Angels in the Outfield (1951)

Subject: Angels in the Outfield (1951) Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:26 am

I just saw this...

I'm going to review this as if the remake wasn't made, which will be easy. Even though I've seen both versions, they tell two vastly different stories even though the premise is the same: a child prays that their favorite losing team will start winning and Angels answer the prayer and help the team win. The similarity ends there. Onto the review...

The manager of the Pittsburg Pirates (Paul Douglas) is basically an Asshat

and an Angel makes a deal with him - if he will stop swearing and fighting he'll help him win ballgames. He agrees and the Pirates start winning. A reporter (Janet Leigh) covers the Pirates and basically tells the manager that he's being a jerk, but then after he starts acting nicer they become romantically involved. One day an orphan girl states that she sees the Angels in the field helping the ballplayers and it turns into a big story. It's implied that the Angels were one time ballplayers on Earth as the Angel states that one of his players will be "called up" next spring ( Sad

), but the audience never sees them. Pretty good acting, really good story, overall a very enjoyable movie. Bing Crosy (who was part-owner of the Pirates at the time), Joe DiMaggio and Ty Cobb ( clap

) make cameos in this film.

Spoiler:
	The Pirates end up winning the Pennant on the last game of the year with no help with the Angels and it's implied that the reporter and the manager will get married and adopt the orphan girl in a fell-good, happily ever after ending.

85/100
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