1949 | Not Rated | 1h 27m | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
Like American westerns, the 1940s and 50s saw a massive proliferation of sports films. But while the popularity of westerns began to wane in subsequent decades, sports movies continued to evolve, giving us some of the more inspirational films in cinema. As America’s national pastime, baseball flicks have been particularly favored, with greats such as 1989’s “Field of Dreams,” and 2002’s “The Rookie,” being among many standouts.
1949’s “It Happens Every Spring” is one of the original baseball films that inspired many to follow. It‘s based on a story written by Shirley W. Smith and Valentine Davies (the screenplay was adapted by Valentine Davies) and features plenty of silly situations and gags, but at its heart is an underdog story.
The great Ray Milland stars as the shy, unassuming chemistry professor Vernon K. Simpson, who is romantically involved with beautiful student Deborah Greenleaf (Jean Peters in only her third big-screen appearance). Although madly in love, Vernon is somewhat skeptical about taking things further with Deborah since he barely makes enough money to support himself, let alone both of them.
However, Vernon might be on the verge of the big league: If he can perfect a chemical solution he’s been working on for months that keeps bugs away from wood, he just might be able to sell his patent to a big company and reap enormous profits. Then he could buy a house, marry Deborah, and live happily ever after.
One day, while Vernon is working on his chemical solution with Deborah looking on, a baseball comes flying through the window and shatters many of the glass beakers containing his test fluids. As a result, the fluids get all mixed up, causing Vernon to become distraught since the chances of him recreating his prototype are slim to none.
After an inconsolable Vernon sends Deborah away, he sees that the errant baseball has landed in the mixture of the fluids. He picks it up and randomly rolls it along the surface of his chemistry work table. However, instead of bumping into a couple of wooden obstacles on the tabletop, it avoids them.
Vernon can’t believe his luck—he’s inadvertently discovered a rare and revolutionary substance. As a sports announcer recaps a baseball game on a nearby radio, Vernon’s eyes gleam, and his deft mind begins to percolate at the possibilities now available to him. After all, he can now make a baseball that avoids wooden objects—such as baseball bats.
In a comical scene, Vernon uses a couple of his students who are on the university baseball team to test out his new discovery. After seeing that the baseball dramatically swerves around one of the student’s bats, he decides to take an “indefinite” leave of absence from his academic career and travel to St. Louis, where he hopes to break into big league baseball.
Of course, after Vernon arrives in St. Louis, the big league team there doesn’t take the middle-aged chemistry professor seriously. That is until he begins striking out their best batters with his magic baseball. He takes on the persona of “King Kelly” and gets hired onto the team. Soon, the reinvented man takes the team to the top of the sport—the World Series. But something happens that throws his entire scheme into jeopardy and he must rely on his wits if he is to rectify things.
I thoroughly enjoyed this family friendly baseball film. It has plenty of light-hearted comedy, a peppy script (Valentine Davies and Shirley W. Smith were nominated for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story at the 1950 Oscars), and a fun underdog story.
Milland brings his usual potent acting chops to his role and Peters is lovely as his doting, faithful girlfriend. “It Happens Every Spring” is perfect for one of those lazy weekend afternoon film-watching sessions.
