Death on the Diamond (1934)

Wonderful character development!

One of the best films i have seen

Absolutely the worst movie.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

. . . DEATH ON THE DIAMOND virtually gives viewers a play-by-play of this sport's upcoming Bud Selig Era. As "'Roid Rage" claims the lives of more and more former hopped-up Real Life "stars," one cannot help but see the handwriting on the wall for all of this prospective carnage as the St. Louis Cardinal's top slugger John "Truck" Hogan succumbs to a similar fatal poisoning minutes after a Red Birds victory toward the end of DEATH ON THE DIAMOND. (Selig still backs Lance Armstrong's candidacy for the Bicycling Hall of Fame!) Furthermore, when a sniper guns down the Card's Duncan Spencer as he's rounding third with the tying run (and two out in the bottom of the Ninth) during a pivotal contest and the Commissioner callously saddles the home team with a devastating defeat because dead men cannot score, what does this remind you of? Right, it's perfectly analogous with Selig viciously ordering the 2001 baseball season to resume as if nothing happened while 9-11 victims were still roasting at Ground Zero in New York City solely to enable Racist Cheater Big Head Bonds to continue bad-mouthing the Nelson Mandela of Baseball--New York's George Herman "Babe" Ruth--while making a mockery of the sport's most hallowed standards!

Robert Young (Larry Kelly), Madge Evans (Frances Clark), Nat Pendleton (Truck Hogan), Ted Healy (Crawfish O'Toole), Paul Kelly (Jimmie Downey), C. Henry Gordon (Joe Karnes), David Landau (Pop Clark), DeWitt Jennings (Patterson, groundskeeper), Edward Brophy (Sergeant Grogan), Willard Robertson (Lieutenant Cato), Joe Sawyer (Dunk Spencer), Mickey Rooney (Mickey), Robert Livingston (Higgie Higgins), Ward Bond (police guard), Walter Brennan, Heinie Conklin, Max Wagner (hot dog vendors), Howard C. Hickman (Dr Cushman), Al Hill (Moore, a Cardinal player), Hector Sarno (barber), Harry Semels (man in barber's chair), Gertrude Short (importunate player's wife), Fred Toones (porter), Charles Sullivan (taxi-driver), Allen Wood (newsboy), Billy Watson (boy), Bobby Watson, Dennis O'Keefe, Sherry Hall, Brooks Benedict (baseball announcers), Garry Owen (news flash announcer), Bruce Bennett, Don Brodie, Sumner Getchell, Jack Raymond, Kane Richmond (men in ticket line), David Thursby (Burke, an ex-player), Larry Steers, Wilbur Mack (gamblers), Sam Rice (a Karnes henchman), Eddie Phillips (man in broadcasting booth), Jack Norton (a Karnes associate), Pat O'Malley (cashier), James C. Morton (husband), Ray Mayer (Sugar Kane, a player), Bert Lindley (policeman), Marc Lawrence (doorman), Alice Lake (Lucy Warman), Ralph Bushman (Sam Warman), Baldwin Cooke (Cardinal player), Jules Cowles (hayseed in car), James Ellison (Sherman, pitcher for Cincinnati), Jim Farley (policeman at St Louis game), Pat Flaherty (Pat, the coach), Franklyn Farnum (fan), Sam Flint (baseball commissioner), Francis X. Bushman, junior (Sam Briscoe, the pitcher), John Hyams (Henry Ainsley), Fred Graham (baseball double for Nat Pendleton), and Leslie Goodwins, William Griffith, Julie Bescos, Frank Layton, Albert Richman, and the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago Cubs, and the St Louis Cardinals. Director: EDWARD SEDGWICK. Screenplay: Harvey Thew & Joe Sherman and Ralph Spence. Based on the 1934 novel by Cortland Fitzsimmons. Photography: Milton Krasner. Film editor: Frank Sullivan. Art directors: Cedric Gibbons and David Townsend. Music: William Axt. Song, "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" by Albert Von Tilzer (music) and Jack Norworth (lyrics). 2nd unit directors: John Waters, Edward Woehler. 2nd unit camera operators: Ray Binger, Leonard Smith. Technical advisers: Pat Flaherty, Fred Graham. Sound supervisor: Douglas Shearer. Sound mixer: G.A. Burns. Western Electric Sound Recording. Producer: Lucien Hubbard.Copyright 11 September 1934 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corporation. New York opening at the Capitol: 22 September 1934. U.K. release: 22 December 1934. Australian release: 20 March 1935. 7 reels. 69 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Someone is out to prevent the St Louis Cardinals from winning the pennant, and this desperate fiend doesn't stop at murder. The finger firmly points to gambling czar Joe Karnes, who stands to lose a million dollars if St Louis wins. A less obvious suspect is Henry Ainsely, who stands to inherit the Cardinals if they lose.COMMENT: This big "B" holds a well-deserved reputation amongst both baseball freaks and film fans. True, a lot of the location material is a bit fuzzy, but that's baseball. The movie itself is great. Not only does the script strike a startling balance amongst the various elements of romance, mystery, comedy, sport and suspense, it's not afraid to spring a few surprises that will have most audiences riveted to their seats. With lines as pithy as these to say and characters of such enthralling realism to play, the actors have a field day. Young (replacing Franchot Tone who was originally announced for the role) is both superbly personable and utterly convincing as a star pitcher. Madge Evans, one of my favorite stars, makes (as usual) a delightfully pert heroine. David Landau gives the performance of his life as the harried St Louis manager, while Paul Kelly is likewise ideally cast as the nosy reporter. But the big surprise lies in the joint efforts of Nat Pendleton and Ted Healy. These stalwart players pool their collective comic expertise to make a dazzling tit-for-tat duo, with both displaying dramatic talents well above the call of duty. Also, I'd give special pats on the back to DeWitt Jennings as the affable groundsman and delightfully aggressive Joe Sawyer as Young's rival. In fact, the whole cast — just look at it! — is something really special. Aside from the fuzzy 2nd unit and process work, technical credits are A-1, whilst production values (by "B" standards) are absolutely staggering.

This is an OK film. If you have 70 minutes to kill, this isn't something you'll regret killing them with, but it won't stick with you years later.The film centers on a series of bizarre murders of top players on a losing St. Louis baseball team. The owner (David Landau as Pop Clark) has mortgaged everything to recruit pitcher Larry (Robert Young). If the season is bad he loses everything to his creditors. There is "the obvious suspect" in one particular gangster and gambler who seems unhappy about the improving stats of the St. Louis team with Larry on the mound, but that's the point. He seems just a little too obvious.The first criminal thing to happen is that a tire on the car that Larry is riding in being shot out. The car rolls over and Larry could have been killed, but he's not, and that doesn't seem to have been the intention. There are clearly at least two people involved in this first shooting, but they are anonymous. All of the crimes that follow are actually murders or attempted murders and very un-gangland like - poison being substituted for mustard, a player being strangled with the murderer's bare hands, etc. So, Larry, now recovered, is the team's only hope of winning the pennant. Will he play or will he stay safe? Watch and find out.This film is noteworthy for several reasons. For one, it really is a mystery as to who is doing all of this, as the gangland gambler is the only obvious suspect, and keeps the film interesting. It also gives David Landau, who played so many villains, a chance to play a good but crusty fellow for a change. Paul Kelly as a newspaperman who is investigating the murders as much as he is covering the team by the time the film is over is always a welcome sight with his likable wise-guy persona. The police are certainly messing up this investigation, so it is good to have Kelly on the case.And now the not so good stuff. The romance between Pop's daughter (Madge Evans) and Larry falls flat as a pancake. There is zero chemistry there - Gable and Harlow these two are not. They were both good supporting players, but until Robert Young took on his TV roles when he was older, I just never thought much of him as a leading man, particularly over at MGM. Then there is Ted Healy. He is just not funny. When he cut the Three Stooges loose it was the best thing that could have happened to them.I'd still recommend it for the murder mystery.

A very youthful looking ROBERT YOUNG plays a star pitcher hired to help the St. Louis Cardinals win the '34 pennant race. He falls in love with the manager's daughter, pretty MADGE EVANS.The team is soon involved in a series of murders that take place on the baseball field or in the locker room. Since most of the action takes place in broad daylight, there's no chance to build up the suspense to turn this into a crime melodrama. Instead, the heavier touch is on comedy, supplied by NAT PENDLETON and TED HEALEY. Unfortunately, their humorous material is a bit strained for laughs.Real footage of the Cardinals is integrated with the studio footage shot at Wrigley Field, with mixed results that are more distracting than anything else. Revelation of the murderer comes in the last reel and is far from satisfying, leading to a scene of ham acting at its worst.Nothing special about this one, even with a cast that includes PAUL KELLY, WILLARD ROBERTSON and pint-sized MICKEY ROONEY in supporting roles.Some uncredited bits by GARY OWEN, WARD BOND and DENNIS O'KEEFE for those who stay awake during the proceedings.