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Paul Douglas plays the demanding manger of the Pittsburg Pirates whose team begins winning after being blessed from above. Look for a young Ellen Corby, the lovable grandmother on the Walton's TV series. Other cast members include Janet Leigh,Keenan Wynn and Spring Byington. The filming locations were old Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, home of the triple A Los Angeles Angels before the Dodgers arrived. Forbes Field in Pittsburg and Yankee Stadium were also used in this 1951 film. Some popular ballplayers can be seen also.It is a fun movie to watch, especially for a baseball fan.

Before the New York Mets came along, the Pittsburgh Pirates were the first name in baseball for flat footed futility. At the time that Angels in the Outfield was made the Pirates had a long term lease on the National League cellar. In fact the only reason the Pirates drew any crowds at all was the presence of the premier slugger in the National League, Ralph Kiner. One shudders to think where they might have finished without him.

But that's reality. In this film some heavenly help is granted the Pirates, presumably by a long suffering Deity who's maybe a Pirate fan. That is on condition that manager Paul Douglas clean up his act. He's told that by unseen angel James Whitmore.

As it turns out Douglas is not the only one getting celestial visitations. He only hears angels, but little Donna Corcoran sees them behind every Pirate player on the field. When reporter Janet Leigh writes the story all kinds of complications ensue.

Even without the special effects of the 1994 remake, Angels in the Outfield still maintains an innocent charm that is irresistible to baseball fans of a perennial losing team. After all we found out in Damn Yankees the kind of outside help they've been getting to stay on top.

Nine years later the Pirates were in fact World Series winners, humbling the mighty Yankees in seven games. And for thirty years after that the Pirates were a contending ball club. They're back in the doldrums that Angels in the Outfield portrays. Maybe time for another heavenly assist.

Baseball and fantasy combine to make exceptionally comfortable movie partners here, as the hot-headed, foul-mouthed (for 1951) manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team learns to clean up his act after he and his losing team receive Divine Intervention on the playing field. Potentially sticky premise gets some heavenly assistance of its own, with Paul Douglas just about perfect in the lead. He's supported by a fine cast, including Keenan Wynn, Janet Leigh (looking lovely), as well as Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, and Bing Crosby in smart cameos. The whimsical script is surprisingly witty, and the direction is straightforward and never too mawkish. Remade by the Disney people in 1994, with one major difference: in this one, you don't see the angels. *** from ****

This is a nicely done little film of the feel-good variety that dominated the fifties. It is the story of an unsuccessful baseball manager whose temper and general disdain for his players has cost him dearly--he is just moving through life. Enter an angel who lays down terms this man must follow in order to redeem himself. Also, he finds a pretty reporter and a little orphan girl who has the ability to actually see the angels as they assist the lowly Pirates. Of course, at some point everything has to return to his having to trust strictly in himself and his players. The angels got him so far--now it's his turn. The baseball scenes are pretty well done and realistic for the most part. It is formulaic but still pulls at the heartstrings.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a team in disarray and just keep on losing. Could the reason be the manager Guffy McGovern played by Paul Douglas as the reporter Jennifer Paige and the players believe. Guffy has a foul mouth whenever he gets angry which is most of the time. Unbeknown to Guffy and the Pirates is a little orphan girl that is praying for them. God hears her prayers and sends an angel to help but only if Guffy can control his temper and mouth. Guffy does and the team starts to win. Little Bridget White, the orphaned girl gets a chance to attend a game and is the only one to see angels behind the ball players. Can Guffy change his ways and will Bridget find a home? At the end is a very touching decision by Guffy concerning his old bitter friend, a washed-up pitcher that started the game as to whether to stay with him in the ninth or to replace him. Excellent film for those that believe in the power of prayer.

Oh how times have changed in the world of baseball. Today we worry about performance enhancing drugs and steroid scandals and players cheating, along with multi-million dollar contracts and ridiculously priced tickets. Back in 1951, apparently the biggest scandal would be a manager who believes he talks to angels! And ends up being threatened with discipline for no reason other than that his belief in angels apparently makes him a better person and his team a better team!

Paul Douglas played Guffy McGovern, the manager of the sad-sack Pittsburgh Pirates - a bad joke around the world of baseball. McGovern is mean and demanding to his players, abusive toward the umpires (this being a family movie, I love the very innocent and even humorous way that he's depicted swearing) and he's involved in a long running feud with broadcaster Fred Bayles (Keenan Wynne.) But there's a little girl named Bridget in an orphanage run by nuns who prays for the Pirates and McGovern every day. Her prayers get heard, and all of a sudden heaven is on the Pirates' side. There aren't just angels in the outfield - they're in the infield, in the dugout and sitting on the scoreboard, too. And with the help of the angels the Pirates are transformed into contenders. But when, partly the result of stories written by reporter Jennifer Paige (a very young and beautiful Janet Leigh), people find out that McGovern is consorting with these heavenly beings - well, all hell breaks loose. Suddenly, Bayles has evidence that McGovern is crazy, the Commissioner of Baseball holds a hearing. My gosh, you'd have thought this was about Pete Rose gambling again.

It's a very innocent movie - quaint even - when sports wasn't quite the big business it is today and when society wasn't quite as cynical about the stars. It's humorous - but not over the top - and Donna Corcoran (who plays Bridget) is an adorable 8 year old baseball fan who just wants the Pirates to win. On occasion it's even thoughtful - there's some commentary on the debate between belief and disbelief, but - as with most other things in this movie - there's no heavy duty religious content. The baseball action is even pretty well done. Perhaps it turns a bit overly sweet toward the end, but basically, this is a very enjoyable movie - perhaps not the best baseball movie ever made ("Pride Of The Yankees" still holds that place in my books), but quite well done. (7/10)

A wonderful baseball movie with more depth than the Disney rendition. Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh are wonderfully cast as the gruff team manager and female reporter out for a story. It was a treat to see Barbara Billingsley as the hat check girl in the resteraunt. Some very famous ball players make guest appearances, which is a real treat.

This is a touching movie that the whole family can enjoy. It has similarities and some serious differences with the modern Disney rendition of this film.

"Angels in the Outfield" (1951) is the one of the best and most original comedies ever made. It is about a baseball manager (Paul Douglas) who loses his temper too much until he hears an angel's voice (James Whitmore), who makes a deal with him. He and his other angels will help the baseball team win games if the manager stops losing his temper. When the deal is set, the manager's life changes. It is a lovely movie to watch.

The movie should have been nominated with Academy Awards for the major categories. It was totally ignored. Paul Douglas and Bruce Bennett, as the aging baseball player, should have been nominated for best actor and best supporting actor. They have something in common; both of them made another great movie in their long careers: Douglas made "Letter to Three Wives" and Bennett made "Mildred Pierce". "Angels in the Outfield" was perfectly cast. Another outstanding performance was by Kennan Wynn in his best role and best movie. Mr. Wynn should have been nominated for best supporting actor, too.

Angels in the Outfield (1951) : Brief Review -

Had I seen it in my childhood, it would have been my nostalgia forever. Clarence Brown had shown that he was good at comedies way back in the 30s, but then dramas took over him, and we had to wait till the 50s to see him revisiting his den. Angels in the Outfield has to be one of his last (or could be his last) best comedies that can be enjoyed without any restriction. No age bar is required, no brain is needed, and there are no awkward moments either. It's not brainless, though. I remember watching Rajiv Mehra's bollywood fantasy comedy "Chamtkar" (1992), even though that film had a different story. There was this angle-type character who made a team win a cricket match. In Angels in the Outfield, we have angles making the Pittsburgh Pirates team win baseball matches. Also, that Lage Rahi Munna Bhai scene of a doctor's consultation to test if a man really talks to an invisible angel was pretty easy to digest. When you see Guffy McGovern's character in the first few scenes, you start loathing him. I just didn't like the way it started. Also, the words were not clear, so half the time, I couldn't understand what he was saying. Then came the angel, who took the film in the right direction. The little girl added more cuteness, while Paige, as a journalist and Guffy's lover, was damn too mainstream. It's a fantasy done right, but the comedy isn't as high as I expected. Paul Douglas is the soul of the film, despite a few loose ends, and Janet Leigh is the perfect girl but an imperfect journalist. The cute little girl Donna Corcoran comes halfway but still manages to take over full attention by the end. We couldn't see angels in the film, but we saw Donna. She wasn't no less than an angel herself. Clarence Brown's impact as a director will always fascinate me. Thanks, man; you have been a good caretaker of the cinema.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

This was a nice film, nothing special, but certainly better than the terrible Disney re-make in 1994.

The baseball scenes were pretty good and they should have stayed more with that. They had footage from real-life Pittsburgh Pirates games and that helped make it look more genuine than most sports films that Hollywood made back in the 1940s. Paul Douglas was pretty funny, especially when he started "swearing," mixing his sentences together so you couldn't understand anything he said.

Once again, as was the case in a number of classic films, the story was going along pretty well and then a sappy romance ruins things. I'm all for romance but they are done so stupidly in most films, it's an insult to your intelligence.

The little girl in the movie, "Bridget White," (Donna Corcoran) was a cute, sweet little thing. She lives in an orphanage run by nuns (Spring Byington and Ellen Corby are featured). It's interesting to note that all the pro-religious scenes in here were deleted in the 1994 Disney version.

The villain of this movie turns out to be the baseball announcer, of all things. Keenan Wynn plays the role so effectively you want to reach through the television and punch this guy out!

Charming comedy about the Pittsburgh Pirates, a last-place baseball team led by cantankerous manager Paul Douglas, who mount a comeback with help from an angel (voiced by James Whitmore). The heavenly intervention comes with a price, however: the angel and his friends will continue to cheat for the Pirates so long as Douglas can control his temper and foul language.

A very cute movie that's fun for the whole family and should leave a smile on the face of all but the grouchiest of us. Paul Douglas plays the kind of role he was perfectly suited for. Janet Leigh is enjoyable as the lady reporter who takes a personal interest in Douglas. While I enjoyed the two of them separately, I have to say their romance is a little hard to swallow given the twenty year age difference. Good support from Keenan Wynn, Marvin Kaplan, Bruce Bennett, and Spring Byington. Donna Corcoran is fun as the orphan girl who prays for the Pirates to get some help. This is a fun movie from MGM with a Disney feel, which may explain why Disney chose to remake it in the '90s. Oh, and this is another movie that falls in the category of "heavenly beings commit crimes (and sins) to help individual humans out" movies. The most shocking of which that I've seen was Heaven Only Knows, a western in which God helps Brian Donlevy kill a guy.

In 1951, the year of this film's release, the Pirates were in a very long dry spell, 9 years prior to their first World Series appearance since 1927. The obvious set-up : "Heaven help the Pirates".

I saw this picture as an adolescent during its theatrical release, and 5 times recently. In addition to perfect casting of Paul Douglas, then in his prime - having recently filmed "Panic in the Streets" , the supporting cast is superb, notably Spring Byington and Ellen Corby as Sisters and Janet Leigh is a very credible love interest .Donna Corcoran is a wonderful orphan.

What I admire almost as much as the acting, premise and writing is the director's use of actual Pittsburgh locations, although there was no imperative to do so. Included: the King Edward Apartments, Forbes Field, PCC trolley cars, Bigelow Boulevard, Checker cabs. As a former Pittsburgher, I can attest to the authenticity of these elements.

A sentimental favorite of mine, but not just for Pittsburgh fans.

Aloysius "Guffy" McGovern (Paul Douglas) is the fouled mouthed abrasive manager of the baseball team the Pittsburgh Pirates who have been stuck in a slump only fueling his bad temper. When wandering onto the field after a game to look for a missing charm, a voice claiming to belong to an angel (James Whitmore) chides Guffy for his abuse to his fellow man and polluting the air with his foul mouth. The angel makes a deal with Guffy that if he can clean up his behavior him and his heavenly choir will help him with some of his games and get his team out of its slump, Guffy agress and eventually the Pirates become contenders for the pennant. Along the way Guffy befriends a little orphan girl Bridget White (Donna Corcoran) who can see the angels, as his road to the pennant is covered by newspaper writer Jennifer Paige (Janet Leigh).

Written by Jesuit priest Fr. Grady under the pen name Riachard Conlin, the story was purchased by MGM as a vehicle for Spencer Tracy, before unsuccessfully trying to attach Clark Gable and James Cagney before settling on Paul Douglas. The film has many similarities in its DNA to other fantastical films of the era such as Miracle on 34th Street or It's a Wonderful Life and with its mixture of magic realism and baseball its not unthinkable future films such as Field of Dreams took inspiration from this movie. While a net loss upon initial release, Angels in the Outfield has become a minor classic that while not as well regarded as similar films of the time is pleasant diversion.

Paul Douglas had a brief run as a leading man in films in the early 50s and never became the audience draw the studios were hoping for, which is a shame because Douglas does quite well as Guffy with his brash abrasiveness softening over time well-acted. The movie is essentially a character piece with Guffy having an arc throughout the course of the film and creating a family for himself with young orphan Bridget and reporter Jennifer Paige who are both portrayed effectively by Donna Corcoran and Janet Leigh respectively. While Guffy's arc through the movie is paced effectively and has some great moments of charm and humanity, it's also maybe a little too removed from some of Guffy's past with a lot of it told to us rather than shown firsthand. The movie also has a hearing with the commissioner of baseball that feels a little heavy handed and I personally felt maybe it could've been a little more ambiguous with the fantasy elements rather than the route it takes, but is does lead to a good moment of humor between McGovern's three "witnesses".

Angels in the Outfield isn't a classic in the same league as Miracle on 34th Street or It's a Wonderful Life which its clearly trying to aim for in terms of pathos, but it is a solid character piece with some charming scenes and a good performance by Paul Douglas.

i thought this was a very touching heartwarming comedy/fantasy/baseball movie that's suitable for the whole family.sure it's a bit predictable and maybe a bit sappy,and hokey,but not overly.it's good quality entertainment that might just warm your heart.and there's nothing wrong with that.i chuckled quite a bit.i think i even had a tear or two in my eye.this is one of those feel good movies that will lift your spirits if you're feeling down.Janet Leigh and Paul Douglas are great together and Donna Corcoran as eight year old Bridget White is adorable.overall,a very good heartwarming film that the whole family can enjoy.for me Angels in the Outfield is an 8/10

"Angels in the Outfield" is a light sports comedy and faith fantasy that has Paul Douglas as the new manager of the major league Pittsburgh Pirates, Aloysius X. 'Guffy' McGovern. Baseball managers of the day were known to speak vocabularies punctuated with any number of expletives, especially during games. The film stops just short of such language, but one gets the message by McGovern's persona in the opening.

The Pirates have been on a slump, and under the new manager things begin to change slowly. This is due, in part, to a woman reporter who begins to cover baseball games. Janet Leigh's Jennifer Paige gets the assignment after a tip that a young girl from one of the Catholic schools in the city saw angels on the field during one of the games. McGovern never gets to see the angels, but in time he can talk with them. All of this is meant to change the hard-nosed, gruffy McGovern.

Toward the end, romance seems to be in the air for McGovern and Paige. That is a bit of a stretch with the huge difference in ages and McGovern's rugged physical appearance. Still, in times past, it was common for older men and younger women to marry. And, this is an everyman story.

The story is nice, with light humor in places. Otherwise, it isn't an overly compelling plot. A number of well-known supporting actors contribute to the story. Among them are Keenan Wynn, Lewis Stone, Spring Byington, Bruce Bennett and Marvin Kaplan.

While not of the stature of the more handsome leading men of the time, Paul Douglas was a very good actor. He played a variety of roles, with equal ability - whether comedy, drama or mystery. Douglas was more of the everyman that audiences could then - and can yet, identify with. Hits at the box office were common for the handsome MGM players of the day. But, with stars like Douglas, it depended more on the story, quality of the film, and even moods in the culture at the time. Douglas died eight years after this film was made, at age 52.

A real classic and one of my all time favorite movies. So many wonderful moments throughout the film. Paul Douglas is great as Guffy McGovern, a rough, tough hard-nosed baseball manager. His guardian angel changes his ways as the Pirates go from worst to first. Keenan Wynn - don't you think he's the role model for today's outspoken writers and sports radio guys? I cheer every time Guffy punches his lights out.

Yeah, the movie's syrupy and has a few clichés, but man, it sure resonated with me when I was younger and still does today. Whenever something goofy happens in a real baseball game I wonder if there's an angel out there wreaking some havoc on a hapless player.

Directed by Clarence Brown. Starring Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh, Donna Corcoran, Keenan Wynn, Spring Byington, Bruce Bennett, Ellen Corby, Lewis Stone, Marvin Kaplan, King Donovan, Jeff Richards, (voice) James Whitmore.

Innocuous, good-hearted fantasy film about the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates getting help winning some games from baseball-loving angels, so long as their combative manager (Douglas) cleans up his belligerent, foul-mouthed ways (even though the greatest sin he commits in the movie is pouring ketchup on a steak). Leigh is the women's advice reporter breaking the outlandish story; Corcoran the young orphan doing the praying. Has a breezy pace and some snappy dialogue at the outset, bogs down later with too much "cute" humor and lead-footed storytelling, even inserting an unnecessary (and very unlikely) romance. Several missed opportunities along the way; e.g., why not have Douglas struggle more with keeping a cool temper and clean vocabulary, or why isn't there more of an exploration about why the heavenly intervention is happening (theology may not be on the minds of the filmmakers, but the "Miracle on 34th Street"-esque courtroom scenes almost demand it)? Features several celebrity cameos, including Ty Cobb--surprisingly, his appearance doesn't cause all the holy interlopers to flee in terror. Remade by Disney in 1994, with the team in question being (appropriately) swapped for the California Angels.

58/100

I caught this movie on AMC late one Saturday night. The difference from this movie classic and the Disney effort was like night and day. This movie had more feeling and better acting. Don't Get me wrong, Danny Glover and Joseph Gordan-Levett, and Tony Danza did well, but not as good as the original cast.

It's hard to believe that this movie was directed by Clarence Brown, who gave us such masterpieces as Garbo in Anna Karenina, Gable and Shearer in Idiot's Delight, and a very moving adaptation of Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust. Be that as it may, this a a generally flat film, with no real sense of pacing. The actors are all fine - indeed, much better than their material - but they can't make a silk purse out of this sow's ear.

Which is not to say that there is nothing of value here, however. The last part of the movie, which doesn't build a lot of tension, nevertheless shows the main character doing something very decent. It could be developed a lot more effectively, I suppose, but there's something very satisfying about that. (I won't go into details, because I wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone.) Yes, this movie is worth watching. It's not close to being a great movie, but it won't waste your time, either.

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I watched this again tonight on TCM. The basic plot - a baseball manager's conversations with angels - is pure fantasy, and not that interesting. It is also very much a repeat of the 1947 20th Century Fox hit Miracle on 34th Street, especially in the final courtroom scene, where, this time, various witnesses are called in to prove the existence of angels, as opposed to Santa Claus. For that, Miracle was a much better movie than this.

But where this movie is interesting is its recreation of baseball in the late 1940s/early 1950s. The Pittsburgh "fans" turn downright vicious when they fear leaving an aging pitcher in will cause them to lose the game they need to win the pennant. There are other touches here and there that come off as very real, despite the fantasy of the main story line.

As I wrote last year, you won't waste your time watching this movie. Some of it is blatant emotion manipulation. But there are interesting elements in it as well.

This movie has to be an all time classic about baseball.It's a story about the Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.It has comedy,and even some serious scenes in this movie.The acting by Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh are just great.Keenan Wynn plays his usual villain type part.This movie should be considered one of the Classic baseball movies that were made.