''Alibi Ike'' is a 1935 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Ray Enright Ray Enright (March 25, 1896 – April 3, 1965) was an American film director. He directed 73 films between 1927–53, many of them for Warner Bros. He oversaw comedy films like Joe E. Brown vehicles, five of the six informal pairings of Joa ...

and starring Joe E. Brown,

Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British and 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 tim ...

and William Frawley. Based on the short story of the same name by Ring Lardner, first published in the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'' 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 ''Elmer, the Great'' is a 1933 American pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement ...

'' 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 (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'', which also starred Joe E. Brown in a key role. A print of the film is held by the Library of Congress.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'', (<-book title) page 4 c.1978 by The American Film Institute

Plot

Frank X. Farrell ( Joe E. Brown) is an ace baseball player, although he compulsively downplays his achievements, claiming he could do even better except if it weren't for factors like the weather, or a cold, or other issues beyond his control. And on occasions where he ''does'' make a mistake—whether on or off the field—he can't ever let it go without an often ridiculously implausible explanation. His obsessive 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 a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

, 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). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

Cast

* Joe E. Brown as Frank X. Farrell *

as Dolly Stevens * William Frawley as Cap * Ruth Donnelly as Bess *

Roscoe Karns Roscoe Karns (September 7, 1891 – February 6, 1970) was an American actor who appeared in nearly 150 films between 1915 and 1964. He specialized in cynical, wise-cracking (and often tipsy) characters, and his rapid-fire delivery enlivened many ...

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 as Lieutenant *

Spencer Charters Spencer Charters (March 25, 1875 – January 25, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 220 films between 1920 and 1943, mostly in small supporting roles. Biography Charters was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania. Until aroun ...

as Minister *

Gene Morgan Gene Morgan (March 12, 1893 – August 13, 1940) was an American actor. He appeared in 111 films between 1926 in film, 1926 and 1941 in film, 1941. Background Morgan was born in Racine, Wisconsin. In his early roles he was cast in westerns ...

as Smitty Cast notes: *Several popular

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

players make

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

s in the film, including Guy Cantrell, Dick Cox, Cedric Durst, Mike Gazella, Wally Hood, Don Hurst, Smead Jolley, Lou Koupal,

Bob Meusel Robert William Meusel (July 19, 1896 – November 28, 1977) was an American baseball left fielder, left and right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eleven seasons from 1920 through 1930, all but the last for the New York Yanke ...

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 rig ...

, and

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...

References

External links

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

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links