Alibi Ike (1935)

Alibi Ike is a 1935 American romantic comedy film directed by Ray Enright and starring Joe E. Brown and Olivia de Havilland. Based on the short story "Alibi Ike" by Ring Lardner, the film is about an ace baseball player nicknamed "Alibi Ike" due to his penchant for making up excuses. After falling in love with the beautiful sister-in-law of the team manager, he is kidnapped by gangsters who want him to throw the World Series.

Alibi Ike was the most successful of Joe E. Brown's "baseball trilogy" of films, which also included Elmer the Great and Fireman Save My Child. It is considered one of the best baseball comedies of all time. Alibi Ike was the first feature film released starring Olivia de Havilland, although she made two previous films that were released later that year—The Irish in Us and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Synopsis

Frank X. Farrell (Joe E. Brown) is an ace baseball player whose insistence upon making up excuses earns him the nickname "Alibi Ike." In the course of his first season with the Chicago Cubs, Farrell also falls in love with Dolly Stevens (Olivia De Havilland), sister-in-law of the team's manager. Farrell's "alibi" habit prompts Dolly to walk out on him, whereupon he goes into a slump—which coincides with attempts by gamblers to get Farrell to throw the World Series.

Actors