A Fine Bromance - Part II

One of the problems with being a fan of old movies is that as you grow older, you may begin to feel conflicted about your love affair.  Lately I’ve started to grow more sensitive to sexism and anti-feminist jokes that sometimes pop up in older films, even films I’d once loved.  This may be especially true for the next entry in the Gene Kelly – Frank Sinatra series.  After their first pairing in Anchors Aweigh, Sinatra and Kelly reteamed several years later (after Kelly had actually served in the Navy) and made Take Me Out to the Ball Game in 1949. 

Eddie and Denny

In this film, the guys take up their usual roles as of shy, inexperienced Denny Ryan (Sinatra), and confident ladies’ man Eddie O’Brien (Gene Kelly).  In the off season, they tour together as a vaudeville act, but in season they are two of the star players of the Wolves baseball team.  The film starts off with them returning from the road for spring training, wherein the team learns that they have a new owner, who is coming down to take a more active role in management.  Nobody expects the new owner to be a woman (K. C. Higgins, played by Esther Williams), nor that she would actually know something about baseball and business.  Higgins does a good job of putting the guys in their places, except that Denny develops a crush on her.  One of the team’s fans, Shirley (Betty Garrett) falls for Denny and is far from playing hard-to-get.  So while she’s wooing Denny, Higgins and Eddie start to realize that all their arguing is actually leading into something like love.  It all comes to a head when a racketeer bets a large sum against the Wolves winning the pennant, and tries to use Eddie to sabotage the team.             

As I mentioned earlier, I had a hard time watching this film again after so long.  There are so many stereotyped male-female relationships and actions that just start to bother me.  Most noticeable is the number Eddie and Denny do at the beginning when they return to the team.  "Yes, Indeedy" is about them loving and leaving a string of heartbroken women (the line about the brokenhearted girl in Vassar killing herself still makes me angry).  Of course all their bragging about women is a lie, but it nevertheless reinforces that “wolfish” stereotype of men (I mean, come on, the team name is the Wolves).  That’s why when Higgins comes along and cuts Eddie down to size, female viewers have a reason to cheer.  I think Eddie learns his lesson, or at least he starts to, when he falls for Higgins.  It’s a shame that the film ends when it does, instead of us seeing a real change in either of the male characters.  But it is undeniably about the great American pastime, and I’m not talking about baseball.

As sexist as the guys come off in this film, I think the women save them.  Williams plays a very strong lead character as Higgins, but she isn’t altogether out of touch with her feminine side, nor is she above wooing and romance.  And Betty Garrett plays an unforgettable Shirley, who is bright and sunny and won’t take no for an answer from any man.  As Shirley sings in the all-company number, “Strictly U.S.A.”, it’s the all-American girl who wears the pants, and she is definitely the best example.  It’s really nice to see Sinatra and his love interest get their own full storyline and ample screen time; in Anchors Aweigh, Sinatra’s love interest from Brooklyn doesn’t get nearly enough screen time.  Shirley is the kind of girl who knows exactly what she wants and has no qualms about getting it. 

Take Me out to the Ball Game redeems itself with two things – first, the genuinely good working relationship and respect between Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly; second, the musical numbers.  Aside from that duet I mentioned, all of the other songs are solid hits.  One of my all-time favorite Frank Sinatra songs is actually from this film.  It's "The Right Girl for Me".  The words are just beautiful: "if her voice is a song and her walk is a dance and if her laughter is warm and free […] if I suddenly seem to be seeing a dream, she's the right girl for me."  I think I swoon every time.  Then there's his duet with the incomparable Betty Garrett, "It's Fate Baby, It's Fate", which I talked about in my Betty Garrett post last month.  There's a pretty funny number with the boys and Jules Munshin about their characters' famous double play: "O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg."  Gene has a fantastic dance number with the Irish-themed “The Hat My Dear Old Father Wore upon St. Patrick's Day.”  And of course they have to sing the title song.
 

The famous end sequence! MGM 1949.

Before I end this post, I have to talk about what I absolutely love about this film.  The ending.  The film starts with Denny and Ryan on stage for vaudeville.  The film closes with them back on stage, presumably still on vaudeville.  But here’s the thing – they’re no longer in character!  Here are the words: “The love scene must be played out before the final fade-out.  Sinatra gets Garrett, Kelly gets Williams, for that’s the plot the authors wrote!  So let’s turn this duet into a quartet and end it on a happy note.”  Williams and Garrett join the boys on stage and continue with the rest of the number, which turns into a reprise of “Strictly U.S.A.”.  Perhaps my favorite part is where the guys start with: “Take Judy Garland!  Take Kathryn Grayson!” and the women counter with “Take Mr. Crosby or Fred Astaire!”  A nice rivalry and a fun bit of film history,* it’s a great break for the film and a lot of fun to watch.  While not one of the best musicals ever, Take Me out to the Ball Game has some fantastic singing and dancing, and reunites Sinatra and Kelly, setting the pair up for their best film together, On the Town. 

*Judy Garland and Gene Kelly were friends and co-stars in his first film, For Me and My Gal  Kathryn Grayson had not only been Sinatra’s crush in Anchors Aweigh, but had co-starred with him again in It Happened in Brooklyn (1947) and The Kissing Bandit (1948).