Rhubarb (1951)

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Rhubarb is an amusing, if not entirely faithful, adaptation of the H. Allen Smith novel of the same name. When Thaddeus J. Banner (Gene Lockhart), multimillionaire owner of the Brooklyn baseball team, passes away, he wills the team -- and his $30 million estate -- to his pugnacious pet cat Rhubarb.… More Rhubarb is an amusing, if not entirely faithful, adaptation of the H. Allen Smith novel of the same name. When Thaddeus J. Banner (Gene Lockhart), multimillionaire owner of the Brooklyn baseball team, passes away, he wills the team -- and his $30 million estate -- to his pugnacious pet cat Rhubarb. Banner's press agent Eric Yeagar (Ray Milland) finds this hilarious, until he discovers that he's been appointed Rhubarb's guardian and business manager. One of the crosses Yeagar has to bear is the fact that his sweetheart Polly Sickles (Jan Sterling), the daughter of Brooklyn team manager Len Sickles (William Frawley), is deathly allergic to cats. Still, Yeagar must keep Rhubarb with him at all times, especially when the cat turns out to be a good-luck charm for the perennially basement-dwelling Brooklyn ballplayers. Thanks to Rhubarb's inspiration, the team makes it to the Pennant Race, whereupon the plot really thickens. The first two-thirds of Rhubarb adheres to the original Smith novel, culminating with a zany sanity hearing brought about by Banner's disgruntled relatives to prove that the cat is mentally unfit to control the old man's money. But the final reels abandon the novel in favor of a Guys and Dolls-inspired plot strand, wherein crooked gamblers kidnap the cat to prevent a Brooklyn pennant win. As a result, H. Allen Smith's satiric barbs are somewhat blunted in the final scenes -- which, however, is not to suggest that the film is any less funny than before. One of the better baseball comedies of the era, Rhubarb maintains its merriment right to the end, which is capped by a cameo appearance by a well-known actor who happened to be married to leading lady Jan Sterling. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Arthur Lubin
Genres: Kids & Family, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Sep 1, 1951 Wide
On DVD: Jul 22, 2008

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Cast

            Ray Milland as Eric Yeager

            Jan Sterling as Polly Sickles

            Gene Lockhart as Thaddeus J. Banner

            William Frawley as Len Sickles

            Elsie Holmes as Myra Banner

            Taylor Holmes as P. Duncan Munk

            Willard Waterman as Orlando Dill

            Henry Slate as Dud Logan

            James Griffith as Oggie Meadows

            Jim Hayward as Doom

            Donald MacBride as Phenny

            Hal K. Dawson as Mr. Fisher

            Oliver Blake as Cadaver Jones

            Harry V. Cheshire as Mr. Seegle

            Tristram Coffin as Dr. Stillman

            Paul Douglas as Guest

            Adda Gleason as Maid

            Roy Gordon
            
            Mack Gray as Detective

            Stuart Holmes
            
            Richard Karlan as Pencil Louie

            Donald Kerr as Taxi Driver

            Wilbur Mack as Golfer

            Strother Martin as Ballplayer

            Edwin Max as Fish Eye

            Hilda Plowright as Katie

            Eric Wilton
            
            Leonard Nimoy as Young ballplayer

            Stanley Orr as Newspaper Reporter

            Anthony Radecki
            
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