Fans of the principals and early MGM musicals will find this film entertaining enough, however I got the impression that it was terribly dated in the way it portrayed it's leading men. Gene Kelly in particular mugged his way through too many of the musical numbers, and I imagine the Frank Sinatra of a few decades later would have thought the one in this picture a cream puff. I can't say it's all Sinatra's fault either; MGM typecast his character in their early films as a nerdy type, more relaxed while reading a book than chasing skirts. The first part of the picture portrays him that way here, and Sinatra fans may seem baffled by it.
I liked the premise well enough, a new owner of the 'Wolves' baseball team turns out to be a woman, and it sets up expectations that she'll try to run the team her own way to the detriment of the players. But it didn't really turn out that way. K.C. Higgins (Esther Williams) utilized her own love of the game to champion the team on the field, while dodging the affections of both Eddie O'Brien (Kelly) and Denny Ryan (Sinatra) in the early going. An obligatory pool scene is inserted into the picture to capitalize on the star's status as a former swimming champion, and it added some credibility to her position running a sports team.
A sub-plot with Kelly's character involves a crooked sports gambler (Edward Arnold) attempting to influence the outcome of the Wolves' pennant run, but in an All-American MGM musical this idea won't gain traction for long. O'Brien and Ryan, with some help from the third member of their triple play battery, Nat Goldberg (Jules Munshin), lead the Wolves to their championship victory. Directed by Busby Berkley, the film is heavy on the musical numbers (I counted nine) with the dance choreography handled by Kelly and long time collaborator Stanley Donen. Some are built around a baseball theme, and the film wouldn't have been complete without that old standard, 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game'.
I liked the premise well enough, a new owner of the 'Wolves' baseball team turns out to be a woman, and it sets up expectations that she'll try to run the team her own way to the detriment of the players. But it didn't really turn out that way. K.C. Higgins (Esther Williams) utilized her own love of the game to champion the team on the field, while dodging the affections of both Eddie O'Brien (Kelly) and Denny Ryan (Sinatra) in the early going. An obligatory pool scene is inserted into the picture to capitalize on the star's status as a former swimming champion, and it added some credibility to her position running a sports team.
A sub-plot with Kelly's character involves a crooked sports gambler (Edward Arnold) attempting to influence the outcome of the Wolves' pennant run, but in an All-American MGM musical this idea won't gain traction for long. O'Brien and Ryan, with some help from the third member of their triple play battery, Nat Goldberg (Jules Munshin), lead the Wolves to their championship victory. Directed by Busby Berkley, the film is heavy on the musical numbers (I counted nine) with the dance choreography handled by Kelly and long time collaborator Stanley Donen. Some are built around a baseball theme, and the film wouldn't have been complete without that old standard, 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game'.