Unable to hold a job during baseball season, rabid fan Bill Johnson (William Bendix) becomes a professional umpire in order to save his marriage in Kill the Umpire.

Columbia Pictures' Kill the Umpire is a sports movie favorite. Starring dependable William Bendix as Bill "Two-Call" Johnson -- "Just call 'em like you see 'em!" a freckled-face boy (Tony Taylor) pointedly tells him in one scene -- this Lloyd Bacon-directed comedy delivers a cinematic fast ball.

Production

Kill the Umpire was written for the screen by Frank Tashlin. Directing the movie was Lloyd Bacon, whose previous cinematic baseball experience had included the sappy comedy, It Happens Every Spring (1949).

Filmed at LA's Wrigley Field

Much of Kill the Umpire was shot at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. Located at 42nd Place and Avalon Boulevard, this Wrigley Field (not to be confused with the more famous one in Chicago) served primarily as the home of the Pacific Coast League Los Angeles Angels from 1925 to 1957. A number of other baseball films were shot at L.A.'s Wrigely Field as well, including Pride of the Yankees (1942), The Winning Team (1952) and The Kid from Left Field (1953).

Umpire School

Kill the Umpire follows the life of Bill Johnson (Bendix), an ex-ballplayer and rabid baseball fan who harbors an abiding hate for the boys in blue -- umpires. Living in St. Petersburg, Florida, Bill invariably loses his job every year when spring training rolls around. Threatened with a walkout from his wife, Betty (Merkel), Bill signs up for umpire school with the help of his father-in-law, Jonah Evans (Ray Collins), a retired professional ump.

At his new digs in Florida, Bill (who has called umpires "the lowest a man can get") tries his best to get tossed out of school. But Jimmy O'Brien (William Frawley), the venerable director of the school, convinces Bill that he would make a darned good umpire.

Two-Call Johnson

Bill successfully completes the curriculum and is assigned to the Texas Interstate League. In time, he gains a measure of popularity, earning the nickname "Two-Call Johnson" after overindulging in a fellow ump's (Tom D'Andrea) eye drop medicine, which gives him temporary double vision.

Following a controversial call against the home team, a huge rhubarb ensues, with Bill barely escaping with his life as angry fans chase him from the ballpark. Donning various disguises, Bill manages to sneak back into the stadium just in time to work the big game.

Release and Reviews

Kill the Umpire hit movie theaters on April 27, 1950. "What a guy! what a lug! what a hero! what a bum!" crowed the picture's tagline.

"Lame-brained comedy about a fanatic baseball fan (William Bendix) who hates umpires but becomes one when he needs a job," reported the uncharitable critic for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. "For undemanding fans."

Trivia

Kill the Umpire acquired its title from the classic Ernest Lawrence Thayer poem, "Casey at the Bat," which first appeared in the San Francisco Examiner on June 3, 1888. One stanza reads in part: "'Kill him! Kill the umpire!' shouted someone in the stands, And it's likely they'd have killed him had not Casey raised his hand."

William Bendix (1906-1964) is best known for his other baseball role, that of George Herman "Babe" Ruth in The Babe Ruth Story (1948).

In a January 26, 1988, episode of TV's Matlock titled "The Umpire," criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock (Andy Griffith) is saddled with a team full of suspects when a softball-league arbiter becomes the victim of "kill the umpire" syndrome.

You're out...for good.