Wonderfully offbeat film!

Very disappointed :(

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

***SPOILER ALERT*** (kind of)It's a great film and a great musical. But, perhaps with my perspective of today, I just wonder why -- at a time when popular baseball greats were named Rizzuto, DiMaggio, and Berra -- Sinatra's character wasn't given an Italian name. Perhaps it didn't fit with the time period in which the musical was set. But it still perplexes me. All of the stars are great in this film.

The second of three musicals pairing Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, technically it's a musical comedy but one without laughs and a third- rate score by the vastly over-rated Comden and Green with insipid music by Roger Edens who clearly had some kind of clout at MGM given the amount of musicals he got a credit on - the same three ho hum writers were also credited with 'additional' songs for On The Town, made more or less back-to-back with this leaving Anchors Aweigh as the only one of the three with a decent score, not really surprising inasmuch as it was the work of real songwriters, Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. This entry is also dragged down by a hokey plot and though I've yet to see the much maligned and allegedly risible Kissing Bandit it'll have to go some to beat this piece of cheese.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)*** (out of 4) Eddie (Gene Kelly) and Dennis (Frank Sinatra) are two leaders of their baseball team who also like to sing and dance on the side. The championship team learns that a new person has taken control of the team and to everyone's shock it turns out to be a woman (Ester Williams). The two men are soon fighting over the woman while Eddie also gets caught up with a gambler (Edward Arnold).TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME isn't nearly in the same league as ON THE TOWN, the previous Sinatra and Kelly teaming but if you're a fan of the men then there's no doubt that you'll want to check this film out. While it isn't in that tier of classic MGM musicals it's still a pretty darn fun film to watch.I think it should go without saying that the main reason to watch the film is for its cast. Both Kelly and Sinatra would obviously do much better things in their careers but they certainly had a chemistry that was undeniable. The two play well off of one another and it's somewhat shocking that Sinatra would get top-billing even though he's not in the film nearly as much. The two open and close the film with very good musical numbers and there are fun tunes throughout.Williams is also extremely good in her role playing a tougher-than-normal woman who gives it to bother the men. Betty Garrett is good in her part as is Arnold and Richard Lane. The entire cast really does a nice job at capturing the spirit of baseball. The musical numbers, staged by Stanley Donan and Kelly, are quite good and will certainly leave you with a smile on your face.TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME isn't a masterpiece but it's hard to deny its charm.

This takes place in the early 1900s. Two ball players--Dennis Ryan (Frank Sinatra) and Eddie O'Brien (Gene Kelly)--are upset when their team starts being run by a woman--beautiful K.C. Higgins (Esther Williams!). Naturally they both fall in love with her.This musical isn't revived much or talked about. It's easy to see why! It is in bright Technicolor, Williams looks great in period costumes and there are some lively song and dance numbers. I was really impressed to see how Sinatra held his own tap-dancing with Kelly. But when there's no musical numbers or singing this is pretty bad. The story is utterly predictable, the dialogue is poor with some truly terrible jokes and Kelly overacts to such a degree that it's actually pretty embarrassing. The characters are all one-dimensional too--then again no one watches old musicals expecting deep meaningful characterizations. The acting is mostly good. As I said Kelly overdoes EVERYTHING; Sinatra is easy-going and charming; Williams is truly gorgeous and holds her own against them (and even has a totally gratuitous sequence in a swimming pool!) and Betty Garrett pops up halfway through and almost single-handedly saves the show. Her lines are terrible but she manages to make them sound funny and she's full of energy! Musical numbers aside though this is a pretty bad picture. Worth catching at least once if you like musicals--but don't expect much.