It Happens Every Spring

A college professor is working on a long-term scientific experiment when a baseball comes through the window, destroying all of his glassware and spilling the fluids that the flasks and test tubes contained. The pooled fluids combine to form the chemical "methylethylpropylbutyl," which then covers a large portion of the baseball. The professor soon discovers that the fluid, along with any object with which it makes contact, is repelled by wood (cf. Alexander Fleming's serendipitous discovery of penicillin).

Suddenly, he realizes the possibilities and takes a leave of absence to go to St. Louis to pitch in the big leagues, where he becomes a star and propels his team to the World Series.

==Cast==

• Ray Milland as Prof. Vernon K. Simpson / King Kelly (not based on the 19th-century ball player Mike "King" Kelly)
• Jean Peters as Deborah Greenleaf
• Paul Douglas as Monk Lanigan
• Ed Begley as Edgar Stone
• Ted de Corsia as Jimmy Dolan
• Ray Collins as Prof. Alfred Greenleaf
• Jessie Royce Landis as Mrs. Greenleaf
• Alan Hale Jr. as Schmidt
• William Murphy as Tommy Isbell (as Bill Murphy)

Alan Hale, Jr. has a small role as a catcher on the college baseball team.

Although the home team is "St. Louis", and both St. Louis major league teams (the Cardinals and the Browns) played at Sportsman's Park at the time, the exteriors for the movie were filmed in Los Angeles' Wrigley Field.

A novelization of the film was written by Valentine Davies.

The film had its premiere in St. Louis on May 26, 1949 before opening the following day in Pittsburgh and then in 30 theaters after the Memorial Day weekend.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|date=May 25, 1949|url=https://archive.org/details/variety174-1949-05/page/n172/mode/1up?view=theater|page=5|title=Three 20th-Fox Stars On Personals as Part Of 'Spring' Bally Tour|via=Internet Archive}}

New York Times critic Bosley Crowther found the film trying, particularly Valentine Davies's "monotonous" script. He did have measured praise for Paul Douglas, however.{{cite web| url = https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DE1DD113EE03BBC4952DFB0668382659EDE&scp=4&sq=it%20happens%20every%20spring&st=cse | title = Movie Review - "It Happens Every Spring" | access-date = 2012-03-26 | author = Bosley Crowther | date = 1949-06-11| work = The New York Times}}

Leonard Maltin gives the film three and a half stars, calling it “a most enjoyable, unpretentious picture”.Maltin, Leonard (2009), p. 699. Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. {{ISBN|1-101-10660-3}}. Signet Books.

• List of American films of 1949
• List of baseball films

{{reflist}}

• {{AFI film|25973|It Happens Every Spring}}
• {{IMDb title | id=0041514 | title=It Happens Every Spring}}
• {{tcmdb title|79519|It Happens Every Spring}}
• [http://www.mrqe.com/movie_reviews/it-happens-every-spring-m100061288 It Happens Every Spring] at the Movie Review Query Engine
• The Internet Archive [https://archive.org/details/Lux14 holds a radio adaptation of the film, originally broadcast on October 3, 1949] by Lux Radio Theater.

{{Lloyd Bacon}}

Category:1949 films

Category:1940s science fiction comedy films

Category:20th Century Fox films

Category:American baseball films

Category:American black-and-white films

Category:American science fiction comedy films

Category:American sports comedy films

Category:Films directed by Lloyd Bacon

Category:Films set in universities and colleges

Category:Films set in St. Louis

Category:1940s sports comedy films

Category:1949 comedy films

Category:Films produced by William Perlberg

Category:1940s English-language films

Category:1940s American films

Category:Films about Major League Baseball

Category:English-language science fiction comedy films

Category:English-language sports comedy films