Despite seeing thousands of films including Joe E. Brown in his famous supporting role in "Some Like It Hot," I had never seen him in a starring role...until this was aired on TCM the other night. Being a baseball fan, too, I had a feeling this might be an entertaining film.....and it was!
Yes, it's goofy and some of the humor is very dated but Brown has a number of things going for him. First, he actually can throw and catch a baseball. The guy could play the game! That's unusual to see in classic-era feature films. Secondly, as in "Some Like It Hot," he's funny and he's a likable guy with that "heyyyyyyyyy" noise that, for some reason, always makes me laugh.
Brown plays "Frank Ferrell," a.k.a., "Alibi Ike," a Dizzy Dean-type rookie for the Cubs who winds up with Olivia de Havilland (as a 19-year-old, no less, making one of her first films) - and helping the Cubs, of course. (Boy, they could use him now.)
Along the way, we get some very entertaining baseball scenes. Ya gotta Joe E's windmill windup! "Ike's" romance with "Dolly" (de Havilland) takes up a fairly good chunk of the second half and noticeably slows down the movie. I almost lost interest. It doesn't pick up again until near the end with a wild baseball finish which includes the greatest "slide" at home plate I've ever seen!
Yes, it's goofy and some of the humor is very dated but Brown has a number of things going for him. First, he actually can throw and catch a baseball. The guy could play the game! That's unusual to see in classic-era feature films. Secondly, as in "Some Like It Hot," he's funny and he's a likable guy with that "heyyyyyyyyy" noise that, for some reason, always makes me laugh.
Brown plays "Frank Ferrell," a.k.a., "Alibi Ike," a Dizzy Dean-type rookie for the Cubs who winds up with Olivia de Havilland (as a 19-year-old, no less, making one of her first films) - and helping the Cubs, of course. (Boy, they could use him now.)
Along the way, we get some very entertaining baseball scenes. Ya gotta Joe E's windmill windup! "Ike's" romance with "Dolly" (de Havilland) takes up a fairly good chunk of the second half and noticeably slows down the movie. I almost lost interest. It doesn't pick up again until near the end with a wild baseball finish which includes the greatest "slide" at home plate I've ever seen!