Alibi Ike

"Alibi Ike" 1935 was just one of Joe E. Brown's great contributions to the comedy world. In this picture he was a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs and played other roles as a St.Louis Cardinal, always arriving in the top of the nineth inning and saving the game as a top notch pitcher and hitter. It surprised me to see that Oliva de Havilland co-stared with this slap stick comedian, it was her very first film in 1935 and she went on to great fame in "Gone With The Wind" 1939 and many other famous classic movies. William Fawley, veteran film star("My Three Sons" TV Series) also performed his great talents. Another great star in this film was Roscoe Karns, who played, "Rocky King, Inside Detective" in the 1950's TV Series. Joe E. Brown's famous large mouth was his trade-mark and he sure gave people a great deal of happiness during World War II, his films will live on forever and ever.

Alibi Ike (1935)

*** (out of 4)

Third in Joe E. Brown's trilogy of baseball films has him playing Frank X. Farrell who gets the nickname of Alibi Ike because he comes up with an alibi no matter what's thrown his way. He joins the Chicago Cubs and becomes a wiz hitter and pitcher but a woman (Olivia de Havilland) falls in love with him and tries to change his ways. I really wasn't expecting too much out of this film but was pleasantly surprised at how many laughs Brown gives off. I'm sure many will find him annoying but the jokes were written very well and Brown carries them without a hitch. de Havilland is nice as the love interest and the supporting cast is nice as well. The highlight is when Brown tells his fielders to sit down behind the pitcher's mound so they can watch him strikeout the side. Many real-life baseball players can be seen on various teams and even Jim Thorpe can be spotted.

I loved Lardner's short story and didn't really expect movie to have same punch. That said I love this movie; yeah, I'm a sucker for old movies. They didn't go on forever, had good pacing and terrific dialogue. This one fits the category. Joe E Brown is "goshdarnit" fun as Ike and just can't help himself. I've known people like this who have an excuse for everything. Yes, it's one joke but it's a funny one!

The character of Alibi Ike was well known to the American public. There was not only Ring Lardner's short novel but a comic strip for a couple of years, with Ring Lardner as one of the strip's writers.

Lardner's prose was funny, but it was also an incisive exposure of the ignorance and bigotry of middle America of the 1920s. He was inditing a culture which was smug in its ignorance and prejudices. There is, of course, none of this in this Joe E. Brown comedy, designed mainly for Brown to do his familiar shtick while cruising along with a well used plot.

Warner Brothers was willing to bring social criticism into their films at this period (unlike the other studios), but they knew that it wouldn't work in a Joe E. Brown comedy. Brown's movies were designed for rural America (and were very successful), and rural America could laugh as Brown made fun of "citified ways", but they wouldn't have appreciated cogent criticism aimed at them. At least, they wouldn't have laughed.

So this is a fast comedy, pretty funny, especially for baseball fans and baseball historians.

I came across this movie on TV and, though I'm usually not a huge fan of black and white movies, I found myself really enjoying this one! It's lighthearted and funny, and it was fun to watch a movie all about old time baseball as a big fan of modern baseball. The love story is basic, but worked in well, not overwhelming the baseball aspect of the movie. The fact that his love interest is the team manager's sister-in-law is interesting. And I liked the fact that the other players are always playing rookie pranks on him even though he is a young phenom. Definitely not a serious drama, and I don't think it would be hard to follow or "get" for someone who's not a sports fan as some of the newer baseball movies are. It's a great movie for a Sunday when your home team was rained out. I recommended this one to my baseball-loving friends.