The Pride of St. Louis

I remember "Ol Diz" broadcasting those Saturday games with partner Pee Wee Reese, the former Dodger and teammate of Jackie Robinson. It was so much fun to listen to him butcher the English language (for example, "He slud into third base). But we forget that he was a great pitcher for the notorious St. Louis Cardinals. He was known for being a bit hard to control, doing things his own way. He also had a reputation for being a bit less than intellectual. The famous story after he was struck by a lie drive, led with the headline, "Doctors Examine Dean's Head. Find Nothing." This is a charming little movie with a good performance by Dan Dailey. The title is much like the great Lou Gehrig's tribute, "The Pride of the Yankees." Obviously, this one didn't gain the foothold that that one did, but then Dean wasn't the tragic figure Lou was. This is a nice movie with a quirky guy making it big. Dean will always be one of my favorites and I'm glad there is a movie about him.

The life story of Jerome Herman "Dizzy" Dean is the subject matter of this amiable baseball movie. The opening caption tells us that we are going to meet "one of the most colourful characters of our time", and certainly Dean, ace pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, is quite an entertainer.

Dan Dailey barnstorms it as the droll hayseed with bags of charm and a disarming grin. We follow him along the usual star trajectory as Dean is discovered in an Arkansas hick game, then rises inexorably through the Texas League and into the big time, winning the World Series with the Cardinals and smashing all pitching records on the way. A sports injury leads to decline, and the downward slide begins, but Dizzy is irrepressible. He overcomes life's disappointments and learns how to make his zany charm work for him in a new career.

"You're a child, Diz - a sweet, kind, generous child," says his wife Patricia, played admirably by Joanne Dru. His boyish enthusiasm captures the hearts of the Cardinals fans, who are just as likely to see Dizzy ushering them to their stand seats or working in the ticket booth as winding up his arm on the mound. He even sings with the jazz combo during the interval. However, this very childlike quality is Dean's fatal flaw - he is impulsive and undisciplined, and when his career starts to slide he lacks the maturity to deal with the diasppointment.

From the Cardinals he plummets in quick succession to the Chicago Cubs and then back into the Texas League. He takes to drinking and gambling, and neglects his adoring wife. The fight in the poker den is his lowest point. Getting knocked to the floor is the visual representation of his moral fall.

Baseball is his life, and baseball comes to his rescue. A characteristic act of kindness brings him into contact with Johnny Kendall (Richard Hylton), a rich young entrepreneur who happens to be a baseball nut and Dean's biggest fan. Kendall sees that Dean's intimate knowledge of the game and his quirky, homespun talking style will make him a natural as a radio commentator. The hunch is borne out triumphantly. The baseball-listening public loves him. Dailey is great, pouring out the malapropisms thick and fast ('confidential' for 'confident, 'respectable' for 'respective'). Pat has left her husband and made a new life for herself, but when she hears that familiar rustic drawl over the radio, she falls back in love with him.

To call "The Pride Of St Louis" a 'baseball movie' is something of a misnomer, because the film isn't really about baseball as such and doesn't attempt to get to grips with the sport. Repetitive shots of Dean's deliveries, filmed monotonously from behind the plate, form the standard fare. Wrigley Field is a mere back projection, and even the World Series is rapidly glossed over. The film's focus is Dizzy, and Dan Dailey delivers him.

This is the story of Jerome 'Dizzy' Dean, Hall of Fame pitcher of the St. Louis Cardinals. An injury caused early retirement, a bout with drinking and gambling; but his down home manner led to another career...baseball radio/tv announcing.

Dan Dailey is kind of ho-hum in his attempts at Dean's hayseed mannerisms. Richard Crenna plays Paul Dean, Dizzy's brother, who also pitched for the Cardinals.

Very little actual baseball action, but the movie is interesting and fun to watch. All little boys that have an interest in baseball should watch this along with PRIDE of THE YANKEES and the BABE RUTH STORY.

Also in the cast are Richard Hylton, Joanne Dru, Stuart Randall and Hugh Sanders. Remember to take a good whack and don't forget to slud into second.

In a sport that prizes quirkiness and treasures it's characters, one of the greatest of them from the 1930s was pitcher Dizzy Dean. He was so colorful a personality he was probably elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on the strength of that as opposed to his pitching statistics. After all part of the Dean story is that early end to his career.

In the Pride of St. Louis Dan Dailey successfully captures the character of Dizzy Dean, at least the Dean I remember. I'm not old enough to remember him pitching, but I do remember him broadcasting Baseball Game of the Week during the 1960s. For that's part of the Dean story as well, being a pioneer broadcaster on radio and later television. Now that announcers are in the Hall of Fame, there's no question Dizzy belongs there.

Jerome Herman Dean was one of a tribe of sharecropper's kids who had very little schooling, but an amazing talent for throwing a baseball at blinding speed. In fact he had a younger brother Paul Dean who was a pretty good pitcher himself.

Richard Crenna plays Paul in this film and it's one of his earliest film roles. Paul Dean in real life was a quiet retiring sort who's career was also cut short by injuries. Because of that Crenna isn't given much to work with. During the Dean heyday, sportswriters tried to pin the nickname of Daffy on Paul, but it never took.

Joanne Dru, taking a break from playing, western gals in gingham dresses and corsets is first rate as the wise, patient, and understanding Patricia Nash who met and married Dizzy while he was playing for Houston in the Texas League.

In the 1937 All Star Game Dizzy started for the National League. Facing Cleveland's Earl Averill, Dean was hit on the foot by a line drive smack at him. Refusing to listen to medical advice, Dean came back to pitch too early. He'd broken a big toe and put too much of a strain on his arm. He was never the same pitcher and his refusal to accept that is part of the story.

Had he had a career of say ten to fifteen years who knows what pitching statistics he might have rolled up. Dean was the next to last pitcher to win 30 games in 1934 and after Denny McLain(who was something of a character himself)did it 1968 it hasn't been done since.

Dean went into broadcasting and while he was not the first former player to go into the broadcast booth, his colorful game descriptions made him an instant hit. He started broadcasting for the other St. Louis team, the Browns, and the Browns were a pretty miserable team with not much to cheer about. Dean became a star attraction there.

Of course part of the Dean story is the trouble he got into because of his lack of education and his colorful way of expressing himself on the air. That's part of the story I won't go into, but in the film it's handled with tact and humility and your eyes might moisten if you tend to the sentimental.

A fine baseball film, a real tribute to an American success story.

Dan Dailey gives a sincere and colorful performance as the great Dizzy Dean. His handling of the character is very true to life and captures the flavor of Dean's background and limited education. The film of course centers around Dizzy Deans rise to fame and his sudden trip to the sidelines with an injury he chose to ignore, much to his regret. His wife is splendidly portrayed by Joanna Dru who gives a very down to earth quality to the woman who loved and supported the ballplayer who rose to a "dizzying height" so quickly. The portrayal of Dizzy's later career as a sportscaster is honest and unflinching, reflecting his troubles which stemmed from his poor education and his colorful language both on and off the air. Dizzy was quite a character and Daily has breathed life into his story with admirable skill. If you enjoyed this film, I recommend the comedy "Kid from Left Field" (1953) wherein Daily plays a down and out has-been ballplayer idolized by his young son (Billy Chapin). Daily again fleshes out a ballplayer in a completely satisfying manner. I heartily recommend Pride of St. Louis to baseball fans everywhere.