La solución fantástica

This delightful comedy is seldom seen on cable. The Fox channel is a great source for these neglected and forgotten films that still produce a lot of fun to viewers, young and old. Lloyd Bacon directed this movie with a lot of flair. There are some insanely funny moments in the film, based on Valentine Davis' screen play.

Chemistry professor Vernon Simpson, working on a small midwest university, discovers as a fluke, that one of his projects produce a rejection of wood when rubbed in an object; that object being the baseball that almost destroys his lab. Professor Simpson's passion is the national pastime, which we see him hearing a broadcast during one of his classes. Simpson is also in love with the beautiful Debby Greenleaf, the daughter of the president of the university.

Vernon decides to try his hand as a pitcher, now that he has the secret, as he feels his beloved Saint Louis Cardinals can use him. As the mysterious King Kelly, Vernon proves to be an asset to his team. The catcher, Monk Lanigan, is his roommate. The two men develop an easy friendship. Lanigan, like anyone else, is puzzled by the way Kelly can pitch, even at his age. When Lanigan wants to know what does King keep in a tiny bottle in his dresser, and he is told it's hair tonic, which he proceeds to use himself, with magical results. He even gives some of it to the manager, not knowing is the secret formula that King uses to throw those magical pitches.

As Vernon/King, Ray Milland makes a wonderful appearance in the film. His chemistry with Paul Douglas, the catcher and roommate, is unique. Both stars are amazing together and this is what makes the comedy a winning and sunny time at the movies because of the fun we experience in watching them perform. Jean Peters is also good as Debby, the girl that conquered Vernon's heart. Ray Collins, Ed Begley and Jessie Royce Landis do excellent supporting work.

"It Happens Every Spring" is a sunny comedy that proves to be a lot of fun.

... as it is completely conflict free. There are literally no bad guys to be found. It is quite enjoyable as long as you just relax and just forget everything that you ever knew about baseball, physics, chemistry, or hair follicles.

Vernon Simpson (Ray Milland) is a chemistry professor still working on his Ph. D. at a relatively late age. His boss, Dr. Greenleaf (Ray Collins), explains Vernon to a colleague as follows - From October to April he's a steady reliable hard worker. But from April to October he's distracted. The problem is that Vernon is a baseball fan, and the game distracts him six months of the year. One day Vernon is working on an experiment to help him finish that Ph. D. when the baseball from some kids' baseball game crashes through a window and smashes the experiment. In the process of cleaning up he sees the baseball has fallen into the solution he was making, and that the baseball is now repelled by wood. He does some experiments and realizes that this solution, when applied to a baseball, enables him to become the world's greatest pitcher as the ball will do loops to avoid contact with a baseball bat.

Vernon has always wanted to be a pro ball player, so he gets a leave of absence from the college and becomes the pitcher for the St. Louis team. His objective is to live out his dream of playing major league ball AND make enough money to marry his girlfriend who just happens to be the boss's daughter. Complications ensue.

Vernon is asking for 1000 dollars a game for every game he wins. This gives the owner pause. But consider that DiMaggio was the first ball player to make 100K a year in 1949 - about 1.2 million in 2024 dollars. In 2024 the mean baseball salary in the US is five million dollars. So these ball players are just working class guys in 1949.

One odd thing is that the production code is still being rigorously enforced at the time, and yet Vernon is allowed to cheat with this magic potion of his and never faces any consequences. With Paul Douglas as Vernon's gregarious and henpecked teammate, Ed Begley as the involved team owner, and the lovely Jean Peters as Vernon's girlfriend who starts to believe that Vernon has taken his leave of absence to become a jewel thief and get involved with gangsters.

Fun baseball comedy starring, of all people, Ray Milland. There's so many things about this that shouldn't work yet it does. Milland plays a college professor who also happens to be a brilliant scientist working on a formula for a coating on wood that will make it repellent to things like bugs and mice. Through an accident he discovers his formula, when put on a baseball, will make it impossible to hit. So he does what any scientist would do and decides to become a major league pitcher. He becomes a big success, cheating like the dickens the whole way. This was back in the day when things like fair play and honor were valued. Yet here this guy is cheating his way to the World Series and, amusingly, the movie passes no judgment on it. Now, anybody who knows baseball knows some pitchers back in the day were not above using various techniques to doctor the balls they threw. Like spitballs, for example. Still, such things weren't openly endorsed by Major League Baseball and they wouldn't have anything to do with the movie because of the cheating. This is why they use fake teams in the film instead of real ones, which was more commonplace at the time.

Milland is excellent and proves that personable, talented actors can often rise above miscasting. Paul Douglas is great fun as Milland's catcher. It's a role Douglas could play in his sleep and he's perfect in it. Gorgeous Jean Peters plays Milland's girlfriend. Besides good looks, she brings charm and humor to the part. She retired from acting in the mid 50s and married Howard Hughes. It's a very pleasant, enjoyable comedy. Far-fetched and often ridiculous, yes, but still fun.

There are so many problems with "It Happens Every Spring" that it's hard to imagine that I'd still recommend it. That's because it's a film you can enjoy IF you turn off your brain and simply enjoy it on a brain-dead level. I apparently could do this, though occasionally nagging problems with the plot reared their ugly heads.

Ray Milland stars as a goofy college chemistry professor. One day while working on a formula for a wood repellent, a baseball flies through the window and smashes his equipment and notes. Oddly, however, it seems that whatever the concoction landed on now repels wood--and I mean REALLY repels wood. When he puts it on a baseball, it cannot be hit! So, he hatches a plan--to brush up on his pitching and earn money for his research by joining the major leagues. Now here is the part that I couldn't understand and I think it was added simply to make the movie formulaic (giving it some contention)--when he is hired by St. Louis to pitch, he uses an alias and doesn't want anyone to know he's a professor. Why isn't really clearly understandable--as the school, when they discovered, wasn't mad in the least he took a leave of absence to play pro ball.

The ball does many insane things when he pitches it--flying about in ways that defy physics. In addition, his using a cloth dunked in the solution to rub on the ball would easily have been discovered. Yet, inexplicably, no one seems to think he's cheating--which he clearly is. Still, despite many logical flaws, Milland is very entertaining (he was a fine actor--and very good in comedy) and the plot is rather cute. As I said above, turn off your brain--otherwise it might be tough to finish.

Talk about dated! However, that's not a knock because dated many times means fun to watch, and nostalgic for some. This is an entertaining film and very likable.

But, if you are a baseball fan or know anything about the game, be prepared. This has the hokiest baseball scenes ever put on film. It's almost like those corny Ed Wood and others sci-fi films of the 1950s that are so bad, so corny that they are good, if you know what I mean.

The actors in here have NO CLUE how to throw a baseball or how to bat. Ray Milland is a pitcher and the star of the show and he has no idea but his catcher, played by Paul Douglas, is worse. He is embarrassingly bad. You remember the expression, "He throws like a girl!?" Well, that's Douglas. You mean with all the actors in Hollywood, they couldn't find ONE who knows how to throw a baseball?

There are so many bloopers in here - like "St. Louis" being replaced by "Chicago" on the jerseys when there are long-distance shots. You could write a novel on all the filming mistakes in here.

Yet, it's just a lighthearted comedy and, if taken in that context, easier to swallow and enjoy. The story is at its funniest when Milland pitches and the ball dispy- doodles around the baseball bats of all the hitters. (He had invented a substance that applied to something makes it avoid touching wood, so applied to a baseball, a bat could never make contact.....and, yes, as one reviewer points out, that is cheating.)

Dumb...but innocent fun and definitely has enough laughs to make it worthwhile watching.