When we watch a Gene Kelly film, we can be sure there will be dancing. If we watch a Frank Sinatra movie, we know there will be singing. If Esther Williams is the star, we can plan on swimming. So, what do you get when all three of these Hollywood superstars are in the same movie? A singing/dancing musical with swimming, of course!
“Take Me Out to the Ballgame” is the story of the Wolves, a baseball team who took the championship the year previously and want to do it again. But their two star players, Ryan and O’Brien, are also vaudeville stars. That’s right – during the off season, Denny Ryan (Sinatra) and Eddie O’Brien (Kelly) made a tour of the vaudeville circuit, wowing audiences everywhere with their song and dance routine. They only return to the ball club in time for spring training, full of mostly mythical tales of their exploits on the road.
This year, the club is feeling a little tense. The former owner has passed away and left the team to his relative, K.C. Higgins. Imagine the team’s surprise to discover that the K stands for Kathryn, and she’s very much a girl. (Esther Williams)
But she’s not a pushover. She knows the game, can play it herself, and is a tough nut to crack when it comes to keeping the rules of training. Eddie, feeling confined with his ten o’clock bedtime, wants to see if he can get her to bend the rules a little, so he starts wooing her to discover she wasn’t born yesterday. When he realizes he wants to woo her in earnest, well, she’s just not interested in any more of his games.
Of course they all live happily ever after. It’s interesting to watch Sinatra, the obviously better singer, scale himself back so as not to overshadow Kelly, and Kelly, by far the better dancer, keep things simple so he doesn’t leave Sinatra in the dust. It’s a good partnership and an enjoyable movie, although I wouldn’t rank it as my favorite.
This film was not rated.
Related Blogs: