Take Me Out to the Ballgame (1948)

Director:  Busby Berkeley
Cast:  Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly, Betty Garrett, Jules Munshin

Another Gene and Frank movie and some baseball sounds just about glorious on this Wednesday afternoon.

THE PLOT:  In 1908, a fictional American League baseball team, the Wolves, gets a new manager, KC Higgins (Esther Williams), who becomes the immediate object of affection for womanizing players Eddie O'Brien (Gene Kelly), Denny Ryan (Frank Sinatra) and Nat Goldberg (Jules Munshin), also part-time vaudevillians during the off-season.

On Opening Day, Eddie keeps getting into fights with the other team and Denny ends up getting punched and nursed by a crazy female fan (also played by Betty Garrett.  On the Town, anyone?).  At the big party by the sea, Denny realizes he loves Shirley and when he kisses KC, they feel nothing, meaning that KC really does love Eddie, as big of a loser as he is.

Eddie ends up getting a job in a cafe as a dancer and as a result, the Wolves' lead in the pennant starts to dwindle.  Little does he know, his "job" is really an elaborate scheme by his enemies to get the Wolves to slump.

At the pennant game, Eddie gets a bunch of kids to chant "We Want O'Brien" and everyone starts to catch on.  O'Brien is "forced" into playing.  Shirley discovers that the cafe owner is plotting against Eddie and tells Denny to stop him from playing.  Denny hits Eddie with a hardball and he's out with a concussion.  Shirley and Denny and KC tell the cops and they catch the bad guys.  Eddie finds out that Denny hit him and hilarity ensues as Eddie runs after Denny in a state of rage.

THE REVIEW:  What I love about this movie is that it is such a perfect movie to watch not only during baseball season, but also on the 4th of July because it is so classical American.  As they say in the final song, everything from potato chips to comic strips, from Judy Garland to Fred Astaire is what makes America great.  In fact, that's what this whole movie is about:  what makes America great.  Also, it captures the spirit of Ireland, with Gene Kelly and his Irish heritage performing traditional Irish folk dances throughout the film

Now for the downside:  there are tens of thousands of sexual innuendos stuck in this movie.  Everything from "third base" to Eddie's announcing that he can stay up till 2 or 3 in the morning.  Interesting that all of that got past the censors.

All-in-all, this film captures the spirit of America and Ireland.  It is all about the American pasttime, and for that I have to give it 5 out of 5 stars.