Some reviewers here couldn't believe that the fictional major league baseball team The Bisons depicted in The Kid from Left Field could be so bad. But what about the 1962 New York Mets? Maybe what they needed was a batboy like Christie Cooper (Billy Chapin) who passed on advice from his washed-up ballplayer dad Larry aka Coop (Dan Dailey) that could have changed the fortunes of the Mets in their debut year.
Even though "The Kid" is supposed to be a fantasy, I found the earlier It Happens Every Spring starring Ray Milland to be more credible. In that 1949 baseball fantasy, a professor becomes a star pitcher after quite by accident discovers a chemical formula that repels wood. But here the idea is for a nine-year-old boy to be appointed the manager of a major league baseball team.
Maybe the premise is just too absurd or devolves into low brow comedy at times (especially in the scene where the umpire throws Christie out of the game by carrying him off the field), but I just couldn't get too excited about this film which others find so charming.
And what's with the dad selling peanuts instead of getting a regular job? --when the Bisons are playing "away" games, there's mention that Coop gets a job at a bowling alley. But how can he really afford the rent on his apartment from part-time jobs such as these?
There really isn't much to Dan Dailey's part here except his character provides the moral of the story which is those who fall from grace deserve a second chance in life. Coop is presented as being a guy with a bad temper and that's why he was sent down to the minors and lost his position in baseball. But despite all his self-effacement, it's Coop's love for the game that ultimately leads him take on the position of the Bisons' manager (and ultimately winning the pennant).
In a sub-plot, Anne Bancroft plays Marian Foley, the niece of owner Fred Whacker (Ray Collins) who's going out with one of the ballplayers, Pete Haines (Lloyd Bridges). Christie is responsible for improving Pete's performance on the ballfield. But Pete has a relapse after Marian wants him to take an executive position with a sports equipment company. Pete finally realizes it's time to retire and his game improves after Marian goes back to him.
Despite the absurdity of the premise, screenwriter Jack Sher uses his excellent knowledge of the game of baseball to present interesting scenes depicted on the field of play.
I keep wondering about one particular manager maneuver that I have never seen before. And that's when the pitcher is taken out but sent over to play third base. After one batter, he returns to pitching. Is this play allowed in the baseball rule book?
There are tidbits here and there that make the film watchable. Ray Collin's entire performance, the scene with the judge after Christie is pulled from the clubhouse by a truant officer and the boys watching the pennant clinching game on TV.
Films about the national pastime usually keep my interest and this one is no exception. Don't expect anything profound or that creative, but the story still manages to entertain despite its sentimentality and absurd premise.
Even though "The Kid" is supposed to be a fantasy, I found the earlier It Happens Every Spring starring Ray Milland to be more credible. In that 1949 baseball fantasy, a professor becomes a star pitcher after quite by accident discovers a chemical formula that repels wood. But here the idea is for a nine-year-old boy to be appointed the manager of a major league baseball team.
Maybe the premise is just too absurd or devolves into low brow comedy at times (especially in the scene where the umpire throws Christie out of the game by carrying him off the field), but I just couldn't get too excited about this film which others find so charming.
And what's with the dad selling peanuts instead of getting a regular job? --when the Bisons are playing "away" games, there's mention that Coop gets a job at a bowling alley. But how can he really afford the rent on his apartment from part-time jobs such as these?
There really isn't much to Dan Dailey's part here except his character provides the moral of the story which is those who fall from grace deserve a second chance in life. Coop is presented as being a guy with a bad temper and that's why he was sent down to the minors and lost his position in baseball. But despite all his self-effacement, it's Coop's love for the game that ultimately leads him take on the position of the Bisons' manager (and ultimately winning the pennant).
In a sub-plot, Anne Bancroft plays Marian Foley, the niece of owner Fred Whacker (Ray Collins) who's going out with one of the ballplayers, Pete Haines (Lloyd Bridges). Christie is responsible for improving Pete's performance on the ballfield. But Pete has a relapse after Marian wants him to take an executive position with a sports equipment company. Pete finally realizes it's time to retire and his game improves after Marian goes back to him.
Despite the absurdity of the premise, screenwriter Jack Sher uses his excellent knowledge of the game of baseball to present interesting scenes depicted on the field of play.
I keep wondering about one particular manager maneuver that I have never seen before. And that's when the pitcher is taken out but sent over to play third base. After one batter, he returns to pitching. Is this play allowed in the baseball rule book?
There are tidbits here and there that make the film watchable. Ray Collin's entire performance, the scene with the judge after Christie is pulled from the clubhouse by a truant officer and the boys watching the pennant clinching game on TV.
Films about the national pastime usually keep my interest and this one is no exception. Don't expect anything profound or that creative, but the story still manages to entertain despite its sentimentality and absurd premise.