Big Leaguer
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''Big Leaguer'' is a 1953 American
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
starring
Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films duri ...
and was the first film directed by
Robert Aldrich Robert Burgess Aldrich (August 9, 1918 – December 5, 1983) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His notable credits include '' Vera Cruz'' (1954), ''Kiss Me Deadly'' (1955), ''The Big Knife'' (1955), '' Autumn L ...
. Although this story is fiction, Robinson's character in it,
Hans Lobert John Bernard "Hans" Lobert (October 18, 1881 – September 14, 1968) was an American third baseman, shortstop, coach, manager and scout in Major League Baseball. Lobert was immortalized in the 1966 Lawrence Ritter book ''The Glory of Their Times'' ...
, was an actual baseball player who played for five
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), ...
teams and managed the
Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...
. Third-billed in the cast, Jeff Richards was a professional ballplayer before he became an actor, and
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
pitcher
Carl Hubbell Carl Owen Hubbell (June 22, 1903 – November 21, 1988), nicknamed "the Meal Ticket" and "King Carl", was an American Major League Baseball player. He was a pitcher for the New York Giants of the National League from 1928 to 1943, and remained o ...
appears as himself. "It was not a personal film of my status at the time," said Aldrich later. "I feel the film was good but not indicative of what I wanted to express in the motion picture medium."


Plot

John "Hans" Lobert runs a training camp in Florida for baseball's
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
. Every year, he evaluates the 18- to 22-year-old hopefuls to pick the best for a minor league contract. All have dreams and talent, but the elimination whittles them down to a lucky few who will get the $150-a-month contract. Lobert's niece comes down from the home office in New York and finds herself attracted to one of the players, the tall, quiet Adam Polachuk, a Polish-American from Pittston, Pennsylvania. Polachuk, the best prospect at third base, is trying to earn a spot on the team without his father knowing about it. His father, who knows nothing about baseball, thinks Adam is attending school. His father finds out about Adam's attempt to make the Giants just before the best of the recruits square off against the Brooklyn Dodgers' rookie squad. The elder Polachuk is persuaded by manager Lobert to let his son play in the game before taking him home. Polachuk is the star of the game for the Giants both offensively and defensively as the Giants rally to win the game.


Cast

*
Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films duri ...
as John B. 'Hans' Lobert * Vera-Ellen as Christy * Jeff Richards as Adam Polachuk * Richard Jaeckel as Bobby Bronson * William Campbell as Julie Davis *
Carl Hubbell Carl Owen Hubbell (June 22, 1903 – November 21, 1988), nicknamed "the Meal Ticket" and "King Carl", was an American Major League Baseball player. He was a pitcher for the New York Giants of the National League from 1928 to 1943, and remained o ...
as Himself * Paul Langton as Brian McLennan *
Lalo Rios Lalo may refer to: Places *Dale Lalo, Ethiopian district *Lalo Asabi, Ethiopian district *Lalo Bandai Pakistani district *Lalo, Benin, a town in Benin *Lalo Kile, Ethiopian district *Lalo, Tokelau, an island in the South Pacific *Lalo railway stati ...
as Chuy Aguilar * Bill Crandall as Tippy Mitchell * Frank Ferguson as Wally Mitchell * John McKee as Dale Alexander * Mario Siletti as Mr. Polachuk *
Al Campanis Alexander Sebastian Campanis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Σεβαστιανός Καμπάνης; November 2, 1916 – June 21, 1998) was an American executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). He had a brief major league playing career, as a ...
as Himself *
Bob Trocolor Robert G. Trocolor (March 31, 1917 – July 27, 1984) was an American football player and coach. He was also a college basketball and football head coach as well as movie actor. Football career Player Trocolor played college football for the ...
as Himself * Tony Ravis as Himself * Robert Calwell as Pomfret * Donald 'Chippie' Hastings as Little Joe Polachuk *
Bing Russell Neil Oliver "Bing" Russell (May 5, 1926 – April 8, 2003) was an American actor and Class A minor-league baseball club owner. He was the father of Hollywood actor Kurt Russell and grandfather of ex–major league baseball player Matt Franco ...
* Harv Tomter as Himself (uncredited)


Production

The film was one of a series of low budget films made at MGM. According to Robert Aldrich, Louis B. Mayer "had wanted to put the sons of the guys who helped him form Metro into production work; and they had this thing called the sons of the pioneers... Three or four guys whose fathers had been helpful in first forming Metro." Mayer left MGM in 1951 but
Dore Schary Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed just one feature film, '' Act One'', the film bio ...
kept alive the idea, in part because of the success of a low budget unit at MGM which he ran in the early 1940s. In January 1952 he announced the formation of a new production unit under the supervision of
Charles Schnee Charles Schnee (6 August 1916 Bridgeport, Connecticut - 29 November 1963 Beverly Hills, California) was a screenwriter and film producer. He wrote the scripts for the Westerns '' Red River'' (1948) and '' The Furies'' (1950), the social melodrama ...
. It included several sons of executives who had helped establish MGM, Matthew Raft (son of Harry Rapf), Arthur Loew (son of Marcus Loew), and Sidney Franklin Jnr (son of
Sidney Franklin Sidney Franklin may refer to: * Sidney Franklin (bullfighter) (1903–1976), American bullfighter * Sidney Franklin (director) (1893–1972), American film director and producer * Sidney Franklin (actor) Sidney Franklin (1870–1931) was an Amer ...
). Other producers were Hayes Goetz, Henry Berman (brother of Pandro S. Berman), and Sol Fielding. The idea was to make ten to fifteen films a year. ''Big Leaguer'' was based on an original story by John McNulty, who sold it to producer Matthew Rapf at MGM. Herbert Butler wrote a script and in November 1952 MGM announced they would make the film under the
Charles Schnee Charles Schnee (6 August 1916 Bridgeport, Connecticut - 29 November 1963 Beverly Hills, California) was a screenwriter and film producer. He wrote the scripts for the Westerns '' Red River'' (1948) and '' The Furies'' (1950), the social melodrama ...
unit. Robinson signed later that month, the first film he had shot at MGM since ''Our Vines Have Tender Grapes''. Filming would not begin until March 1953 to take advantage of spring training. Robert Aldrich had worked at Enterprise Studios as an assistant director and met Herbert Baker on '' So This is New York''. Baker recommended Aldrich as director because he had worked in television and "knew athletes". "They were looking for 'bright young guys' who'd been on the firing line for a while, someone they thought they could give an opportunity to and who knew what he was doing because they didn't", said Aldrich. Aldrich was signed to direct in January, 1953. Jeff Richards, who was cast a baseball player, had been a baseball player in real life. Spring training filming took place at Melbourne, Florida with the real-life
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
. The film was shot in
Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...
in 17 days "out of nowhere" said Aldrich. Aldrich remembered star Edward G. Robinson as "a marvellous actor and a brilliant man but he was not physically co ordinated. He would walk to first base and trip over the home plate."


Reception

Aldrich said "The world wasn't waiting for that picture. It was a picture about the New York Giants and Metro had the foresight to open it in Brooklyn, so you can't have expected it to do very well. Nothing much came out of it." A '' Los Angeles Times'' reviewer called it a "cheery little opus" and praised Vera-Ellen's performance, saying she "surprises pleasantly with her straight acting effort." According to MGM records the film earned $467,000 in the US and Canada and $92,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $163,000.


References


External links

* * {{Robert Aldrich 1953 films 1950s sports drama films American baseball films American black-and-white films American sports drama films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Robert Aldrich Films set in Florida Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films New York Giants (NL) 1953 directorial debut films 1953 drama films 1950s American films