Three classic films you love that are not well known

I am sure no-one was offended because I am sure no-one understood it.

I love Mr. Sardonicus.

The Baron of Arizona (1950). It's not very well known but you are not a true movie fan until you've seen this one.

Indeed. I DVRd it when I stumbled across it knowing nothing about it, was delighted when I watched it, and saved it so I could tell hubby, "You gotta see this; you'll love it." And based on a real person and events, too.

I've heard tell that WB had a script for it in the late '30s - "Prince Of Imposters," I think it was - intended for Edward G. Robinson with Anatole Litvak to direct. I rather wish it had gotten made as well (and needn't have deprived us of Sam Fuller's gem). Seems like it would have been right up Eddie's alley.   

With the Major League Baseball Post-Season Play-Offs and the World Series right around the corner, here are a few lesser known baseball movies:

Death On The Diamond / Edward Sedgwick (1934). A series of murders of major league baseball players seemed designed on keeping the St. Louis Cardinals from winning the pennant. Robert Young is the young hot-shot pitcher who is supposed to lead the team to victory (which he does while romancing the daughter of the team owner). Nat Pendleton is the team’s catcher. Ted Healy (the 3 Stooges’ first boss in movies) is a fast-talking sports reporter. A teen-aged Mickey Rooney is seen briefly as a batboy. One thing I noticed that was a little different about this mystery is that the characters are actually shocked and grieved at the killings. Usually, in low-budget mysteries, the deaths are just another plot point, just another conundrum for the hero to solve. But here we see the team manager almost break-down and one comic relief character have a touching moment in a tribute to his friend. There were moments that surprised me by taking murder seriously.

Angels In The Outfield / Clarence Brown (1951). Paul Douglas plays Guffy, the perpetually angry, abusive, and profane field manager for the last place Pirates. Umpires, reporters, and his own players are the targets of his wrath. That is, until one night on the field after a game, he is spoken to by an unseen angel (the voice of James Whitmore) who chides him for his nasty personality and who promises to help the team if Guffy will clean up his act. He does with the help of newly minted sports reporter Janet Leigh and a little girl from an orphanage who claims she can see the angels on the ball field. This is a touching sentimental fantasy that may not play well in our more modern world, especially because the film is clearly on the side of traditional religion. Paul Douglas is excellent as always, Janet Leigh does a good job and both get fine support from some great players like Lewis Stone, Spring Byington, King Donovan, Keenan Wynn, and, especially, Bruce Bennett as an aging pitcher who gets a last chance at glory.

The Winning Team / Lewis Seiler (1952). Not that it matters, but most of what happens in this film is true. Sure, there is the usual glossing over of some unsavory details and a sentimental happy ending, but the essential facts are there. Grover Cleveland Alexander (“Alex the Great”) experienced what might be one of the greatest sports comebacks in sports history. During his first season as a professional, he got plunked on the head by a thrown baseball. This gave him double vision and occasional convulsions which lasted over a year. After his vision cleared up, he began his major league career in 1911. During WWI, the explosions and noise on the battlefields effected his hearing and exacerbated the seizures. After the war, he drank heavily and his effectiveness on the field waned. The scrappy Cardinal team won the National League pennant in 1926 and went on to play the powerhouse New York Yankees team with their Murderers Row – Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzari, and Bob Meusel leading the pack. St. Louis was not intended to win this one. This was the set-up for one of the most astonishing – but TRUE – underdog victories ever, with Alex the Great being the major hero. Ronald Reagan shines (the best I have seen him) as Alexander. His scenes of drunkenness and of having seizures are never overdone. He worked hard at learning an authentic early-1900s pitching style. Even more credit goes to Reagan for lobbying for the movie to use the E-word: epilepsy. But even at mid-point in the century, there was just too much superstition and prejudice concerning the disease and too much cowardice in the studio heads to want to take a chance, so it was not to be. This is a really super baseball movie. Highly recommended.