The Great American Pastime

The Great American Pastime (1956)

Genres - Comedy, Sports & Recreation, Family & Personal Relationships  |   Sub-Genres - Sports Comedy  |   Run Time - 89 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Tom Ewell plays a busy attorney who wishes to be closer to his son. To do this, he becomes manager of the boy's little league team, much to the dismay of his wife (Anne Francis), who can't stand baseball. Ewell finds that he must contend with pushy and ambitious parents who hope to live their own sports fantasies vicariously through their ballplaying children. The single mother of one of the kids (Ann Miller) goes to Ewell to plead for her boy's advancement, but the purpose of the meeting is misinterpreted by Ewell's jealous wife. Fed up with sacrificing sportsmanship to the whims of the parents, Ewell encourages his team to play for the love of the game rather than "winning at any cost."

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Keywords

sportsmanship, baseball, boy, coach, Little-League, son, team, adult [vs. child], child, husband, mother, parent, wife, jealousy, pressure, lawyer, widow/widower