacted tooth that became infected! He was 52. THE BUSHER (A Thomas Ince Production) is also interesting as it featured then unknowns Moore and Gilbert who would achieve fame a few years later.

CASEY AT THE BAT OR THE FATE OF A ROTTEN UMPIRE-1899-Fragment filmed by The Edison Company depicts a batter disgruntled with the umpire’s call who attacks the official. Even back then “kill the umpire” seemed to be part of the game!



HEARTS AND DIAMONDS-1914-Filmdom’s first comedy star was John Bunny. (the above picture) Though forgotten today in his time he was one of the most famous people in the world!

Although his career lasted a scant 5 years (ending with his death at 51 in 1915) he made over 200 short films! Mostly comedies though once in a while he “stepped out” in a dramatic role like THE PICKWICK PAPERS. He made many of his shorts with actress Flora Finch. They became so well known as a comedy duo that their films were called “Bunnyfinches”.

In HEARTS AND DIAMONDS Bunny plays a widower trying to woo a rich widow. It turns out she’s a real baseball fan (“I simply adore baseball players”) so Bunny creates his own team and puts himself in the starting line-up to win her. There’s lots of slapstick. One reason Bunny (a rather grotesque but lovable character) isn’t remembered is so little of his work exists. This was one of his last. Thankfully there’s a station like TCM that is finding “lost classics” and presenting them to film fans!

“First Thing We Do Is Kill All The Lawyers”-Bill Shakespeare

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