Big Leaguer (1953)

You won't be disappointed!

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The casting of Edward G. Robinson in "Big Leaguer" is very odd, as I cannot see how anyone would picture him as a coach for a major league team...even the coach in charge of try-outs during Spring Training. However odd this is, the film worked okay and it was much like taking a trip back through time to watch a group of young people try their luck in camp. Is any of this life-changing and amazing? No...but it's all very pleasant and it's also nice to see Carl Hubbell (a Hall of Fame pitcher) playing, of all people, himself. Overall, a pleasant little film...worth seeing and kind of sentimentally sweet at times.

Baseball fans, which are many, will not be the only ones to enjoy this light-hearted fare of a baseball rookie camp where the pro's are weeded out from the amateurs. Told through the narration of a sports columnist, this is slice-of-life drama at its most all American, almost Disney-esque in nature. Edward G. Robinson is a former professional player ("Your grandfathers used to watch me play third base", he tells the young men upon their arrival. Now one of the trainers who must stay on and who moves back home to attempt other ambitions, he is assisted by his pretty daughter, a non-dancing Vera-Ellen. She takes an interest in a strong but silent loner (Jeff Richards) while other players show ego, provide comic relief, or attempt to improve their English while dreaming of a future in the great American pastime.It's nice to see a film like this that doesn't resort to any violence or sexual or romantic intrigue, or even show any back-stabbing in a very team-oriented sport. This is a film that doesn't try to be anything more than what it is, and it is a film that works through "moments", not through an over-stuffed plot. Comic moments include a not-so-attractive close-up of the middle-aged Robinson, hair askew, after a rookie yet cocky pitcher, almost knocks his lights out, and another where the team's comic mimes a slow-motion pitch. Richards is touching in his quite role, dealing with an indifferent father and a hero-worshiping younger brother whom you know will one day attend the same camp. So don't judge too harshly for being witness to a film almost sweet in its vision of hopeful youngsters becoming men by attempting to achieve the goals millions of kids have only dreamed of.

Big Leaguer (1953) ** (out of 4) There have been quite a few good baseball films over the years but sadly this isn't one of them even though we do get a fine performance from Edward G. Robinson. In the film he plays John Lobert, a former baseball player who currently runs a training camp in Florida for the New York Giants. Each year he judges new talent trying to find the next great player but the team is getting a little fed up with him not finding any All Stars so the pressure is on to find someone to save his job. BIG LEAGUER has a few good moments in it but in the end you can't help but feel rather bored and letdown. I'm sure there could have been a very good movie made about these young kids who come to this camp to try and fulfill their dreams but this film is so child like that you can't help but feel you're watching something fake. The ball players are all stereotypes as you have one whose father was a baseball great and of course he can't live up to his father. You have another who thinks he's the greatest thing on Earth yet he's not. You have another who doesn't want his hard working father to know he's missing college to try and play ball. All the stereotypes are on hand here and not one of them comes across as a real character. Robinson at least keeps the film moving as he has that great energy that only he could get across. There was a quick scene where I thought we were going to get to see him bat but that ended up not happening. Vera-Ellen appears as his niece and makes for the love interest to one of the players played by Jeff Richards. I really wasn't overly impressed with either of them but apparently Vera-Ellen was a very big name back in the day but I really couldn't see why. Frank Ferguson, Richard Jaeckel and William Campbell also star. Carl Hubbell plays himself in a quick cameo.

For a film that is set in the New York Giants training camp of 1953, the biggest surprise for me is the fact that manager Leo Durocher did not appear in it. Leo at the time was married to Laraine Day and was quite at home in the movie colony. And he was a natural ham.This is not spring training with the New York Giants. In fact the Giants down to today do their spring training in Arizona. This is a winter instructional school, something pioneered by the Giants across the Harlem River rivals, the Yankees. Here the school is run by veteran baseball coach Hans Lobert.There was in fact a real Hans Lobert, a very good third baseman who played in the beginning and teen years of the last century for such teams as the Phillies and the Giants among others. His style of play in the field was very similar to baseball immortal Hans Wagner, hence John Lobert became popularly known as Hans Lobert. At third base he was the Brooks Robinson of his day and while he didn't hit in the same class as Hans Wagner(very few ever did)he was no easy out at the plate. Edward G. Robinson plays the real life Hans Lobert who's dealing with some promising rookies like Jeff Richards, William Campbell, Richard Jaeckel among others. Robinson acts like a father confessor to all these kids as he deals with not just their playing skills, but a few personal problems as well. The real Lobert was known to do just that, he was a beloved figure in baseball.Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell made an appearance in Big Leaguer, I suppose to lend authenticity. He was some pitcher in his day as well with a screwball that could practically turn a corner backwards.Another reviewer made a comment about the players being all white at the school. Oddly enough the Giants had integrated at that point, becoming the second team in the National League to do so following the Dodgers. A star rookie from 1951 named Willie Mays was in the army at this time, but the Giants had Monte Irvin and Hank Thompson playing for them at the point in time Big Leaguer was filmed. My guess would be that at this point in time the Giants like many other teams weren't signing black prospects fresh out of school. They were instead raiding the Negro Leagues for proved players. The Negro Leagues were in their last stages, in fact the last star player signed out of them was a man who played for the Indianapolis Clowns named Hank Aaron. I have a funny feeling that Giant owner Horace Stoneham made this film in response to the success that the Dodgers enjoyed in 1950 with the Jackie Robinson Story. Big Leaguer is a much better film than that was. This film isn't about stars, but about eager young prospects trying to make the grade. It's got a good baseball feel to it. Baseball fans will love it, hopefully it will come out one day on DVD and VHS.And wasn't Hans Lobert one lucky fellow to have himself portrayed on the screen by an established movie star.