Even with veteran Stars George Brent and Lynn Berry credited over the title in the sentimental drama that combines Sports and a light study of juvenile delinquency, the real star is the young Russ Tamblyn who would go on to greater things a decade later. He is a young boy, despondent over the death of his father, dealing with his non understanding stepfather Louis Jean Heydt and his emotionally torn mother, Ann Doran, and somehow getting into a bad crowd.

But his passion is baseball, and when he visits the Cleveland Indians stadium after a game, his future is set as thanks to sports reporter George brand, he is basically made the mascot for the team who is determined in their own quiet way to help him get past his problems. Tamblyn visits a psychiatrist who tries to get to the bottom of Tamblyn's issues, and lets Brent steps in to try and bring an understanding to help the family heal.

Yes, this is sentimental and somewhat sappy in spots, but with a winning performance by the young Cam, it's difficult not to care about him. Real-life ballplayers from the Indians portray themselves, and you get a real sense of teamwork and spirit as they obviously see their own childhood dreams in his eyes. This apparently was shot on location in Cleveland which gives additional reality to the film.

This is not as terrible a movie as I had read. It's a typical "social problems" movie from the post-World War II era, of which more famous examples would be "The Asphalt Jungle," "The Snake Pit," etc. As such, it's about delinquent children, why they become delinquent, and what might be done to solve that issue. It's not very convincing, frankly, but it's not terrible, either. It's just that the script is bad, the acting second-rate, and the direction no better. Not terrible, but not in any way impressive.

And then there are the baseball players whom the one child delinquent admires, all real members of the 1949 Cleveland Indians. They don't talk much about baseball, we don't really see what their lives are like (with the exception of Larry Doby's at the end),etc. As such, the movie really isn't about baseball.

Early in the movie, the players muff some of their lines, though they do better later. They aren't movie stars, and they don't pretend to be.

I doubt anyone is going to want to watch this movie to see how to deal with child delinquency. Those interested in the history of baseball may well want to see some of these legendary Indians just stand around and talk. (They don't really try to do any acting, nor are they called on to do so.) There is some newsreel footage from the Indians' World Series 1948 season, though not a lot of it.

In short, this movie is a mixed bag. The social problems segments are like a run of the mill 1950s TV drama. The scenes with the legendary Indians are not great movie-making, but it's fun to see those guys when they were active players.

I suppose that this is somewhat less than a good average film. On the other hand, I never was bored watching it and I intend to watch it again (no, not because I am an Indians fan--I'm not). Possibly this is due to the continued appearances of the 1948 Indians. This may be a movie, but historically where will you ever get another chance to hear those great players and see more of them than you get from a brief newsreel.

Plus, there really is a story beyond the baseball. It shows fairly well the results of poor communication, lack of communication, and miscommunication. It also shows the importance of caring for someone, how important that is, and how important it is to work at showing that you care. We sometimes forget that there does need to be an intensity to our relationships, that we need to consciously work on our relationships with others.

Johnny Barrows loses his father in the war. He becomes especially upset when his mother remarries. Through a misunderstanding, he never really takes to his stepfather. His behavior is best when he is with the Indians. It is not till the end that this is cleared up and that is helped by a story of Larry Doby's first days as an Indian.