Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Starring:Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly, Betty Garrett, Edward Arnold, Jules Munshin, Richard Lane, Tom Dugan, Ramon Blackburn, Royce Blackburn, Henry Kulky, Aaron Phillips, Mitchell Lewis, Joi Lansing, The Blackburn Twins, Frank J. Scannell, Richard Beavers, Murray Alper, Mack Gray, Harry Allen
Director: Busby Berkeley
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
"From the moment you picked up that grounder and threw it to third, I knew it was love." Baseball and romance make a nifty double play in Take Me Out to the Ball Game, a bright bauble from the golden age of MGM musicals. The premise is a stretch: two members of a turn-of-the-century baseball team (Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra) are vaudeville performers in the off-season. Their ballclub is inherited by Esther Williams, causing much consternation among the boys and anticipating the plot line of Major League by 40 years.

Since swimming star Williams was always seen to best advantage dripping wet, the movie finds a way to get her into a hotel pool. Kelly, mugging mercilessly, executes an extended Irish solo dance (take that, Riverdance), and Sinatra, whose skinny frame is the source of many jokes in the script, is pursued by the irrepressible Betty Garrett and croons the ballad "The Right Girl for Me."

Amazon.com

"From the moment you picked up that grounder and threw it to third, I knew it was love." Baseball and romance make a nifty double play in Take Me Out to the Ball Game, a bright bauble from the golden age of MGM musicals. The premise is a stretch: two members of a turn-of-the-century baseball team (Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra) are vaudeville performers in the off-season. Their ballclub is inherited by Esther Williams, causing much consternation among the boys and anticipating the plot line of Major League by 40 years.

Since swimming star Williams was always seen to best advantage dripping wet, the movie finds a way to get her into a hotel pool. Kelly, mugging mercilessly, executes an extended Irish solo dance (take that, Riverdance), and Sinatra, whose skinny frame is the source of many jokes in the script, is pursued by the irrepressible Betty Garrett and croons the ballad "The Right Girl for Me."

Customer Reviews:

Take Me Out to the Ball Game 1949.......2006-04-12

Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) and Gene Kelly (1912-1996) play ball in big way as 1900s Vaudevillians who spend the winter flinging the onstage blarney and the Summer flinging the ol?horsehide for Baseballs world champ , The Wolves . Sinatra is second sacker Dennis Ryan and Kelly is shortstop Eddie O?Brien in this Busby Berkeley (1895-1976) directed romp that conbines baseball with that other All-American pastime: Romance , Esther Williams (1922- ) plays the new team owner and Betty Garrett (1919- ) is abaseball Annie with eyes for blue-eyed Ryan (Frankie Boy) . Kelly and Stanley Donen (1924- ) deft musical stagings ranged from softshoe duet charmer to exciting "barrel role" Kelly solo . Their work persuated producer Arthur Freed (1894-1973) to green-ligt their direction of the same year?s "On the Town 1949" . Here you have Baseball , Romance , Dancing and a Cult movie in one set ! . Transfer in High Quality pictures . Recommended

fun fun fun!.......2006-03-17

Breezy, delightful musical with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra in their third and final screen partnership. This time, they play baseball players who moonlight as vaudeville stars. The boys get a pleasant shock with their new team manager (Esther Williams) who of course creates fireworks when both players decide to make a `play' for her! Curiously enough, renowned "Million Dollar Mermaid" Williams spends most of her time out of the water in this film, only doing one brief swimming bit to the Title Song. Broadway comedy darling Betty Garrett (who also appeared with Kelly and Sinatra in ON THE TOWN) plays the secondary female lead and scores heavily with "It's Fate". Jules Munshin, Edward Arnold and Tom Dugan co-star.

Highly-recommended.

They don't make them like this anymore..........2005-06-22

I've been a big fan of classic Hollywood musicals as long as I can remember and I thought I had seen most of the great ones but somehow I missed seeing this one...I don't recall it ever being shown on TV and the only films I remembered seeing Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra in were "Anchors Aweigh" and "On The Town". But one day I was reading Esther Williams biography and discovered that she had made a picture with Kelly and Sinatra..Well..this peaked my curiosity and one day I decided to check Netflix to see if it was available and sure enough it was! So I checked it out and was I pleasantly surprised! What an immensely entertaining film! And seeing Betty Garrett swooning over Frank was a treat! I never realized how talented Ms. Garrett was! I know she was in "On The Town" with the guys but don't recall her role as being as big as the one she had in this film..I understand "On The Town" was made after this one but in my opinion..this one was much better! Kelly and Sinatra seem in fine form in this movie and there are many opportunities for the guys to showcase their remarkable talents! Jule Munshin is a treat as well with his hilarious mugging and wonderful chemistry with the guys! Just a wonderfully entertaining film with great musical numbers and great enthusiasm from the cast! They just don't make them like this anymore...

"Strictly U.S.A".......2004-09-04

This is an awesome movie! I think its better than Anchors Aweigh. Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra are two baseball players named Eddie O'Brien and Dennis Ryan who play for the Wolves. During the off-season Eddie and Dennis are vaudeville stars. When they return for the baseball season the whole team is horrifed to hear that the new owner K.C. Higgins wants to take an active part in coaching. As it turns out the K in K.C. Higgins happens to stand for Katherine (Esther Williams) so the new owner is a woman. Katherine dosn't fall for womanizer Eddie so the two don't get along at all!! Dennis does fall for her though, but Katherine isn't in love with him. Shirley Delwyn (Betty Garrett) has her eyes on Dennis and she won't give up on him! Also in the cast is Jules Munshin who plays Nat Goldberg, Dennis and Eddie's baseball pal.

This movie has a lot of great music.
The songs include "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" Frank and Gene sing this song as their vaudeville act. Also Williams sings this while swimming in the pool.
"Yes, Indeedy" The boys sing this song to the baseball team when they return from their vaudeville act. Its about their love life.
"O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg" Kelly, Sinatra, and Munshin sing this song! One of the best numbers!
"The Right Girl for Me" Sinatra sings this song to Williams.
"It's Fate, Baby" Garrett sings this to Sinatra to prove that they were meant for each other.
"Strictly USA" Probabley the best number everyone sings this at a party.
"Upon St. Patrick's Day" Kelly dances and sings to this great song. He sorta does this Irish gig. Kelly is truly the best dancer there ever was! This is one of the best numbers up there w/ Strictly USA.
At the end Kelly, Sinatra, Williams, Garrett sing to Strictly USA as the finale. It really great! The dvd has the following special features which are 2 deleted numbers called "Baby Face" and "Boys and Girls Like You and Me". It also contains the trailers of Anchors Aweigh, On the Town, and the trailer for this movie. Also includes notes on Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly. For some odd reason I love this movie! This is a must see if you are a Kelly fan!

A Musical Baseball Film That's Not About Baseball.......2004-06-06

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME is a typical MGM musical. Its story is silly at best and almost always implausible, yet somehow as if through some magical action, it works and the viewer believes that what is on the screen could actually happen. This is due to the fact that MGM seems to always have quality in mind. Add to the fact that the actors and actresses had more than looks and appeal, and you almost automatically have a wonderful film.

The plot is rather simple. Eddie O'Brien (played by Gene Kelly) and Dennis Ryan (played by Frank Sinatra) are baseball players by profession, but at heart they are Vaudeville entertainers. Trouble begins when they return to playing ball and learn the team is under new ownership. The owner's name is K.C. Higgins. When Higgins (played by Esther Williams) turns out to be a woman, a battle of the sexes begins. Ryan is set up to fall in love with Higgins, but meets Shirley Delwin, a girl who is both pretty and knows baseball. The two are smitten and Ryan wonders how he will break the news to Higgins. This turns out not to be a problem since Higgins naturally falls in love with Kelly, and in the end, all end up together and happily ever after. Of course the real treasure of this film is not the plot but the wonderful song and dance numbers. Sinatra croons away and Kelly wows the audience with his dance techniques. Of course Esther Williams has a swimming number. The movie ends with the four stars singing and dancing to "Simply America." Its major purpose was probably to promote patriotism and seems set in the 1940's rather than the early 1900's, and in the number Sinatra and Kelly sing of the virtues of great female performers such as Judy Garland and Kathryn Grayson while Williams and Garrett respond by singing the praises of Bing Crosby and Fred Astair. The DVD includes edited portions of the film which are interesting to see.

All in all, the film is both nostalgic and entertaining in MGM's trademark manner.

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