"Angels in the Outfield" is a light sports comedy and faith fantasy that has Paul Douglas as the new manager of the major league Pittsburgh Pirates, Aloysius X. 'Guffy' McGovern. Baseball managers of the day were known to speak vocabularies punctuated with any number of expletives, especially during games. The film stops just short of such language, but one gets the message by McGovern's persona in the opening.
The Pirates have been on a slump, and under the new manager things begin to change slowly. This is due, in part, to a woman reporter who begins to cover baseball games. Janet Leigh's Jennifer Paige gets the assignment after a tip that a young girl from one of the Catholic schools in the city saw angels on the field during one of the games. McGovern never gets to see the angels, but in time he can talk with them. All of this is meant to change the hard-nosed, gruffy McGovern.
Toward the end, romance seems to be in the air for McGovern and Paige. That is a bit of a stretch with the huge difference in ages and McGovern's rugged physical appearance. Still, in times past, it was common for older men and younger women to marry. And, this is an everyman story.
The story is nice, with light humor in places. Otherwise, it isn't an overly compelling plot. A number of well-known supporting actors contribute to the story. Among them are Keenan Wynn, Lewis Stone, Spring Byington, Bruce Bennett and Marvin Kaplan.
While not of the stature of the more handsome leading men of the time, Paul Douglas was a very good actor. He played a variety of roles, with equal ability - whether comedy, drama or mystery. Douglas was more of the everyman that audiences could then - and can yet, identify with. Hits at the box office were common for the handsome MGM players of the day. But, with stars like Douglas, it depended more on the story, quality of the film, and even moods in the culture at the time. Douglas died eight years after this film was made, at age 52.
The Pirates have been on a slump, and under the new manager things begin to change slowly. This is due, in part, to a woman reporter who begins to cover baseball games. Janet Leigh's Jennifer Paige gets the assignment after a tip that a young girl from one of the Catholic schools in the city saw angels on the field during one of the games. McGovern never gets to see the angels, but in time he can talk with them. All of this is meant to change the hard-nosed, gruffy McGovern.
Toward the end, romance seems to be in the air for McGovern and Paige. That is a bit of a stretch with the huge difference in ages and McGovern's rugged physical appearance. Still, in times past, it was common for older men and younger women to marry. And, this is an everyman story.
The story is nice, with light humor in places. Otherwise, it isn't an overly compelling plot. A number of well-known supporting actors contribute to the story. Among them are Keenan Wynn, Lewis Stone, Spring Byington, Bruce Bennett and Marvin Kaplan.
While not of the stature of the more handsome leading men of the time, Paul Douglas was a very good actor. He played a variety of roles, with equal ability - whether comedy, drama or mystery. Douglas was more of the everyman that audiences could then - and can yet, identify with. Hits at the box office were common for the handsome MGM players of the day. But, with stars like Douglas, it depended more on the story, quality of the film, and even moods in the culture at the time. Douglas died eight years after this film was made, at age 52.