'The Kid From Left Field' is a wonderful baseball film made in the early fifties and breathes the nostalgia of that time period. Child actor Billy Chapin becomes a batboy for the woeful Bisons (a copy of the old St. Louis Browns) and proceeds to inform the players of how they can correct their individual problems. Unbeknownst to the team, Chapin's wisdom is from his father, a washed-up player who has become a peanut vendor and lacks confidence and courage - in spite of his obvious baseball knowledge. Pretty soon, Chapin becomes the nine year old manager of the team with dramatic results that bind father to son; you can't help but root for the Bisons! A baseball fantasy - but filled with much innocence and charm. Surprisingly, this movie has never made it to VHS or DVD. I loved it as a kid - equally as an adult!
11 Reviews
Gentle and sweet
DUMOLT18 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is a wonderful little film. No, it won't ever be listed as a great movie, but it has all the elements of a great story. To whit: A challenge, a likable genre, a semi bad guy thrown in for conflict and most of all, the quiet, understated love a boy and his father often share. It's pure escapism and sweet, sweet nostalgia. Watch for the little things in the background that will make you ache for days gone by: The binoculars and microphone in the announcer's booth, the first baseman tossing his glove to the side as he trots in after the third out; that used to be common on old baseball. Teams would share gloves so the next guy to man first base would pick up the dropped glove. You know where this film is going from start to finish, but that's is it's magic. It wraps you in much of what was best about the fifties. It will leave you with the kind of smile you get from a pleasant memory. 7 out of 10.
Baseball Smarts
bkoganbing29 May 2011
The title role of The Kid From Left Field is played by Billy Chapin from a whole family of juvenile actors. He's a baseball crazed kid who gets to live the dream of any kid like that, he gets to manage a major league ball club. More important than that, he's a success at it.
Of course it's not all him by any means. He comes by his baseball smarts through Dan Dailey his father who know is a peanut vendor in the Bison ballpark. But Dailey was once a former big league player who missed his big chance because of an ungovernable temper and an undisciplined nature. A sadder and wiser Dailey knows it and now is a vendor for the team he used to play for.
Young Chapin becomes a bat boy and then gets to giving advice, good advice to the players, but that undermines manager Richard Egan's authority. He gets the kid fired, but then Egan gets fired and young Chapin realizes a dream.
You know how this film is going to end, every cliché that is involved in a baseball film is used here. Still The Kid From Left Field is a nice family picture with eternal appeal. Such folks as Lloyd Bridges, Fess Parker, and Bob Hopkins as Bison players, Ray Collins as the owner and Anne Bancroft as his secretary all perform admirably.
Best scene in the film is when manager Chapin takes over an argument from player Bridges with an umpire and gets thrown out of the game. But Billy Martin and Leo Durocher were not picked up by the seat of the pants deposited in their dugouts by an umpire.
The Kid From Left Field was remade more than two decades later with Robert Guillaume and Gary Coleman taking over the parts that Dailey and Chapin had. I've not seen it as yet, but it will have to go some to beat the charm of the original.
Of course it's not all him by any means. He comes by his baseball smarts through Dan Dailey his father who know is a peanut vendor in the Bison ballpark. But Dailey was once a former big league player who missed his big chance because of an ungovernable temper and an undisciplined nature. A sadder and wiser Dailey knows it and now is a vendor for the team he used to play for.
Young Chapin becomes a bat boy and then gets to giving advice, good advice to the players, but that undermines manager Richard Egan's authority. He gets the kid fired, but then Egan gets fired and young Chapin realizes a dream.
You know how this film is going to end, every cliché that is involved in a baseball film is used here. Still The Kid From Left Field is a nice family picture with eternal appeal. Such folks as Lloyd Bridges, Fess Parker, and Bob Hopkins as Bison players, Ray Collins as the owner and Anne Bancroft as his secretary all perform admirably.
Best scene in the film is when manager Chapin takes over an argument from player Bridges with an umpire and gets thrown out of the game. But Billy Martin and Leo Durocher were not picked up by the seat of the pants deposited in their dugouts by an umpire.
The Kid From Left Field was remade more than two decades later with Robert Guillaume and Gary Coleman taking over the parts that Dailey and Chapin had. I've not seen it as yet, but it will have to go some to beat the charm of the original.
Fulfilling every young boy's dream...
mark.waltz20 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Hey, if a cat ("Rhubarb") can become a legend in baseball, why not a little boy? Of course, he's just the front for his down and out former baseball player father, now a peanut salesman. When the lad (Billy Chapin) becomes a bat-boy, he uses advice given to him by his father to help player Lloyd Bridges improve his game. This helps the loosing (and fictional) Bisons to a winning streak, pleasing owner Ray Collins and giving mean-spirited manager Richard Egan an ego boost until the truth comes out. With that, little Chapin becomes the team's new manager and brings them tons of free publicity, but of course, that can only take them so far.
Yes it is all absurd, but hey, what's a little absurdity between shortstops? In addition to leads Dailey, Chapin, Egan, Bridges and Collins, there's also the sultry Anne Bancroft as Bridges' girlfriend who is also by chance Collins' secretary. Misused during her early Hollywood years as a generic heroine, her talents showing so much more. She could have been a great brunette version of Marilyn Monroe with her Ava Gardner like femme fatal looks and that delightful husky voice. Egan, later a romantic hero in films like "A Summer Place" and "Pollyanna", plays a really cruel character who goes out of his way to hurt Chapin for humiliating him, even trying to damage his father in his eyes.
The heroic character that Bridges plays is a nice contrast to some of the villains he had been portraying. "General Hospital" fans will recognize John Beradino (a former baseball player himself) as one of the teammates, cast among other players in small roles. This is a nice little fantasy that can be seen as a dream for any young baseball fan just home from a late night double-header who is too excited to dream about anything else.
Yes it is all absurd, but hey, what's a little absurdity between shortstops? In addition to leads Dailey, Chapin, Egan, Bridges and Collins, there's also the sultry Anne Bancroft as Bridges' girlfriend who is also by chance Collins' secretary. Misused during her early Hollywood years as a generic heroine, her talents showing so much more. She could have been a great brunette version of Marilyn Monroe with her Ava Gardner like femme fatal looks and that delightful husky voice. Egan, later a romantic hero in films like "A Summer Place" and "Pollyanna", plays a really cruel character who goes out of his way to hurt Chapin for humiliating him, even trying to damage his father in his eyes.
The heroic character that Bridges plays is a nice contrast to some of the villains he had been portraying. "General Hospital" fans will recognize John Beradino (a former baseball player himself) as one of the teammates, cast among other players in small roles. This is a nice little fantasy that can be seen as a dream for any young baseball fan just home from a late night double-header who is too excited to dream about anything else.
Grab some hot roasted peanuts and enjoy this for about nine innings.
Xjayhawker1 April 2013
Warning: Spoilers
One of the reviewers said the players on this team couldn't play Major League Baseball..just to be clear..the original New York Mets couldn't play either..they were all players from other teams that became expendable to create a new team in New York..they were the lovable..fumbling..bumbling team that everyone felt sorry for with a manager that had more one-liners than Milton Berle..they had older players at the end of their careers..and young,inexperienced players..but over time and new talent, they became world champions of the baseball world..this film deals with a father-son bond..and aging ball players..one at the end of his career with one last summer in the sun..Ray Collins/Lt. Tragg of Perry Mason fame..Lloyd Bridges of High Noon and Sea Hunt..22 year old Anne Bancroft..Delightful Dan Dailey..Fess Parker/Davy Crockett/Daniel Boone..Richard Egan as a slimy..credit-taking manager for his team's turn-around..all players playing their parts superbly..some romance..some ball playing and some decisions about end of career choices..and young Billy Chapin as Dailey's son..turning in a performance not to be missed..for my money, you can have your Field of Dreams or Bull Durhams..this is sweet and innocent and worth your time..a lot of owners in the old days did things like this just for the publicity..and it worked..whoever heard of a 3 foot tall ball player? Or a pitcher with one leg? Times were different..but they were good times for a lot of us..and this is a nice little story that may have been true in another city and time..7 out of 10 for me..
A modest, whimsical crowd-pleaser...
moonspinner5512 June 2010
Jack Sher wrote this undemanding feel-good baseball comedy which drips with sentiment but isn't insufferable about it. Former major league ballplayer, now a single dad living on a slim salary hawking fresh roasted peanuts at the ballpark, gives his son invaluable player-tips once the kid becomes a bat-boy for the Bisons. The youngster passes his father's advice on to the teammates (along with some of his own baseball savvy) and soon the team is winning every game. Original sports entry for families is nearly an anomaly for the genre; the screenplay doesn't resort to heavenly assistance or wild gimmickry to get the team to the winners' circle, although little Billy Chapin is briefly appointed the team's manager. The pacing only drops off in the romantic subplot between 'over-the-hill' 36-year-old ballplayer Lloyd Bridges and secretary Anne Bancroft. Otherwise a very likable film, not sharply directed or incisively written, but entirely pleasant. Remade for TV in 1979. **1/2 from ****
One of the best unknown movies ever...
tabortooth6 March 2006
Since no one really knows about this movie and no one will re-release it, it contains a magical innocence that helps you take it seriously when watching it. This is a baseball movie but you don't have to be a fan to enjoy the father and son relationship that exists and blossoms throughout this loving fantasy. While watching, you can't help but hope your own kid has half the heart that Christie Cooper does(played by Billy Chapin). The rest of the cast is great and this is one of those sweet, fun movies that just works. Dan Daily (the father) does a great job but the real joy is how he doesn't steal the spotlight from Chapin and lets the story really develop.
Cute, But Too Unrealistic With The Ballplayers
ccthemovieman-123 January 2008
I know it's only a fantasy film but, still, if you know the slightest thing about baseball this movie can be annoying at times because ballplayers would NOT act like this. Even worse, Major League players wouldn't be this inept, to begin with. These guys couldn't make a Little League team, and they are playing professional baseball??? Come on...how much are we supposed to swallow here?!!
Listen.....it's a nice story and a good-natured film, but it's just too far-fetched. However, I can some non-baseball fans enjoying it, or older folks enjoying this for the pure nostalgia of seeing some baseball back 50 years ago. I like that part, myself, and appreciate a movie with some sentimentality and sweetness to it, which this does. I also like Dan Dailey, who plays the boy's father. Billy Chapin is likable as the kid, too....so what I am crying about?
It's just that no ballclub is going to employ (or even listen to) some little kid, even if it is secretly coming from his knowledgeable dad. Maybe I've watched too many Steven Spielberg movies. He always portrays kids as smarter than adults, which is ludicrous. I hate to see the same in a classic-era film in which writers had more sense than the twisted politically-correct morons of today.
Listen.....it's a nice story and a good-natured film, but it's just too far-fetched. However, I can some non-baseball fans enjoying it, or older folks enjoying this for the pure nostalgia of seeing some baseball back 50 years ago. I like that part, myself, and appreciate a movie with some sentimentality and sweetness to it, which this does. I also like Dan Dailey, who plays the boy's father. Billy Chapin is likable as the kid, too....so what I am crying about?
It's just that no ballclub is going to employ (or even listen to) some little kid, even if it is secretly coming from his knowledgeable dad. Maybe I've watched too many Steven Spielberg movies. He always portrays kids as smarter than adults, which is ludicrous. I hate to see the same in a classic-era film in which writers had more sense than the twisted politically-correct morons of today.
Knowledge of the sport
jarrodmcdonald-17 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
It had been awhile since I'd seen this one, and I'd forgotten what a nice story it is. I think the mild humor on display is actually very good, since it doesn't hit us over the head with frantic situations to generate laughs. Instead, the overall premise, about a nine-year-old boy (Billy Chapin) who becomes a major league baseball manager, is silly enough to create interest and make us chuckle at the absurdity of it.
I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a farce, but the chances of this happening in real life are, of course, quite unlikely. At one point, media reporters in the story call the kid wonder a manager in diapers, or some such thing. It's exaggerated, yes, because he is still in the throes of boyhood and some might argue that it takes a real man to whip ball players into shape and win the pennant.
Of course the kid, who came out of nowhere (metaphorically, left field) knows his stuff. And he's helped by his dad. The dad is played by 20th Century Fox contract player Dan Dailey. Mr. Dailey had starred in another baseball flick a year earlier, THE PRIDE OF ST. LOUIS, a true life biopic in which he played Hall of Fame pitcher Dizzy Dean.
This time around Dailey's role is much more light-hearted. He's a washed-up player who has fallen on hard economic times and spends his days peddling peanuts in the stands, where the fictional Bisons play. Early on, we see that his son, whom he sneaks into the games, leads a local baseball team comprised of neighborhood youth. The boy doesn't know everything about baseball just yet, but he's been learning a lot from his father.
Balancing the stadium scenes are domestic scenes filmed on a Fox soundstage where father and son eat, do the dishes and talk about their favorite sport. When Dailey gets fired from his job, the kid sneaks back into the stadium and enlists the help of the owner's niece (Anne Bancroft). This results in dear old dad's reinstatement, as well as a batboy position for the lad.
From here the story accelerates. With Dailey's help, Chapin gives advice to the star players (Lloyd Bridges and Fess Parker) about how to improve their performance. The team gradually comes out of its slump, and the Bisons start winning games. As part of a publicity move, upper management decides to make the kid a full-time manager of the team...though he is still consulting with his father about the decisions he makes.
There are some truly fun moments...such as Chapin losing his temper with an ump and getting hauled off the field by the seat of his pants, like he's an unruly child. And the short sequence where a truant officer shows up and Chapin must appear before a lady judge to explain why he misses so much school. He quickly schools her honor on baseball matters.
One thing I really like about the film is that Bancroft's character is involved with Bridges. In most of these types of films, Bridges would be a cad to facilitate a breakup so Bancroft could end up with Dailey. But this story is not so predictable.
Bancroft remains with Bridges, who ages out of the sport and finds another career. Meanwhile Dailey is just shown as becoming a better father, and eventually the full-time manager of the team (presumably so his son can return to school). Dailey is not given a love interest, which is to the film's credit.
Overall this is a valentine to lovers of America's most well-known pastime. It's about how knowledge of the sport is passed from fathers to sons. It also plays into the fantasy that probably a lot of men and boys had in 1953, about what it would be like if they could manage their favorite team and turn its fortunes around. As a piece of film entertainment, THE KID FROM LEFT FIELD hits it out of the park.
I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a farce, but the chances of this happening in real life are, of course, quite unlikely. At one point, media reporters in the story call the kid wonder a manager in diapers, or some such thing. It's exaggerated, yes, because he is still in the throes of boyhood and some might argue that it takes a real man to whip ball players into shape and win the pennant.
Of course the kid, who came out of nowhere (metaphorically, left field) knows his stuff. And he's helped by his dad. The dad is played by 20th Century Fox contract player Dan Dailey. Mr. Dailey had starred in another baseball flick a year earlier, THE PRIDE OF ST. LOUIS, a true life biopic in which he played Hall of Fame pitcher Dizzy Dean.
This time around Dailey's role is much more light-hearted. He's a washed-up player who has fallen on hard economic times and spends his days peddling peanuts in the stands, where the fictional Bisons play. Early on, we see that his son, whom he sneaks into the games, leads a local baseball team comprised of neighborhood youth. The boy doesn't know everything about baseball just yet, but he's been learning a lot from his father.
Balancing the stadium scenes are domestic scenes filmed on a Fox soundstage where father and son eat, do the dishes and talk about their favorite sport. When Dailey gets fired from his job, the kid sneaks back into the stadium and enlists the help of the owner's niece (Anne Bancroft). This results in dear old dad's reinstatement, as well as a batboy position for the lad.
From here the story accelerates. With Dailey's help, Chapin gives advice to the star players (Lloyd Bridges and Fess Parker) about how to improve their performance. The team gradually comes out of its slump, and the Bisons start winning games. As part of a publicity move, upper management decides to make the kid a full-time manager of the team...though he is still consulting with his father about the decisions he makes.
There are some truly fun moments...such as Chapin losing his temper with an ump and getting hauled off the field by the seat of his pants, like he's an unruly child. And the short sequence where a truant officer shows up and Chapin must appear before a lady judge to explain why he misses so much school. He quickly schools her honor on baseball matters.
One thing I really like about the film is that Bancroft's character is involved with Bridges. In most of these types of films, Bridges would be a cad to facilitate a breakup so Bancroft could end up with Dailey. But this story is not so predictable.
Bancroft remains with Bridges, who ages out of the sport and finds another career. Meanwhile Dailey is just shown as becoming a better father, and eventually the full-time manager of the team (presumably so his son can return to school). Dailey is not given a love interest, which is to the film's credit.
Overall this is a valentine to lovers of America's most well-known pastime. It's about how knowledge of the sport is passed from fathers to sons. It also plays into the fantasy that probably a lot of men and boys had in 1953, about what it would be like if they could manage their favorite team and turn its fortunes around. As a piece of film entertainment, THE KID FROM LEFT FIELD hits it out of the park.
Interesting "fantasy" movie
MountainMan11 December 2003
Great actors, mediocre movie. The premise of this movie has been used in many movies. You know, where a team is slumping terribly and along comes some 'magical' external influence to change it all around (eg. Major League). The problem with the screenplay of this movie is how they depicted the teams' slump, with balls rolling through infielder's legs, dropped easy fly balls, and batters clueless as to their hitting slumps. And worst of all was when the outfielder had his glove out to catch a fly ball and the ball hit him square in the forehead. Good for laughs, but jeeeez, these guys are MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS. But the KID solves the problems of these major league players (more fantasy). Fun to watch anyway, but only got my 5/10.
Entertaining but dubious baseball fantasy based on premise of nine-year-old major league manager
Turfseer4 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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