Directed by Clarence Brown. Starring Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh, Donna Corcoran, Keenan Wynn, Spring Byington, Bruce Bennett, Ellen Corby, Lewis Stone, Marvin Kaplan, King Donovan, Jeff Richards, (voice) James Whitmore.
Innocuous, good-hearted fantasy film about the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates getting help winning some games from baseball-loving angels, so long as their combative manager (Douglas) cleans up his belligerent, foul-mouthed ways (even though the greatest sin he commits in the movie is pouring ketchup on a steak). Leigh is the women's advice reporter breaking the outlandish story; Corcoran the young orphan doing the praying. Has a breezy pace and some snappy dialogue at the outset, bogs down later with too much "cute" humor and lead-footed storytelling, even inserting an unnecessary (and very unlikely) romance. Several missed opportunities along the way; e.g., why not have Douglas struggle more with keeping a cool temper and clean vocabulary, or why isn't there more of an exploration about why the heavenly intervention is happening (theology may not be on the minds of the filmmakers, but the "Miracle on 34th Street"-esque courtroom scenes almost demand it)? Features several celebrity cameos, including Ty Cobb--surprisingly, his appearance doesn't cause all the holy interlopers to flee in terror. Remade by Disney in 1994, with the team in question being (appropriately) swapped for the California Angels.
58/100
Innocuous, good-hearted fantasy film about the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates getting help winning some games from baseball-loving angels, so long as their combative manager (Douglas) cleans up his belligerent, foul-mouthed ways (even though the greatest sin he commits in the movie is pouring ketchup on a steak). Leigh is the women's advice reporter breaking the outlandish story; Corcoran the young orphan doing the praying. Has a breezy pace and some snappy dialogue at the outset, bogs down later with too much "cute" humor and lead-footed storytelling, even inserting an unnecessary (and very unlikely) romance. Several missed opportunities along the way; e.g., why not have Douglas struggle more with keeping a cool temper and clean vocabulary, or why isn't there more of an exploration about why the heavenly intervention is happening (theology may not be on the minds of the filmmakers, but the "Miracle on 34th Street"-esque courtroom scenes almost demand it)? Features several celebrity cameos, including Ty Cobb--surprisingly, his appearance doesn't cause all the holy interlopers to flee in terror. Remade by Disney in 1994, with the team in question being (appropriately) swapped for the California Angels.
58/100