Il gioco del pigiama

The 1957 film version of the Broadway musical THE PAJAMA GAME is one of the best translations of a stage musical to the screen ever. The screen version is extremely loyal to its origins, utilizing almost all of the original Broadway cast (except for Janis Paige, who lost the role of Babe to 50's box office powerhouse Doris Day)and keeping most of the original score intact (only one song "Hers Is" was not used in the film and a song written especially for Doris for the film, ended up being cut). This delightfully original musical centers around the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory where the head of the grievance committee (Doris) is trying to negotiate a 7 and a 1/2 cent raise for the factory workers by butting heads with the new factory supervisor (John Raitt, reprising his Broadway role)but eventually falling for him. Musicals were past their prime by the time this one made it to the screen, but it is still beautifully mounted and has some of the greatest songs in musical comedy ("Hey, There", "I'm not at all in love", "There Once was a Man"). Day and Raitt make an engaging screen couple (Day has rarely been so adult or sexy on screen) and the imaginative choreography by the legendary Bob Fosse is a big plus. Carol Haney's "Steam Heat" is classic Fosse and one of the highlights of this wonderful stage musical that inexplicably died at the box office upon release. A great musical that is a must for Day and Fosse fans.

Doris Day and John Raitt star in this breezy version of the 50s stage smash. Fun all the way with many songs that became 50s standards: "Hey There," "Hernando's Hideaway," "Steam Heat." Great supporting cast led by Carol Haney, Reta Shaw, Eddie Foy, Jr., Ralph Dunn, Thelma Pelish, and Barbara Nichols. Raitt is hunky and butch in the musical lead, and Day is at her tomboy best. "There Once Was a Man" is a super duet for the stars, allowing them to be funny while they belt out this classic, while Shaw and Foy shine in "I'll Never Be Jealous Again." The "Hey There" number with Raitt playing back the song on his dictaphone singing a duet to it is a true classic and was also a smash 50s hit single for both Doris Day for Rosemary Clooney.

But Carol Haney just about steals the show as Gladys in the "Steam Heat" and "Once a Year Day" numbers. She's also hilarious in the "Hernando's Hideaway" number and following comic scenes. Haney is a combo of Gwen Verdon, Carol Burnett & Alice Ghostley. Haney won a Tony Award for her Broadway performance. Great fun.

I'm giving this movie 7 stars for Steam Heat with Carol Haney and the performances of almost everyone in the movie. The sexist angle that would now be called harassment in the workplace seriously dates the film but it is still entertaining. John Raitt comes on very strong but Doris Day more than holds her own. Carol Haney is the best thing in the film! Note Eddie Foy, Jr. in the role of Hinesy. Reta Shaw later gained fame as the housekeeper on The Ghost and Mrs. Muir television show. One of the most fun things about watching old movies is discovering the character actors we've become familiar with from television. Bob Fosse's choreography is splendid and Barbara Nichols is a riot.

Do you dislike musicals because you feel they are about nonsense and fantasy? Well, here is a musical about, okay, a man and a woman falling in love, but also capital and labour, exploitation of the workers, crooked financiers, and a heroine who is a strong woman whose work is important to her and who gets angry when her boyfriend doesn't take her seriously. Call that a fantasy? I don't dislike musicals, but I have always disliked Doris Day, who always seemed to me to be a phoney, a woman who was always pretending to be arch and super-feminine. Here, for once, she is the tough girl she really was, a blue-collar heroine who is robust and forthright, and she is terrific.

More important, of course, than the subject is the way it's handled, and the team of Adler and Ross (who also wrote Damn Yankees!) provide lots of charming, unpretentious, but also clever and peppy songs and two very slinky dance numbers, which last are a fine memorial to Carol Haney, the beautiful, talented, but sadly disturbed and short-lived dancer who originated the role on Broadway. Even the throwaway lines in the songs are enormously funny--for instance, when one song wants to make a point about a posh restaurant, the lyric is not "In a posh restaurant" but, referring to a generic fictitious posh restaurant, "At The Golden Finger Bowl..."

Those who love musicals, of course, will appreciate one that is so well crafted and directed. But nostalgia freaks in general are richly served here. Typewriters? Time clocks? And UNIONS? Organisations that protect the rights of the workers? Gee, daddy, what are those?

Who'd have thought that a labor dispute could be such fun? Just add Doris Day's smile, Bob Fosse's choreography, amazing music and dancers and a bag of popcorn! This is a highly energetic film, super-charged with charisma. I can't count the number of times I hit "pause" and "rewind" just to get another look at a surprise dance move. Boy, do I dare say that this may have been what "Grease" was hoping it could aspire to? I want to see this one again real soon!