source: It Happened in Flatbush

Moviecut—It Happened in Flatbush

It Happened in Flatbush

I remember this movie when I was a kid. It is considered a lost movie but I taped it of my satellite dish last summer. and I am glad I have it. Other than appearing on a satellite channel it is impossible to acquire.. Carole Landis played a great part but it is sad that she died so young. The baseball scenes are great especially when the Dodgers win the pennant. Carole Landis' reaction at this moment is so special! Lloyd Nolan who played in the movie A Tree Grows In Brooklyn with the greatest actress who ever lived Peggy Ann Garner did a great job in this movie. It Happened in Flatbush is considered a lost film but I am glad I own a copy and I am also thankful that I have the memories of this great movie!

This was a nice, nostalgic flick about a bygone baseball era. Nolan and Landis were in top form. My only complaints were 1) the film could not use the actual name of "the Brooklyn team," i.e. The "Dodgers," and 2) most of the Brooklyn fans spoke in Irish brogues. In actuality, Dodger fans in the 1940's came from a variety of European backgrounds, such as Jewish, Italian, Irish, Scandinavian and Polish. Most were actually born and raised in Brooklyn and spoke with distinctive "Brooklyn accents." As for the Irish-Americans in Brooklyn, most could trace their ancestry in the USA back to the 19th Century. They did not speak in brogues!

Following their first National League Pennant win since 1920, The Brooklyn Dodgers team players, though losing the 1941 World Series, went to Hollywood to appear as themselves in this film's field and locker room scenes. Though uncredited on screen, they included Mickey Owen, Dolf Camilli, Billy Herman, Pewee Reese, Arky Vaughan, Dixie Walker, Cookie Lavagetto, Peter Reiser, and pitchers Hugh Casey, Whitlow Wyatt, and Freddie Fitzimmons. However, Lloyd Nolan played the team manager instead of Leo Durocher and Red Barber's substitute was KMPC radio Broadcaster Hal Berger whose 1941 in-studio game recreations fostered the birth of L.A.'s Dodger fan clubs.

I've been on an old movie kick lately. Some are more watchable than others. This one is in the former category. Although some of the hooliganism gets tiring after a while. I have been living in Brooklyn for over 25 years, and my father was born and raised here until he went into the army in 1942, so I enjoyed the location shots, such as they were. And speaking of 1942 (the year this movie was released), I presume it was filmed in 1941 because there is not a single mention of the war. A couple of other observations. 1. They must not have gotten permission to use the real team's name, because the word "Dodgers" is never once used in the movie. Or even "Dem bums". 2. When Nolan is in a taxi, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, there is a streetcar in the left lane. My father talked about the streetcars on the surface streets (and how the kids would climb on the back to ride for free), but I never knew they used the bridges too.

Those of us who grew up with, and loved, the Brooklyn Dodgers had gotten a smile and a kick out of this film. Does anyone know if it is available anywhere? Would love to turn back the clock and enjoy this one over again. Great film - hell no! But so much of the Brooklyn spirit....and great dialogue poking fun at non-Brooklynites.Lloyd Nolan, of course, was fine in his role as manager of the team, and the much maligned but beautiful and actually quite talented Carole Landis is a wonderful woman to have around. Then there is the wonderful Sara Allgood...... No, Ray McCarey didn't have the chance to reach the career status of his brother, Leo, but Ray's films are devoid of the sentimental mash that his brother offered. Has anyone actually been able to watch Going My Way anymore? Impossible (even with the joy of seeing Rise Stevens).

Very enjoyable "B" movie from 1942. Nolan as skipper of Brooklyn Dodgers is good. For once they did not use old Wrigley Field in Los Angeles for the long shot scenes. Instead they used films of the three games played at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn in the 1941 World Series. You can tell from the bunting hanging from the stands. Also some events are very close to actual happenings of the old Dodgers. A most for all us old Brooklyn Dodger fans.

Enjoyable movie. Years back they would have called this a B film. Today, it would rate A+. Lloyd Nolan provides just the right touch as the baseball manager. His speech intonation reflects a wonderful Brooklyn accent. We bums in Brooklyn would appreciate every minute of it. Brought back to manage a baseball team by the owner, (Sara Allgood in an all too brief performance) the film depicts the trials and tribulations of managing a last place team to pennant contention. Romance is in the air as Nolan tries to woo the snooty niece of the recently deceased owner. Carol Landis does well as the niece. We see Brooklyn at its best here as the faithful root for the Bums of yesteryear. Wonderful nostalgia.