This is an OK film. If you have 70 minutes to kill, this isn't something you'll regret killing them with, but it won't stick with you years later.The film centers on a series of bizarre murders of top players on a losing St. Louis baseball team. The owner (David Landau as Pop Clark) has mortgaged everything to recruit pitcher Larry (Robert Young). If the season is bad he loses everything to his creditors. There is "the obvious suspect" in one particular gangster and gambler who seems unhappy about the improving stats of the St. Louis team with Larry on the mound, but that's the point. He seems just a little too obvious.The first criminal thing to happen is that a tire on the car that Larry is riding in being shot out. The car rolls over and Larry could have been killed, but he's not, and that doesn't seem to have been the intention. There are clearly at least two people involved in this first shooting, but they are anonymous. All of the crimes that follow are actually murders or attempted murders and very un-gangland like - poison being substituted for mustard, a player being strangled with the murderer's bare hands, etc. So, Larry, now recovered, is the team's only hope of winning the pennant. Will he play or will he stay safe? Watch and find out.This film is noteworthy for several reasons. For one, it really is a mystery as to who is doing all of this, as the gangland gambler is the only obvious suspect, and keeps the film interesting. It also gives David Landau, who played so many villains, a chance to play a good but crusty fellow for a change. Paul Kelly as a newspaperman who is investigating the murders as much as he is covering the team by the time the film is over is always a welcome sight with his likable wise-guy persona. The police are certainly messing up this investigation, so it is good to have Kelly on the case.And now the not so good stuff. The romance between Pop's daughter (Madge Evans) and Larry falls flat as a pancake. There is zero chemistry there - Gable and Harlow these two are not. They were both good supporting players, but until Robert Young took on his TV roles when he was older, I just never thought much of him as a leading man, particularly over at MGM. Then there is Ted Healy. He is just not funny. When he cut the Three Stooges loose it was the best thing that could have happened to them.I'd still recommend it for the murder mystery.

Just watched this for the first time, after recording it a few days ago off TCM. I figured a murder mystery involving baseball was something I had to watch since I have enjoyed both murder mysteries and baseball almost all my life.Expecting a straight drama, I was surprised how much of the film was devoted to humor, particularly between the catcher and the umpire. Robert Young was Jim Anderson and Marcus Welby to me as I grew up--having seen him in many roles in old films, I think he is one of the most underrated actors of the 20th Century. He handled a wide variety of roles and the did them all quite well.It is certainly true that some of the ways the murders were committed were rather far-fetched. I'll say it's also true that they handled most of the baseball action scenes better than many other films did. Young, in his closeups, looked believable as a pitcher to me. They mixed in real baseball footage to make the baseball scenes realistic enough.Because they had much focus on the baseball scenes, and the romantic angle, they didn't have enough time for the typical detective movie where we see clues point to different suspects. Instead, we basically were pointed toward numerous people, mostly because they were in the vicinity of the activity. But since this was a light-hearted murder mystery, I don't think this ruined the film.I think it equates with a Matlock or Diagnosis Murder where we follow the star around as everything happens around, and we can guess at who committed the murders, but we never have any real clues until the very end. Frequently on those two TV series, we didn't really have clues to the killer, just a group of suspects to makes guesses about.The big difference here is, after the killer is caught, there's still the mystery of whether or not the Cardinals can clinch the pennant.It was a fun movie to see. It would be a mistake to get bogged down in details of how this or that seems unbelievable. While I caught Mickey Rooney and Ward Bond, Walter Brennan's short role slipped past me.

This film has a lot going for it. It is a sports mystery with a fabulous cast (there are cameos by Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, and Mickey Rooney). It has great chemistry between Young and Evans as the leads and Pendleton and Healy in comedic relief. Finally, it has (with two exceptions) fine acting and a good pace.Sure there are flaws. When the murderer talks early in the picture, more of his motivation could and should have been provided. That would have shortened the film's resolution, and reduced much of the histrionics others have noted. Also, in the locker room, the panning camera cheats when the poisoned player looks for his killer by not including the murderer—we are simply informed of his reactions later. Still, neither of these annoying things, by themselves, spoils the picture.Unfortunately, however, they're not all the bad news. There is a third glitch, and it completely destroys the mystery. It proves the murder couldn't have committed one of the killings. To wit: at the top of the stands, we are shown an umpire treating his player friend to a hot dog after one game. But suddenly everyone is distracted by loud bangs from below. A black-shirted arm reaches around the stand to substitute poisoned mustard for the regular stuff, and three seconds later (by my watch) we see two umpires and the murderer (now clad in a white outfit) examining firecrackers down on the diamond. Now considering the field is at least one hundred yards away by any route the perp could have taken, he clearly couldn't have committed that particular crime.Since the director and editor made films for a living, it's hard for me to comprehend how they could have overlooked such an egregious error. Still, they obviously did. But there is an easy solution. Just re-shoot the brief field close-up. Put two period-costumed umpires (with no murderer) by a home plate on some field. Film them picking-up and examining some firecrackers. Then cut the new footage in. Voila! The film is saved; the mystery works, and the DVD can be released.

I had relatively low expectations. After all, it is clearly a B-movie about baseball and despite starring Robert Young, he was not yet a top star and the film had all the earmarks of a cheap time-passer. Imagine my surprise when the film actually turned out to be a pretty good little murder mystery as well as possibly some of the inspiration for the Robert Redford film "The Natural"! There seem to be too many similarities between the two films for it to just be a coincidence.The film begins with the hard-luck St. Louis Cardinals at Spring training. While the Coach claims he's optimistic, he isn't. His only prayer is a rookie (Young). However, despite Young's amazing success, gamblers try to make it hard for him--offering him bribes and encouraging him to be in on the fix. This is a serious problem--not just for the team, but for the Coach who is has agreed to sell off his interest in the team IF they don't win the pennant. So far, all of this sounds almost exactly like "The Natural". What makes it different, however, begins about midway through the film. Suddenly, players start dying--someone is so determined to hurt the Cardinals that they are murdering players. After a while, the bodies really start to stack up and still they have no idea who is behind all this. And, when it comes to this aspect of the story, the film does a great job of throwing in a few surprises--as the ending certainly caught me off guard. Overall, a very interesting B-movie--well-written and full of nice twists and turns.