For years, baseball has been called America’s national pastime. As a symbol of American culture, it’s no wonder that the sport has been the topic of many movies. Sports-themed films aren’t a new phenomenon. There are plenty of movies from the Golden Era of Hollywood that focus on boxing, horse racing, football, and of course baseball.
Three interesting movies made in the late 1940s and early 1950s are about baseball: “It Happens Every Spring” (1949), “Rhubarb” (1951), and “Angels in the Outfield” (1951). Ironically, two feature actor Ray Milland as the leading man, and two feature actor Paul Douglas in a prominent role. Technically, all three films feature Paul Douglas, since he makes a cameo appearance at the end of “Rhubarb.”
The Stories
In “It Happens Every Spring,” doctoral scientist Vernon K. Simpson (Milland) with a secret passion for baseball accidentally creates a formula that repels wood. Realizing the value of this compound, he offers his services as pitcher to a St. Louis baseball team. Although they laugh at his bold claim that he can win any game for them, they take him seriously after he strikes out their best players with the unbelievable hop he puts on the ball.He joins the team under a pseudonym to keep his fiancée’s father from finding out what he’s doing until he earns enough money to marry her. Meanwhile, the managers assign veteran catcher Monk Lanigan (Douglas) to be his roommate so he can chaperone the “screwball” who can’t seem to lose. Little do they know that his hop is caused by the chemical-soaked cloth he keeps in his glove.
In “Rhubarb,” eccentric millionaire Thaddeus J. Banner (Gene Lockhart) sends his devoted employee Eric Yeager (Milland) to catch a ferocious stray cat to be his pet. Banner tames and names the cat Rhubarb, and the two are close companions until the old man’s death. But panic ensues when it’s discovered that Banner left his vast fortune to Rhubarb, appointing Eric as the cat’s guardian. The late millionaire’s greedy daughter, Myra (Elsie Holmes), vows to claim her inheritance by any means.
Among Banner’s holdings is a professional baseball team full of superstitious players who aren’t happy about being owned by a cat. Eric tricks them into believing Rhubarb is lucky, and they get so attached to the idea that they refuse to play any games without their beloved mascot in the stands. Meanwhile, Eric faces a serious personal problem: His fiancée Polly (Jan Sterling) is seriously allergic to Rhubarb.
In “Angels in the Outfield,” the Pittsburgh Pirates can’t seem to win any games, and local newspaperwoman Jennifer Paige (Janet Leigh) is determined to find out why. As soon as she meets the team’s foulmouthed manager, Guffy McGovern (Douglas), Jennifer pegs him as the problem. However, Jennifer isn’t the only one who disapproves of McGovern’s profanity and bullying.
One night when McGovern is alone in the otherwise deserted stadium, a mysterious voice addresses him, identifying itself as his guardian angel. There have been a lot of prayers on behalf of the Pirates. McGovern agrees to the angel’s demands that he clean up his act so that heavenly ballplayers will help the team win. The agreement works well until a prayerful orphan, Bridget (Donna Corcoran), sees the angels during a game.
Loading the Bases
Classic sports movies can be very entertaining for three reasons: interest in the game, interest in the actors, or a captivating story. With these three films, the filmmakers took no chances. They made these athletic tales more intriguing than a commonplace yarn about the game by adding a gimmick. In all three movies, the gimmick is an intangible concept whose effects are seen more than itself. Those concepts are chemistry, luck, and faith.Vernon’s chemical formula is an unremarkable milky liquid. He discovers it by accident after an errant baseball crashes through his laboratory’s window and destroys his chemical compound. As he cleans up, he notices that the baseball covered in the diluted formula pooling in the sink is repelled by wood. Vernon immediately knows where such a formula would be invaluable: on a pitcher’s glove in a baseball game.
With this formula in hand, Vernon can win games for a major league team, earn enough money to marry his fiancée, and fulfill his own dream of playing the sport. Meanwhile, Monk insists on using his roommate’s “hair tonic” (the formula), with hilarious results whenever he tries to style his hair with a wooden comb or brush.
In “Rhubarb,” the baseball team’s special advantage is the least extraordinary and most honest. Everybody knows about it, but the team can’t be disqualified because their lucky charm is the power of positive thinking. Can a beloved mascot, in this case the team’s feline, influence a game’s results? The film doesn’t imply it can. Eric manufactures the first lucky instances that convince the ball team that Rhubarb can sway fortune. After that, the cat merely gives the team confidence.
The players are a temperamental bunch, so it’s no wonder that they soon believe they can only win when Rhubarb is watching the game. Sometimes, believing you can’t lose is the only lucky charm you need.
In “Angels in the Outfield,” the baseball team’s winning formula begins as a secret, but it doesn’t remain such. It might seem unethical for angels to influence a baseball game to one team’s advantage, but heaven is more concerned with saving souls than the outcome of a game.
Guffy McGovern is a hard man with a bad temper, a vile vocabulary, and no interest in anything he can’t see. (His swearing is cleverly conveyed by overdubbed gibberish.) He needs strong motivation to reform; seeing his team start winning games is enough!
Baseball on the Big Screen
If you like sports, it’s fascinating to see how they were played in past generations. Movies about athletic events offer vivid depictions of the games before televised broadcasts were commonplace. All three of these films offer extended baseball sequences.Filmmakers used famous baseball stadiums, including Wrigley Field in Los Angeles and Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, to capture the impressive outdoor shots. They also featured professional athletes of the day alongside the actors and occasionally as their stand-ins.
This baseball season, take yourself out to the ballgame of yesteryear with these three charming films!
