It Happens Every Spring

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It Happens Every Spring
It Happens Every Spring VHS.jpg
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Screenplay by Valentine Davies
Story byShirley W. Smith
Valentine Davies
Produced by William Perlberg
Starring Ray Milland
Jean Peters
Paul Douglas
Cinematography Joseph MacDonald
Edited byBruce B. Pierce
Music by Leigh Harline
Color process Black and white
Production
company
20th Century Fox
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • May 26, 1949 (1949-05-26)(St. Louis)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,850,000 [1]

It Happens Every Spring is a 1949 American science fiction sports comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Ray Milland, Jean Peters and Paul Douglas.

Contents

Plot

A college professor is working on a long-term scientific experiment when a baseball comes through the window, destroying all of his glassware and spilling the fluids that the flasks and test tubes contained. The pooled fluids combine to form the chemical "methylethylpropylbutyl," which then covers a large portion of the baseball. The professor soon discovers that the fluid, along with any object with which it makes contact, is repelled by wood (cf. Alexander Fleming's serendipitous discovery of penicillin).

Suddenly, he realizes the possibilities and takes a leave of absence to go to St. Louis to pitch in the big leagues, where he becomes a star and propels his team to the World Series.

Cast

Production

Alan Hale, Jr. has a small role as a catcher on the college baseball team.

Although the home team is "St. Louis", and both St. Louis major league teams (the Cardinals and the Browns) played at Sportsman's Park at the time, the exteriors for the movie were filmed in Los Angeles' Wrigley Field.

A novelization of the film was written by Valentine Davies.

Release

The film had its premiere in St. Louis on May 26, 1949 before opening the following day in Pittsburgh and then in 30 theaters after the Memorial Day weekend. [2]

Reception

New York Times critic Bosley Crowther found the film trying, particularly Valentine Davies's "monotonous" script. He did have measured praise for Paul Douglas, however. [3]

Leonard Maltin gives the film three and a half stars, calling it “a most enjoyable, unpretentious picture”. [4]

See also

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References

  1. "Top Grossers of 1949". Variety. 4 January 1950. p. 59.
  2. "Three 20th-Fox Stars On Personals as Part Of 'Spring' Bally Tour". Variety . May 25, 1949. p. 5 via Internet Archive.
  3. Bosley Crowther (1949-06-11). "Movie Review - "It Happens Every Spring"". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
  4. Maltin, Leonard (2009), p. 699. Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. ISBN   1-101-10660-3. Signet Books.