Kill the Umpire

This is a really a funny movie, something Director Lloyd Bacon produced by the carload back in "the classic era." Bacon's movies were fast-moving and entertaining, and this was no exception. If you liked William Bendix in his mid-1950s TV show, "Life Of Riley," you'll like this film.

Bacon had an especially good year in comedies in 1950 with this movie, "The Fuller Brush Girl" with Lucille Ball, and "The Good Humor Man" with Jack Carson. The director must have been a baseball fan because the year before (1949), he directed Ray Milland in another absurd-but-hilarious movie called "It Happens Every Spring." Whether you enjoy baseball or, you'll get a lot of laughs out of it, too. It's just simply a goofy and likable comedy, filled with the kind of characters you'd see in a late '40s/early '50s comedy. What's nice about the older films, too, is that you actually see whole families: dad, mom and a couple of kids.

Actually, you more you know about baseball, the more you'll just shake your in disbelief at some of the things you'll see in this story because they could never happen today, or even back in 1950. (i.e. a fan coming out of the stands and punching an umpire several times over the course of a minute, and then ump slugging him....and nobody arrested?) Anyway, Bendix is very good and the supporting case, led by underrated actor Tom D'Andrea, is fun to watch, too. D'Andrea and Bendix reminded me almost of Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in "Some Like It Hot." They worked well as a team and must have known that because they paired up in the aforementioned TV series, too, later in the decade.

This film also will remind older film buffs of silent movie comedies with a wild scene at the end you have to see to believe. (Hint: Bendix winds up "water skiing down city streets, being pulled by an ambulance).

It's sheer lunacy.

What I noticed first about this flick was the opening soundtrack of 'Three Blind Mice', I thought I was watching a Three Stooges short. As the film went on, a number of characters appeared that I remember from the Stooges films (Vernon Dent, Emil Stitka, etc. Columbia Pictures released this film in 1950 at the height of the Stooges popularity. These characters are not in the movies' credits, but do appear listed on the IMDB database.

This is one of the great early movies about baseball. William Bendix is the perfect "Two Call Johnson" and William Frawley is outstanding as the owner of the umpire school. While it has several slapstick-style sight gags, it captures a man's love for the game. There's nothing brilliant about the storyline, but it rates as the Swiss chocolate of mind candy.

I only wish it were available on DVD.

I saw this film over 20 years ago for the first and only time on an old reel to reel projector. I have been unable to find anyone who can produce it in video form, but if I could I would surely make it a part of my collection. It is one of the best baseball films ever made. William Bendix gave a great performance and the chase scene at the end was a classic. I hope that somehow it can be found to be in circulation. I love the old classics of the 30's, 40's and 50's. This was a fun film.

It's sort of nice when you watch a film not expecting much, but discover an entertaining story. That was the case for this film, which I saw on TCM. William Bendix is always enjoyable as a supporting actor, but in this Columbia film he starred, as an ex-baseball player addicted to baseball, who very reluctantly takes a job as an umpire. It's especially nice to see Bendix playing with Tom D'Andrea, who was also his pal in the "Life Of Riley" television series. And, other supporting actors are Ray Collins (of Perry Mason fame), Una Merkel (as the wife), and William Frawley as the owner of the school for umpires.

While I found the film entertaining, it did have its flaws. Most annoying was seeing all the major mountains in St. Petersburg and Cocoa in Florida! Apparently there's been an awfully lot of erosion in the last 60 years since this film was made! There were a few others "errors of location", as well. But, after all, this was a relatively low budget film, and if you ignore such things, you can still enjoy the story. One other problem was that the director couldn't exactly decide what kind of comedy this was. Sentimental? Sometimes. Screwball? No, in a few places (like setting fire to the hotel and the car chase segment) it got downright slapstick. But, still, it's a pleasant enough film to watch. I couldn't help thinking, however, how Red Skelton could have made so much more of the movie.