Eleven Men and a Girl

In Elmer the Great and two more baseball-themed hits, fan and former semi-pro player Joe E. Brown wound up and pitched winning comedy. In Eleven Men and a Girl, he swaps horsehide for pigskin and -- surrounded by the 1929 All-American football team, who make the lithe Brown look like a greyhound at a Rottweiler convention -- scores more big laughs. Directed with plenty of gridiron action by William A. Wellman (Wings), the story concerns a college with a losing team, until the college president's daughter whips off her glasses and va-va-vooms 11 football heroes into choosing a new alma mater. Joan Bennett plays the daughter and a pre-Code scene with her garbed in a soaking-wet, see-through frock proves it was more than going from four eyes to two that captured the athletes' attention.

• comedy
• romance