{"id":41417,"date":"2018-11-05T13:16:25","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T20:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41417"},"modified":"2021-01-24T15:33:07","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T22:33:07","slug":"take-me-out-to-the-ball-game-1949","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41417","title":{"rendered":"Take Me Out To the Ball Game (1949)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Wouldn&#8217;t it be wonderful to be married to a girl who played baseball?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Take-Me-Out-to-the-Ball-Game-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Take-Me-Out-to-the-Ball-Game-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-41418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Take-Me-Out-to-the-Ball-Game-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Take-Me-Out-to-the-Ball-Game-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Take-Me-Out-to-the-Ball-Game-Poster.jpg 666w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nNear the beginning of the 20th century, a pair of vaudeville performers (Gene Kelly and Sinatra) take a break from the stage while playing baseball for a team &#8212; The Wolves &#8212; newly acquired by a sports-loving female (Esther Williams). An acquaintance (Betty Garrett) of a noted gambler (Edward Arnold) takes an immediate fancy to Sinatra, while Kelly and Williams develop affections for one another &#8212; but when Arnolds decides to jinx the team&#8217;s chances of success by luring Kelly back to the stage, the future of the team and its romantic involvements are uncertain.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Baseball<\/li>\n<li>Busby Berkeley Films<\/li>\n<li>Edward Arnold Films<\/li>\n<li>Frank Sinatra Films<\/li>\n<li>Gambling<\/li>\n<li>Gene Kelly Films<\/li>\n<li>Musicals<\/li>\n<li>Strong Females<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nFrank Sinatra and Gene Kelly co-starred in three musicals together: <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=30845\"><em>Anchors Aweigh<\/em>(1945)<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=30219\"><em>On the Town<\/em> (1949)<\/a>, and this Busby Berkeley-directed Technicolor musical, produced in the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arthur_Freed\">Arthur Freed unit of MGM<\/a>. Williams &#8212; who manages to star in one swimming sequence &#8212; was a last-minute replacement for Ginger Rogers, and apparently didn&#8217;t enjoy the experience much; she&#8217;s ultimately less memorable than Garrett, who has a ton of fun singing, dancing, and aggressively wooing Sinatra. The song and dance numbers (many of which include Jules Munshin, co-star of <em>On the Town<\/em>) are colorful and vibrant, and it&#8217;s fun to see the early days of baseball given their glory on screen &#8212; however, this film doesn&#8217;t distinguish itself as must-see.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lively songs and dances<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Dance.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Dance.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41419\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Dance.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Dance-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Dance-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine Technicolor cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1483\" height=\"1029\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Cinematography.png 1483w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Cinematography-128x89.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Cinematography-300x208.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Cinematography-768x533.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Cinematography-1024x711.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1483px) 100vw, 1483px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Colors.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Colors.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41421\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Colors.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Colors-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TMOTTBG-Colors-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s a fun diversion. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0041944\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/1396\/take-me-out-to-the-ball-game#articles-reviews?articleId=30058\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1949\/03\/10\/archives\/frank-sinatra-and-gene-kelly-in-take-me-out-to-the-ball-game-at.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Wouldn&#8217;t it be wonderful to be married to a girl who played baseball?&#8221; Synopsis: Near the beginning of the 20th century, a pair of vaudeville performers (Gene Kelly and Sinatra) take a break from the stage while playing baseball for a team &#8212; The Wolves &#8212; newly acquired by a sports-loving female (Esther Williams). An acquaintance (Betty Garrett) of a noted gambler (Edward Arnold) takes an immediate fancy to Sinatra, while Kelly and Williams develop affections for one another &#8212;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41417\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41417"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65669,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41417\/revisions\/65669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}