You won't be disappointed!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Don't Believe the Hype

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Disturbed by the song Yes, Indeedy. I was watching the movie today 07/04/2017. In listening to the lyrics I realized for an "upbeat" tune it is pretty perverse. One stanza sings of pedophilia and another of suicide .... Liars or not this is a pretty disgusting attitude to be in such a popular film.

I never caught this movie in its entirety when it aired on TCM, so I pulled out my DVD of the film and gave it a try. It is basically a typical (but wonderful) MGM movie musical of that era that centers around a baseball team called the Wolves, where Kelly, Sinatra, and Munshin are the star players ("O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg"). Esther Williams' character becomes suddenly more involved with the team than they'd like, and Betty Garrett's Shirley falls hard for Sinatra's Denny Ryan.All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and found myself humming along to the tunes, and chuckling at some of the funny dialogue. Naturally, Esther has a short swimming scene (I expected as much), Frank falls for Gene's girl initially and then changes his mind, and Betty Garrett is absolutely adorable. Look out for Jules Munshin (whom you will recognize as the exasperated waiter in "Easter Parade; 1948").Recommended if you need to smile and put your mind on hold. But then that is true of most of the MGM musicals of the Dream Factory era.

Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra play baseball players who are vaudevillians in the off-season. However, if you watch "Take Me Out To The Ball Game", it looks like it's the other way around. In other words, they sing and dance practically all the time and only rarely do we see them playing ball. And, when they do sing, it's not about baseball! I really think this film would have been improved tremendously had it really been about baseball and if they eliminated a few songs in favor of injecting more plot into the movie.The plot, scant as it is, often concerns Kelly and Sinatra chasing women--and vice-versa. While the romance between Kelly and Esther Williams was not very believable, I really liked the one between Sinatra and Betty Garrett. In particular, she was NOT a girl who played hard to get--and it was funny seeing her chasing (literally) her man! Additionally, there's another plot involving Kelly being manipulated by gamblers--though this seemed almost tacked on to the end of the film.Overall, there are a few nice musical numbers and a nice romance--but not a lot more to this one. And, oddly, so many disparate plot elements (including a swimming number by Williams in a baseball film and some comedy numbers) that the film never really connected with me. Not a bad film but it should have been so much better.

Sinatra and Kelly are professional baseball players and entertainers. Esther Williams, who recently acquired ownership of the team, supplies the love interest for both Sinatra and Kelly, until Betty Garrett shows up with her usual spunk. How can you go wrong with an American pastime and a light, cheery, and fun musical? It is good and enjoyable, but somehow, comparing it to others of its ilk, this one seems be an inning short of true satisfaction. One shouldn't really criticize the plot of a musical, because musicals are notorious for having paper-thin plots, relying mostly on its stars and the music for true flavor and enjoyment. But, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" doesn't really start with much to it, except for Esther's figure and Ol' Blue Eyes' voice. When Betty Garrett does show up, she does manage to interject some life into it. All in all, while you could do a lot worse and while it is pleasant enough, I would recommend "On the Town" over this fair musical.