The Great American Pastime

Anyone expecting Little Big Leagur or the Bad News Bears or even Moochie And The Little League will be gravely disappointed. The Great American Pasttime is a pleasant but strictly sub par family comedy about a lawyer with wife and son who decides to coach a Little League team. This was the 50s and the idea of the Little League baseball teams for kids was fairly new.

Tom Ewell is our harrassed and harried protagonist with wife Anne Francis who upon hearing his son's team needs a coach volunteers. He's a lawyer and that kind of training doesn't fit you for athletics.

This was the staid 50s so the concept of sports rage hadn't taken hold. Still just about every father feels he could do a better job, but note none of them volunteer.

There's some romantic rivalry as Francis doesn't like the idea of Ewell spending time with widow Ann Miller and her son ho is one of his players. Clueless Tom makes a hash out of that.

The 50s saw many idiot fathers on the big and small screen/ Rerll was only one of them.

In the mid- to late-'50s, Tom Ewell made a series of movies opposite the bombshell sex symbols of the era: Marilyn Monroe, Sheree North, Anne Francis (this movie), Jayne Mansfield and Dina Merrill. Ewell was in his late 40s, and the oldest of the actresses was in her late 20s, and most were younger. Every time I see one of these movies, with Ewell as "the Everyman character" and his co-star as the Dream Goddess, I think "Oh no, not another one!" And I also think of a line from a documentary about older actresses (y'know, >29) in Hollywood: "Women must always be beautiful, while men can have a face like a foot!" Tom Ewell *is* that man.

Bruce Hallerton (Tom Ewell) wants to spend more time with his son Dennis. He signs them both with Little League baseball. Coaching turns out to be less fun than he imagined. His wife Betty (Anne Francis) gets jealous of beautiful single parent Doris Patterson (Ann Miller).

The trailer seems to be selling Tom Ewell after his great turn in The Seven Year Itch. I think they missed the star of that movie. Anyways, I wouldn't mind spending more time on the field with the kids and less time with the adults. This needs to be The Bad News Bears. It's not. I can't tell who's who with the kids. They are barely characters. This is more about the adults and they are not that fun. There are a few comedic moments, but it's far too few. Anne Francis is impossibly beautiful with her hair all done up. I don't actually like Bruce and the couple is very 50's. I'm just waiting for the movie to turn the focus on the kids.

THE GREAT AMERICAN PASTIME is a mild, pleasant comedy from 1956. Tom Ewell portrays a lawyer in small-town America who reluctantly lets himself get maneuvered into becoming the coach of a little league baseball team. His wife is portrayed by lovely Anne Francis, and the equally beautiful Ann Miller (in an atypical non-dancing role) plays a single mom whose son is on Ewell's team. Complications arise when Ewell begins to believe that Miller is making romantic overtures toward him in an effort to win him away from his wife. There are also various influential townsfolk who attempt to apply social and political pressure in the interest of making their sons the stars of the team. Raymond Bailey (familiar as banker Milburn Drysdale in "The Beverly Hillbillies" TV series) and Dean Jones (who appeared in numerous Disney films) are in supporting roles. Overall, it is a well paced, enjoyable film with a simple plot and gentle humor spread evenly through its running time. Viewing may prove a refreshing relief from the comedies being produced in the present day.

This is certainly NOT a movie that will change your life or overwhelm you with big stars, action or exotic locales! However, considering how modest the pretensions are, this is actually a very nice family film that is worth a look. In many ways, this film reminds me of films like MR. SCOUTMASTER and THE PRIVATE WAR OF MAJOR BENSON--all are amiable enough films about a man being mismatched with kids--along with rather predictable results. Some will no doubt be unimpressed, but I actually like a film like this on occasion--just a bit of old fashion fun with Tom Ewell and the rest of the cast.

By the way, Mr. Ewell was just fine in the film, but considering he had a gorgeous wife like Ann Francis, I don't know why all he ever seemed to think about was baseball!!