Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Released Mar 9, 1949

1h 33m

Musical

Comedy

List

95%

19 Reviews

Tomatometer

70%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Despite being key players for the Wolves, baseball players Dennis Ryan (Frank Sinatra) and Eddie O'Brien (Gene Kelly) harbor a passion for vaudeville. When a local gambler (Edward Arnold) puts a lot of money on the Wolves to lose a big game, he tries to win the bet by offering Eddie the lead role in a newly produced show. Though Eddie is tempted to accept, he risks incurring the wrath of both Dennis and the team's owner (Esther Williams), who just happens to be his girlfriend.

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Steve D

Amusing but should have been far better.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/08/23

Full Review

Red T

The music is the best part of this with really good numbers throughout and solid cinematography. There is tons of long take dance numbers, creative sets, and everything pops. The editing is good and moves well between song and sports. The acting is solid also with great chemistry between everyone and lots of charm despite the characters not having much depth. The pacing is good also though the only problems are the songs half the time while really good and fun to watch don't really tie into the plot at all. And towards the last 25 minutes or so it can get a bit dry because it has a long stretch where there isn't any songs compared to the rest of the film where it goes every 7 minutes or so with a number. Also, it can get a bit too slap stick and silly for its own good half the time and should've taken itself a bit more serious and the plot sometimes comes to a halt for dance numbers that don't tie in well. Ironically besides the final 30 minutes there isn't much baseball in this. That being said, this still manages to be a delight to watch and anyone who is a fan of any actors in this or fan of Musicals will like this. It's Good!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Great acting and refreshing with music and dancing. Ester Williams and Betty Garret are fantastic beauties.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/23/22

Full Review

camille l

Lorsque Gene Kelly et Frank Sinatra ont trouvé Betty Garrett, ils ont trouvé leur parfait contrepied. On l'a vu dans "On the Town" mais c'est clairement dans Take me out to the Ball Game où cette actrice formidable brille de mille feux. A la fois franche comédie, musical et aussi témoin de son époque, le film de Busby Berkeley est une splendide surprise, même pour les néophytes du baseball. Le film est drôle, passionnant, ruisselle de numéros musicaux très réussis et mérite d'être mis à la même mesure qu'On the Town. Peut-être manque-t'il un vrai rythme et un vrai souffle à la mise en scène mais nous sommes en présence d'un vrai grand film ici.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Strike one: Coming right off the heels of WWII, the chauvinistic display of nationalism is understandable, but in numbers like "Strictly U.S.A."—where every face is strictly white—the appeal to an overriding sense of exclusionary patriotism lands like a pop-up fly. Strike two: The chauvinist treatment of women would be as appalling as the jingoism, if it weren't simultaneously (if unintentionally) undercut by all the song-and-dance, which gives the whole affair a sense of gender performativity, a mere wink away from sliding into sheer camp. Strike three: Ultimately, compared to the other collaborations between Kelly and Sinatra, this one is a swing and a miss.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Pleasant little musical.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

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Busby Berkeley

Director

Gene Kelly

Eddie O'Brien

Frank Sinatra

Dennis Ryan

Esther Williams

K.C. Higgins

Betty Garrett

Shirley Delwyn

Edward Arnold

Joe Lorgan

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91%

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Bob Thomas

Associated Press

Seldom has there been a film loaded with such fine entertainment.

Jun 19, 2019

Full Review

TIME Magazine

A lazy Technicolored cinemusical aimed squarely and accurately at the summer box office.

Mar 21, 2011

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

There is no pretense that Ball Game is anything more than a romp for Kelly's virtuosity.

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

A fun, frothy comedy that throws away its ending, but plods along amiably on the charm of its stars and Berkeley's charming (if subdued) direction.

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 26, 2021

Full Review

Elsa Branden

Photoplay

The result is a tuneful, enjoyable movie.

Rated: 2/3

Aug 20, 2021

Full Review

Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Take Me Out to the Ball Game is an entertaining and enjoyable star-studded musical comedy with baseball as the film's backdrop.

Aug 8, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

Despite being key players for the Wolves, baseball players Dennis Ryan (Frank Sinatra) and Eddie O'Brien (Gene Kelly) harbor a passion for vaudeville. When a local gambler (Edward Arnold) puts a lot of money on the Wolves to lose a big game, he tries to win the bet by offering Eddie the lead role in a newly produced show. Though Eddie is tempted to accept, he risks incurring the wrath of both Dennis and the team's owner (Esther Williams), who just happens to be his girlfriend.

Director: Busby Berkeley
Screenwriter: Harry Tugend, George Wells
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Genre: Musical, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 9, 1949, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2012
Runtime: 1h 33m

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