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Take Me Out To The Ball Game

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

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CREDITS

1949, 93 minutes, Technicolor.
Producer, Arthur Freed; Director, Busby Berkeley; Screenplay, Harry Tugend and George Wells; Cinematography, George Folsey; Music Direction, Adolph Deutsch; Choreography, Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen.

CAST

Dennis Ryan, Frank Sinatra; K.C. Higgins, Esther Williams; Eddie O'Brien, Gene Kelly; Shirley Delwyn, Betty Garrett; Joe Lorgan, Edward Arnold; Nat Goldberg, Jules Munshin; Michael Gilhuly, Richard Lane; Slappy, Tom Dugan; Salinka, Murray Alper; Nick Danford, Wilton Graff.

SONGS

The Right Girl For Me; O'Brien To Ryan To Goldberg; Yes, Indeedy; It's Fate Baby, It's Fate by Roger Edens, Betty Comden and Adolph Green; Strictly U.S.A. by Edens; Take Me Out To The Ball Game by Albert Von Tilzer and Jack Norworth; The Hat My Dear Old Father Wore Upon St. Patrick's Day by William Jerome and Jean Schwartz.

PLOT SYNOPSIS

"Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra are O'Brien and Ryan, two baseball pros who moonlight as a song-and-dance team in the off-season. In spring training, they are outraged to learn that the new owner, K.C. Higgins, is about to take a more active part in coaching. When Mr. Higgins turns out to be a well-endowed and beautiful Miss Higgins (Esther Williams), the boys are stupefied to say the least. But that's nothing compared to their discovery that the lovely K.C. knows her way around the bases with the best of 'em. In very short order, both O'Brien and Ryan lose their hearts to their new boos, especially after watching her sing the title tune while paddling around the hotel pool!"
- Liner Notes from Turner/MGM/UA Laserdisc

NOTES

"Though the film, directed in Technicolor by Busby Berkeley (his last as overall director) was by no means epoch-making, it had the sort of vitality that would characterize the three great Kelly musicals ( On The Town , 1949, An American In Paris , 1951, and Singin' In The Rain , 1952) that would follow it."
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical

"Take Me Out To The Ball Game, backgrounded by an early-day baseball yarn, is short on story, but has some amusing moments - and Gene Kelly. Aided by Technicolor, Esther Williams is an eyeful, and Frank Sinatra cavorts pleasantly. . .the overall combination of talents is actually worthier of better material."
- Variety

"This big MGM musical. . .began with a not too inspired script idea from Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, and after it went through a series of cast changes and then got assigned to Busby Berkeley to direct, it was a full-scale mess. . .Comden and Green and Roger Edens did the songs, but the musical numbers have that flag-waving Irish-American cheeriness which also blighted many Fox musicals made in the same period."
- Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights At The Movies


The film was loosely based on 1930's They Learned About Women .

Take Me Out To The Ball Game was one of the top-grossing films of 1949. See Box Office Hits

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