Lee Lowenfish

I usually end my blogs with TCM tips. But time is of the essence now. You're in for a treat tomorrow night Mar 22.

 TCM airs the original - accept no substitutes! - "Angels in the Outfield" from MGM in 1951.  It is directed by Clarence Brown, the man who learned his craft in early days of

silent movies from Maurice Tourneur [father of the Noir director Jacques Tourneur ["Out of the Past", "Easy Living" the 1949 version and many more], Clarence Brown became the man whose craft made Greta Garbo a star and later shepherded Elizabeth Taylor in her first films.

"Angels" stars Paul Douglas, a onetime pro football player and NBC announcer/sportscaster who made his acting name in the Broadway version of "Born Yesterday". He plays Guffy McGovern, the crusty manager of the tailend Pittsburgh Pirates who becomes a winner thanks to the human touch of 24-year-old Janet Leigh playing a Household Hints reporter for a Pittsburgh newspaper. (Pgh natives will love the on-location photography of Forbes Field and its environs - Ralph Kiner hits a home run in one scene and Sam Narron, one of the 8 Narrons in pro ball, has a line as s first base coach.) Douglas's biggest help comes from the orphan girl Bridget played by 8-year-old Donna Corcoran who didn't become the next Shirley Temple but she lives in posterity for this believable part. 

Bridget sees angels in the outfield helping the Pirates win games.  Her supervising nuns are played by Spring Byington and Ellen Corby. Keenan Wynn plays a nasty broadcaster as only this talented actor can. He leads a crusade to ban Guffy from baseball for being loony enough to see angels. (Bat Guano in "Dr. Strangelove" was a few years ahead in Wynn's future.)

James Whitmore is the uncredited voice of angel Gabriel, coach of the Heavenly Choir.   I can't fail to mention Bruce Bennett who plays aging pitcher Saul Hellman/ Bennett is probably the best athlete ever to play in the movies (he won the silver medal in the shot put in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and earlier played for Washington Huskies n 1926 Rose Bowl.)  Bennett was notable opposite Ida Lupino in "The Man I Love" (1946) and vital to the success of "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1946). 

If you disagree on my enthusiasm for this film, feel free to make comments. 

If this film is not enough for the first Sat night of spring, before "Angels" there is a 15-minute short, "Donkey Baseball" (1935), one of promoter Ray Doan's many hustles during the Great Depression.  After "Angels", Babe Ruth stars in a 1936 short, "Home Run on the Keys" with Rez Confrey who made a hit with "Kitten on the Keys".  Babe is trying to sell a song about baseball to the radio.  Have not seen this one and it could be a hoot.   

AND NOW SOME EXCITING NYC HOOPS NEWS! 

At 4p today Fri Mar 21 NYU men's basketball team plays for Division III title against Trinity from Hartford CT. Also at 4P the women go for their second straight title and their 62nd win in a row in a rematch against Smith of Northampton MA.  Use your search engines to find where you can see these games.

My Columbia women's team won their First Four game in thrilling fashion last night (Th Mar 20).  Trailing by 13 at the half, aggressive defense and timely offense pulled

off a 63-60 victory.  Next up tomorrow Sa Mar 22 at 2P on ESPNEWS is West Virginia University.  Followed by Harvard, conquerors of Columbia in the Ivy League tourney.

Wisconsin Badger men live on with a Saturday match against tough Brigham Young tomorrow (Sa Mar 22) 745P CBS - all times are EDT.

It has been a dream college season for yours truly.  Columbia women were expected to do well and they have exceeded expectations.

Wisconsin men were picked for 12th in the now-18-team Big Ten.  The Badgers are proof that players with the help of coaching preparation win games, not pundits or fans.

But how we love to root them on.

More next time on today's MLB which opened the season in Tokyo earlier this week with two predictable wins of the Dodgers over the Cubs.  Baseball should

open the season in Cincinnati where it used to for many many years.  And if they claim that Jackie Robinson's debut game on April 15 1947 was the greatest

moment in the sport's history, why not start the season then?  Of course, the powers don't believe that about JR's debut. They even purged that story from their website as "DEI infected" until they were shamed to return it. 

But I will not end this post on a down snarky note.  "It's not my style," Ricky Nelson says to John Wayne in "Rio Bravo".  Instead I will give the last word to

Columbia women's coach Megan Griffith in the post-game presser after the 63-60 win over Washington:

"I like to teach young people how to do hard things together - maybe it's something missing in today's society."

Amen sister!  Until next time, stay positive test negative and take it easy but take it.

The enforced isolation of sheltering in space has allowed me to taste many dishes these days from the worlds of baseball and music and movies. Here's a rundown of some highlights and recommendations for the next week or so.

On Fri aft Apr 24, MLBTV replayed the Mets' thrilling 3-2 victory over the Braves on Sep 21, 2001, the first game in NYC after the 9/11 bombings.  I attended the game and thrilled to the Seventh Inning Stretch rendition of "New York, New York" with Liza Minnelli singing and leading a kick line with various members of the police and fire departments and other uniformed personnel. 

 
I was way up in right field that night so could see the show much better on TV today. Liza was really hyped up to put on a great show despite problems with the PA system.

She always reminded people that the song was written for her, not Frank Sinatra though his version is almost always played.  In fact, for many years the Yankees only played Liza's version of "New York, New York" when the team lost.  They have stopped that indignity but now don't ever play her rendition.

When you watch the "All Time Games" on MLBTV, you realize how every game has turning points and chances for redemption. Earlier in the game, Mike Piazza had been unable to catch a throw at home plate from right field, allowing hustling Chipper Jones to score the first run of the game from first base.  

In mid-game Piazza also stranded a runner at third with two out by grounding out to third.  But he rose to the occasion in the bottom of the 8th with a game-changing two-run home run off New York-born Steve Karsay.

There was no over-the-top celebration of the homer by either Piazza or his teammates.  They were happy, of course, but I sensed a feeling that it was a statement of affirmation after such a jarring blow to the city delivered by the suicide bombers.

Hearing "New York, New York" again and watching the happy ending, I was yet swept by the bittersweet feeling that it will be a long time before we can experience the joy of watching in capacity crowds.  Not forever - we can't think that way - but it will be a long time. And wisely so until the scientists and sensible public health officials get a better grip on the problem.

So let's take some solace in watching some old baseball movies. Mark down this Tuesday April 28 at 1p when TCM shows the original "Angels in the Outfield" from 1951. It is directed crisply by Clarence Brown (1890-1987), who holds the unenviable record of the most Oscar nominations without a win at six.  

 
"Angels" stars Paul Douglas as the crusty beleaguered manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Janet Leigh plays a newspaper reporter specializing in society stories who tries to civilize him.  Keenan Wynn, 13 years before his memorable turn as Bat Guano in "Dr. Strangelove," plays a cynical sportswriter. 

The title comes from a little girl who roots so hard for the Pirates that she imagines angels in the outfield helping them. And whatdya know? They are real. The ever-cheery and bubbling Spring Byington plays a nun who helps facilitate the miracle. 

 
I can envision many hard-boiled sophisticated baseball fans running away from the TV before the film is even shown.  I say give it a try.  In my first seeing, I found it not as sentimental as it sounds.  

Even if not buying into the movie, fans can enjoy the baseball sequences filmed at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field. Look for cameo appearances by Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Ralph Kiner wearing #4, and Bing Crosby, who owned a share of the Pirates at the time.  

Sam Narron plays a rival Philadelphia coach - Narron was one of eight Narrons from a baseball family in North Carolina that played professional baseball. 

Paul Douglas is one of my favorite actors.  He delivers athletic portrayals naturally because he briefly played pro football in the pre-NFL days and was a sports announcer for many years.  He had also been convincing as Ray Milland's catcher in the charming "It Happens Every Spring" released in 1949 ( that film was written by Valentine Davies who the year before had created "Miracle on 34th Street" with Edmund Gwenn as Santa Claus and young Natalie Wood). 

On the musical front, if you tune into wqxr.org on line or 105.9 FM, this Sunday night Apr 26 at 10p, the piano music of Gabriel Faure (1845-1921) will be highlighted in David Dubal's absorbing "Reflections from the Piano" series. It is a repeat of the Wed at 10p show.

Faure's melodies always are inviting and many of his harmonies are haunting. Oddly, some of his gently dissonant notes somehow reminded me of the much later jazz great Thelonious Monk (1917-1982).  There will be a second Faure show on W Apr 29 at 10p, repeated on Su.

Remember, too, that during the daytime Th Apr 30 will be Eve Arden Day on TCM. Unfortunately, they are not showing "Anatomy of A Murder" in which she plays James Stewart's secretary.  It would have been timely since on April 29 Duke Ellington, who wrote the music for the film, would be 121.

They are showing films I've never seen - "Unfaithful" at 10a, "Comrade X" from the critical period of 1939-40 at 2p, and the classic "Mildred Pierce" at 345p. The last one at 6p is the so-so filming of her classic radio-TV "Our Miss Brooks". It does have the novelty feature of

direction by "Grandpa" Al Lewis of Munster fame. 

Sorry to end on a somber note but it was an eerie coincidence that actress Shirley Knight passed away last week on April 21nd on the same night that TCM was showing "The Group," based on Mary McCarthy's incisive novel about Vassar's Class of 1933 and their first years in the real world.

Knight gave an outstanding performance as she always did.  I had forgotten that she had created the role on both Broadway and Hollywood of Reenie in William Inge's achingly beautiful play, "The Dark At The Top of the Stairs."  

She always provided a seemingly placid but deeply emotional coloration to all her roles. In some ways she  reminded me of Sissy Spacek before Sissy Spacek came on the scene.  Shirley Knight was 83 and she died at the home of her daughter Caitlin Hopkins who chairs the theatre program at Texas State U in San Marcos.  

That's all for now.  Always remember:  Take it easy but take it (even if you have to wear a mask a lot of the time.) 

 ,