Kill the Umpire

Infobox_Film
name = Kill the Umpire

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amg_id = 1:97703
imdb_id = 0042641
producer =
director = Lloyd Bacon
writer = Frank Tashlin
starring = William Bendix
Una Merkel
Ray Collins
Gloria Henry
Jeff Richards
Connie Marshall
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = 1950
runtime = 78 min.
language = English

Kill the Umpire is a 1950 comedy starring William Bendix and Una Merkel, directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Frank Tashlin.

Plot

Bendix plays a former baseball player who continues to be a baseball fanatic whose devotion to the game has cost him several jobs, but who remains steadfast in one thing: he hates umpires. Matters are complicated by the fact that his father-in-law (Ray Collins) is a retired umpire. During a period of unemployment, Bendix is forced by his father-in-law to matriculate in an umpire school. Bendix initially tries to get himself expelled from the school, but eventually comes to enjoy his new job and respect the position of umpire. When he calls a popular player out at home plate, the crowd accuses him of dishonesty, leading to a near-riot during which the involved player is knocked out cold. Bendix later must disguise himself as a woman, and engage in several madcap subterfuges, to get to an important game on time, but his reputation is restored when the player he had originally called against publicly praises him for his honesty as an umpire. The crowd accepts this, although reverses its opinion again the second Bendix, inevitably, makes another call they do not like. The film ends with a manic chase scene, scripted by animator and future Jerry Lewis director Frank Tashlin.