Product Details

• Actors: Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, William Frawley, Patricia Barry, Don Collier
• Directors: Walter Doniger
• Writers: Tom Naud, Robert Dillon, Steven Ritch
• Producers: Tom Naud
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: March 5, 1996
• Run Time: 84 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303962874
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,633 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Kill the Umpire and Safe at Home reside cozily on this family-friendly disc, a pair of entertaining movies about baseball-crazy characters with very different reasons for getting close to the game. The 1950 Kill the Umpire stars William Bendix as Bill Johnson, a working man so enamored of America's pastime that he regularly loses jobs because he can't stay out of his favorite New York ballpark when he's supposed to be at the office. Loudly disdainful of all umpires, Bill gets both a blessing and a comeuppance when his father-in-law (Ray Collins), a retired ump, sends him off to umpire school to learn the profession he deserves. After a lot of resistance, Bill understands the basic nobility of being the guy people love to hate despite also being necessary to baseball. The script is by Frank Tashlin, the animation director who would soon have better things to do in the 1950s and beyond, such as directing Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? and guiding Jerry Lewis in some of his best vehicles. Indeed, Kill the Umpire, in many ways, looks like a collection of old cartoon gags connected by Bendix’s charming performance. But under the sure hand of seasoned director Lloyd Bacon (Knute Rockne All-American), it all comes together nicely.

The 1962 Safe at Home is built around the presence of New York Yankees stars Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, who prove stiff but game playing themselves in the story of a little boy who gets in trouble for overstating his friendship with them. Young Hutch Lawton (Bryan Russell), a motherless child trying hard to help his preoccupied dad (Don Collier) build a business, brags to his Little League team that he knows Maris and Mantle, then sets out on a journey to talk the legendary sluggers into going back with him to meet the team. William Frawley (who also appears in Kill the Umpire) helps keep the pace going as the Yankees' manager, and Patricia Barry is a welcome presence as Mr. Lawton's love interest. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars fun to see Mickey and Roger in a movie together, April 6, 2008

By 

Michael R. Chernick "statman31147" (Holland PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Safe at Home [VHS] (VHS Tape)

As a big Yankee fan I enjoyed seeing this movie, but it was not beautifully scripted and the acting and dialog were not very good. It was clearly done for publicity after great success they had in 1961.

Don't watch it if you can't stand bad acting and poor scripts.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars That ball is GONE! It's a HOME RUNNN!, January 26, 2000

By 

bigbook "bigbook" (Gig Harbor, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Safe at Home [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Caught this one on AMC recently and was glad to find it available on VHS from Amazon.com. A nostalgic, b&w, early 60s "quickie" released to cash in on Maris and Mantle's 1961 assault on the Babe's home run record. It's got a lot going for it, too! A storyline right out of Leave It to Beaver, a cute kid, a gruff coach played by professional grouch Bill Frawley (Fred Mertz) and cameos by Whitey Ford and other Yankees from that era. The real attraction though are the M&M Boys: Mantle and Maris! Roger turns in his greatest screen appearance ever: his emotional range runs from his normal surliness to outright contempt for the world. Mantle, not to be upstaged, appears to be relatively sober in his scenes. Also, since the movie is fiction, he doesn't charge fans for signing an autograph! Safe at Home! was aimed, obviously, at boys 12-and-under. It's a fun film that really brings back the feeling of being a card-collecting, home run worshipping Yankee fan during the early years of Camelot.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY ON DVD, March 27, 2007

By 

W. Steck "beenthere/donethat" (Bakersfield CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Baseball Double Feature - Kill the Umpire / Safe at Home (DVD)

Kill the Umpire is certainly in the top five of Baseball movies.

The great William Bendix is perfectly cast as the retired ball player
who quite improbably finds himself on the "other side" as am umpire.

While the plot is a bit on the make-believe side, it never fails to
hold the American Pastime in awe.

Very enjoyable, and highly recommended.