Kill the Umpire movie poster

Date1958

DescriptionA reprint of a motion picture poster by Columbia Pictures titled, Kill the Umpire. It has a drawing of actor William Bendix dressed as an umpire with various hand signals around him. Above him it says, 'The behind-the-scenes, behind-the-plate story of a behind-the-eightball umpire!'. Below Bendix's image, is his name and the movie title, followed by the cast, written by Frank Tashlin, produced by John Beck, and directed by Lloyd Bacon. On the bottom left corner is an image of Bendix and his movie wife, Gloria Henry. On the bottom right corner, is a play at home plate with the umpire calling him safe.

Bio/Historical NoteFormer baseball player Bill Johnson, portrayed by William Bendix, failing at many jobs when his ball-playing days are over, reluctantly takes the advice of his father-in-law, Jonah Evans (Ray Collins), a retired umpire, and enters an umpire-training school. Assigned to the Texas League, he does fine until the championship play-offs when a riot develops over one of his calls. The involved player is knocked unconscious in the proceedings and cannot verify that Bill made the correct call. Despite lynch mob plans to at least tar-and-feather him, Bill's family help him reach the ballpark safely the next day through a series of hair-raising encounters. The movie came out April 27, 1950.

Object numberBL-2012-00515-02

Artist, Creator, or Manufacturer Columbia Pictures Media Entertainment (Firm)

Subject Columbia Pictures Media Entertainment (Firm)

Attributes

Classificationsmanuscripts (documents)

Collection NumberBA EPH Ephemera

Dimensions14 x 36 in.

Copyrighthttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Public Access NotePlease note that not all works are on view at all times - their availability is subject to change per the discretion of the Museum staff. Only a portion of NBHFM's collection is currently online and the information presented here is subject to updates and additions based on research and imaging activities. The images, titles, and descriptions are products of their time. If you have corrections or additional information about this object, please email research@baseballhall.org to help improve our records. This material is made available for private study, scholarship, and research use. Every effort has been made to accurately determine the rights status of images. Please email us if you have further information on the rights status of an image contrary to or in addition to the information in our records. For more information or access to a high resolution reproduction (some fees may apply), contact: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Giamatti Research Center, research@baseballhall.org, 607-547-0330.