Pal Joey

In his career Frank Sinatra did two film adaptions of Rodgers and Hart musicals. The first was Higher and Higher which was his first feature film speaking part. Pal Joey was the second and it is probably the greatest show Rodgers and Hart ever did.

When it debuted on Broadway in 1941 it got good, but not great reviews. But everyone loved the Rodgers and Hart score. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered and I Could Write a Book were the big hits of the show and were retained for the film.

Pal Joey may have been ahead of its times. It was revived in 1951 and ran twice as long as it did in its original production. The reviews were far better. To say this is unusual is putting it mildly.

On Broadway, Joey Evans who we would now call a lounge lizard was played by Gene Kelly and in the revival by Harold Lang. The part really fit Sinatra perfectly. But the role had to be changed from a dancing part to a singing part. I believe that was the reason for the interpolation of other Rodgers and Hart songs in the film.

And Sinatra sings some good ones in Pal Joey. Added in for the filmgoers listening pleasure are There's A Small Hotel, I Didn't Know What Time It Was, and The Lady is a Tramp, the last one becoming a Sinatra standard in his live concerts. Movie singing don't get too much better than this.

Frank is an ambitious man of rather low morals who is caught between rich widow Rita Hayworth and ingenue Kim Novak. He loves Kim, but Rita can give him financial security. These are the kind of people that populate the John O'Hara world, very real and not too noble.

Although a few years later Frank Sinatra sang a concert version of Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered with a hundred piece orchestra for his Reprise record label, it is in fact a woman's song as is My Funny Valentine. Rita does Bewitched as well as Zip. The latter song is a tribute number to Gypsy Rose Lee as Rita plays an ex-stripper. My Funny Valentine is done by Kim Novak.

When I say done, both ladies mouthed the words, but the vocals were dubbed as they always were for Ms. Hayworth. And I guess that had to be because both Hayworth and Novak could never have had the parts done by the best of vocalists.

As Pal Joey came to the screen in 1957 along with The Joker is Wild, my favorite Sinatra film, I've always picked that year as the year Old Blue Eyes was at the height of his career. His acting is impeccable and his singing, some of the best he ever did on screen.

Thank god this film is on DVD!It is now possible to skim right through Frank's obnoxious role and concentrate strictly on the two female stars.Talk about a fantasy-the two most beautiful women in the world are obsessed with this obnoxious little man! Kim and Rita are so stunning it is almost surreal. On second glance, Hayworth is still gorgeous here, even though in declining health(alcoholism, etc.). Her skins looks absolutely translucent. The stunning beauty of Rita and Kim and the wonderful Rodgers and Hart songs are the highlights of this entertaining, beautifully photographed musical drama. Barbara Nichols is memorably funny in a tiny role. (TRIVIA: Beautiful dancer/actress Doreen Woodbury committed suicide while in rehearsals for this film).KIm's voice, by Trudi Erwin, on My funny Valentine, sounds exactly how she would sound if she sang! A vocal dead ringer!

Another marvelous effort from prolific director George Sidney, who once again displays an uncanny ability to make us wish we lived in the and time and place of his films. The classic Rogers and Hart songs selected from the smorgasbord written for the original 1940 play alone make this movie well worth a look.

Gene Kelly, a chorus boy a year earlier, was cast in the title role in the original but critically panned "Joey" of 1940. The story line for "Joey" was too sleazy and cynical for the 40's, but today comes across better than the average fare in support of many musicals of the period.

Frank Sinatra is well suited as the film-version Joey. His musical and acting styles add contemporary flavors that are as appealing in the 1950's film version as they were in the critically acclaimed 1952 revival of the play featuring Harold Lang as Joey. Frank's signature song delivery retains, but also in part redefines in a more contemporary way, the classic appeal of the best show tunes of the 40's and 50's.

Although Rita Hayworth's acting talents too often are overlooked, she is the standout actor in "Joey." Casting Kim Novak in a 50's film rather defines the genre, and while she is both appealing and likable in her role, you can't help but be aware that she is stretching her limits as an actor, singer, and dancer.

Finally, the film is a visual treat, and San Francisco a more than an adequate substitute for Chicago. Don't analyze, just sit back and enjoy.

Simply cannot understand how other commentators could have noted such things as the film's being a showcase for Sinatra's singing and Novak's physical attributes (both of which, alas, now gone) and completely fail to take notice of the wonderful songs by Rodgers & Hart; the great arrangements by Nelson Riddle; and the fine cinematography!

I really wanted to like this colourful adaptation of one of Rogers and Hart's last and most successful shows and attracted by big names like Sinatra, Hayworth and Novak, thought I couldn't lose. Sheesh, was I wrong.

Concerning ne'erdowell Joey (Sinatra's) self-obsessed attempts to get himself up the greasy pole to his own club in San Francisco and no doubt attendant fame and fortune, the film fails ultimately for a number of reasons. First Frank's character just isn't desperate enough, purportedly down on his luck, he always looks perfectly turned out, even before he becomes wealthy widow Hayworth's kept man. And the idea to give this hard-bitten Casanova a cute puppy dog is just wrong on so many levels. His character never seems to stop talking and often re-hashes the same stock phrases, which gets wearing after a while. As for Hayworth and Novak, both look fantastic, filmed in great clothes in great light, as befits two of the sexiest women to ever come out of Tinseltown, but the former lacks that dare I say it, Norma Desmond controlling, self-deluding and even slightly deranged conviction which would have made her character more rounded while Novak gets to play a whimpering simpering child, completely at odds with her overly sensual demeanour.

Some of the scenes are ridiculously contrived too, like Novak's strip-tease, her later passing out on Sinatra when they're on Hayworth's yacht and Joey's dream sequence when both his loves sashay around him like bees to honey. Worst of all is Hayworth's "Sugar Mommy" backing out of the competition for Joey by personally fetching Novak for their hold-hands, run-at-the-camera, big love shot at the conclusion.

On the plus side, as indicated, the stars all look great, Sinatra too, being in the middle of his classic Capitol series of recordings, even getting to quote one of his catch-phrases "Ring-a-ding-ding" at one point. The San Francisco locations are also easy on the eye and the musical numbers excellent, including "The Lady Is a Tramp", "My Funny Valentine" and "Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered" amongst them. Unfortunately, the movie dialogue too rarely matches the sharpness of Lorenz Hart's lyrics. Damon Runyan, this ain't.

A missed opportunity them and I'm not sure I can tell quite why. Some shows may just work well on stage, I'm guessing this is one of them.