''Alibi Ike'' is a 1935 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film directed by Ray Enright and starring Joe E. Brown,

Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...

and

William Frawley William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy ser ...

. Based on the short story of the same name by

Ring Lardner Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (March 6, 1885 – September 25, 1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical writings on sports, marriage, and the theatre. His contemporaries Ernest Hemingway, Virginia ...

, first published in the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'' on July 31, 1915, the film is about an ace baseball player nicknamed "Alibi Ike" for his penchant for making up excuses. Lardner is said to have patterned the character after baseball player King Cole. ''Alibi Ike'' was the most successful of Joe E. Brown's "baseball trilogy" of films, which also included '' Elmer, the Great'' and '' Fireman, Save My Child''. It is considered one of the best baseball comedies of all time. ''Alibi Ike'' was the first feature film released starring Olivia de Havilland, although she made two previous films that were released later that year—'' The Irish in Us'' and the all-star Shakespeare epic ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict ...

'', which also starred Joe E. Brown in a key role. A print of the film is held by the Library of Congress.

Plot

Frank X. Farrell ( Joe E. Brown) is an ace baseball player whose insistence on making excuses earns him the nickname "Alibi Ike." In the course of his first season with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

, Farrell falls in love with Dolly Stevens (

), sister-in-law of the team's manager. Farrell's "alibi" habit prompts Dolly to walk out on him, after which he goes into a slump—which coincides with attempts by gamblers to get Farrell to throw the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...

Cast

* Joe E. Brown as Frank X. Farrell *

as Dolly Stevens *

as Cap * Ruth Donnelly as Bess * Roscoe Karns as Carey * Eddie Shubert as Jack Mack *

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

as Lefty Crawford * Joe King as Johnson, the owner *

G. Pat Collins G. Pat Collins, also known as George Pat Collins or Pat Collins (born George Percy Collins; December 16, 1895 – August 5, 1959) was an American actor of the stage and screen. Biography Collins was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1895. After ser ...

as Lieutenant * Spencer Charters as Minister * Gene Morgan as Smitty Cast notes: *Several popular

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

players make

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

s in the film, including Guy Cantrell, Dick Cox, Cedric Durst, Mike Gazella, Wally Hood,

Don Hurst Frank O'Donnell "Don" Hurst (August 12, 1905 – December 6, 1952) was a first baseman in Major League Baseball. He played with the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs from 1928 to 1934. In 1932, he led the National League in runs batted i ...

Smead Jolley Smead Powell Jolley (January 14, 1902 – November 17, 1991) was an American outfielder in professional baseball. He played from 1922 to 1941, including four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1930 to 1933. Jolley was considered a goo ...

Lou Koupal Louis Laddie Koupal (December 19, 1898 – December 8, 1961) born in Tabor, South Dakota, was a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26), Brooklyn Robins (1928–29), Philadelphia Phillies (1929–30) and St. Louis Browns (1937). Koupal ...

, Bob Meusel,

Wally Rehg Walter Phillip Rehg (August 31, 1888 – April 5, 1946) was a reserve outfielder in Major League Baseball, playing mostly as a right fielder for four different teams between the and seasons. Listed at , 160 lb., Rehg batted and threw right ...

, and Jim Thorpe.

References

External links

* * * *
"Alibi Ike" by Ring Lardner
{{Ray Enright 1935 films 1935 romantic comedy films 1930s sports comedy films American baseball films American romantic comedy films American sports comedy films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films based on short fiction Films directed by Ray Enright Short stories by Ring Lardner Warner Bros. films 1930s American films