B &	W and Color now on DVD!
"The 1951 Milwaukee Brewers" is the 4th oldest professional sound baseball COLOR film in existence and the oldest color baseball film to feature some live sound! This rare promotional film, narrated by Earl Gillespie (later to become the radio voice of the Milwaukee Braves), is now available on high-quality DVD, thanks to the restoration expertise of Rare Sportsfilms! For night game events, the film is in black & white as limited film speed of the era made shooting color at night impractical. However, the daytime color shots are spectacular - see old Borchert Field and its colorful fence signs as well as some nice exterior shots of the ballpark as ticket-buying fans head for the turnstiles. The film introduces general manager Red Smith, club secretary Fred Mendelson, and field manager Charlie Grimm. You'll see and hear some of the Opening Day ceremonies with announcer Art Truss introducing Mayor Frank Zeidler, and comments by sportswriter Sam Levy of the Journal. In June, the parent club Boston Braves visit Borchert Field for an evening exhibition game and you'll see Hub manager Tommy Holmes, catcher Walker Cooper, Bob Chipman, Roy Hartsfield and Warren Spahn before the game. By July, the Brewers are in first place and on July 17, over 10,000 are on hand for the annual "Miller High Life Beer Night". Another exhibition game is held in August, this time vs the Chicago Cubs. Shown are Grimm, long-time Cub trainer Andy Latshaw and new Cub manager Phil Cavarretta, both good friends of former Cub manager Grimm. August 29th was the 53rd birthday of manager Grimm and a special night was held for Charlie in which he received many gifts, including a pig, a new Jeep and a radio presented by second baseman Billy Reed. Lloyd Larson is MC of the event.
Of course, the main emphasis of the film is on the Brewer players and here’s who you’ll see, all in color: Keystone combo Johnny Logan/Buzz Clarkson (.394 in 97 games) and Billy Reed (.311), Billy Klaus, George Crowe (.339, 24 HR, 119 RBI, Rookie of the Year), Bob Thorpe (.299), Jimmy Basso (25 HR, 114 RBI), Bob Montag, Paul Burris, Al Unser (.293, 17 HR, league leader in games caught and American Association MVP), Virgil Jester (13-6, 3.21 ERA in relief), Bert Thiel (14-9, 3.71 ERA), Murray Wall (15-5) and Ernie Johnson (15-4, 7 SH, 2.62 ERA & American Association Pitcher of the Year).
An absolute must for Milwaukee baseball fans and historians, this forerunner of the Miller Brewing sponsored Braves films of the later 1950's is truly a historic look at the next to last season of the minor league Brewers at old Borchert Field.