Damn Yankees

This is another film which would probably be better rated if it wasn't so slavishly compared to its stage original. It does its job just fine, thank you, but you must remember that stage and film are two different media in terms of what is allowed to be shown to the masses in the first place. In the conservative, postwar 50's there was very little controversy shown (or allowed to be shown) in the film and TV media; a Faustian book made into a film musical probably scared the Hays moral office to death! That said, the Abbott-Donen collaboration does a more than competent job of telling the story, and scores an extra base hit in my opinion by retaining most of the Broadway cast of the show in the first place. The casting rumors are legendary: I've read that the studio tried to get Cyd Charisse and possibly even Marilyn Monroe for Lola (assuring box-office returns), but the producers were smart enough to know that the role needed a real dancer-singer-actress combination. In short, it needed Gwen Verdon exclusively. And it got her. If you're still not convinced, take a second look at the exquisite midnight cafe' number, "Two Lost Souls."

Damn Yankees was one of two Broadway shows written by the team of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, the other being The Pajama Game which got made into films almost immediately upon the cessation of the Broadway run. Damn Yankees ran in the 1955-1957 season for 1019 performances and both Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston continued their roles from Broadway.

However the protagonist Joe Boyd/Joe Hardy part, the middle aged real estate salesman who is a fanatic baseball fan of the lowly Washington Senators, was played by Tab Hunter in the Joe Hardy persona. As in that other Broadway film My Fair Lady it was felt that one of the leads should go to a bona fide movie name in that case Audrey Hepburn in this one Tab Hunter.

In his memoirs Hunter said that he was apprehensive about taking over a musical lead because he admitted he was no singer. But the arrangements were certainly done to accommodate his limited range and he acquits himself well. He certainly does look well in the baseball scenes and even keeps up with Gwen Verdon.

Gwen Verdon like Mitzi Gaynor came along in the Fifties just when Hollywood was slowing down with the making of musicals due to the decline of the studio system. Gwen did such other leads on Broadway as Sweet Charity, New Girl in Town, and Redhead, but only with Damn Yankees was she allowed to go to Hollywood and repeat her stage performance. Gwen like Mitzi was a fabulous dancer and in the Thirties and Forties she would have become acclaimed film name.

Ray Walston got his career break in the part of Mr. Applegate the devil's identity for this film. Back when I was a lad and first saw Damn Yankees in the theater, I was enthralled by Walston's performance and became a fan until the day he died. Walston plays the devil like a spoiled child and there might just be some theological justification for that.

The big hit songs from Damn Yankees was Gwen Verdon's seduction number and dance, Whatever Lola Wants. Few people ever on stage and screen could move like her.

The second and even bigger hit was Heart, sung her by Russ Brown and some of the other actors playing hapless Washington Senator players under their eternally optimistic manager Brown. The song was a big million seller for Eddie Fisher who was at the height of his vocal career then.

Damn Yankees the film was released in 1958. In 1960 the original Washington Senators played their last year in Washington, DC. For the poor fans of the Senators it was a double blow. The team was just beginning to jell as a contender and in 1965 they did in fact in their new home in Minneapolis/St.Paul as the Minnesota Twins did win the American League pennant as the Yankee dynasty crumbled at last.

In their place came another new Washington Senator franchise which continued in the second division ways that Washington knew so well and that fans like Joe Boyd were used to. They played their last season in the capital in 1971 and the capital was without Major League baseball until 2005 when the Montreal Expos moved and became the Washington Nationals. I'm afraid we may never see the name Senators attached to a Washington team again. The Texas Rangers have the name copyrighted.

Still the Nationals in the other league are doing their best to hold up the Washington tradition of first in war, first in peace and last in now the National League East. Washington saw three pennants in 1924, 1925, and 1933 and one World Series winner in 1924.

They might just need another Joe Hardy to move the team. Let's hope someone doesn't have to make an arrangement with Mr. Applegate to make it possible to beat those Damn Yankees.

The smash hit Broadway musical Damn Yankees was transferred to the screen with all but one of its original Broadway cast, its original director, and its original choreographer intact. This has both good and bad consequences. The good is that the great performances of the cast and the dynamic, sexy choreography of a young Bob Fosse are preserved for posterity. Although top billing is given to the one non-Broadway holdover, Tab Hunter, the real star of the film is the incredible Gwen Verdon recreating her spellbinding, Tony-winning turn as Lola. With comic timing, energy, sex appeal and incredible dancing ability to spare, it's impossible to succumb to her charms when she takes the stage... er, screen in her numbers "A Little Brains, A Little Talent," "Who's Got the Pain" (In a delightful pairing with Fosse himself), "Two Lost Souls," and especially the classic "Whatever Lola Wants," and, as another reviewer noted, it's amazing that this didn't lead to a longer and more rewarding movie career. She had a brilliant career for years after on Broadway but it still is a shame that more of her work wasn't preserved. Ray Walston is hammy but devishly (Sorry about the pun) delightful as Applegate, and the supporting cast, including Jean Stapleton, is all fine. Nobody can really sing, but they inject the performances of their songs with such zest, energy and sweet sincerity that it doesn't really matter. The only problem is that, even though George Abbot, the original Broadway director, is paired witht he more cinematically knowledgeable Stanley Donen, everything is very stagey and there isn't much effort to open the action out. But when Verdon is working her magic, it's pretty hard to care, so that seems like a stupid quibble. So kick back, relax and enjoy Damn Yankees. It may not be the most inventive movie musical ever, but it's got a little brians, a little talent, plenty of heart, and Gwen Verdon. Who could ask for anything more?

"Damn Yankees" is old-fashioned entertainment, a bit too talky and literal-minded, but great songs and great dancing never get old. It's worth plodding through the more mundane aspects of this film to relish the classic numbers. "Who's Got The Pain?" has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, but it proves beyond question that Gwen Verdon is the prime interpreter of the Fosse dance style. "Whatever Lola Wants" is actually rather tame in comparison. The highlight is the smoky, seductive duet "Two Lost Souls," where Verdon lets loose with the greatest of ease. The surprise here is Tab Hunter, who holds his own and handles all the Fosse moves just fine. Jean Stapleton's Sister Miller is an early rehearsal for Edith Bunker. I personally prefer the other George Abbott/Stanley Donen collaboration "The Pajama Game," which is livelier. See them both.

The superb Gwen Verdon sings and dances and mugs through this very good adaptation of the smash Broadway musical. Verdon is a cross between Shirley MacLaine and Carol Burnett with a dash of Carol Haney (another Bob Fosse protégé) tossed in. She's a total delight and one of the best dancers EVER! Here she plays Lola, the temptress used by the devil (Ray Walston) to lure Joe Hardy (Tab Hunter) from going back to his wife and breaking his satanic deal in which middle-aged Joe becomes a 22-year-old baseball star and catapults the Washington Senators to 1st place.

Tab Hunter replaces Stephen Douglass from the Broadway show. The rest of the cast recreates their parts for the movie. Verdon, Walston, and Russ Brown (the manager) all won Tony awards. Hunter seems rather stiff and uncomfortable through much of the film (though he looks great) but that's the part of Joe.... Hunter is, however, just terrific in the "Two Lost Souls" number with Verdon. He sings, dances (not too bad) and seems to be having a ball. Verdon is just astounding in this number and laughs all the way thru it. Great song.

Verdon is also a showstopper in "Whatever Lola Wants" and "A Little Brains, a Little Talent." It seems these songs were written for her and no one else can do them the way she does. Verdon, like Ethel Merman or Carold Channing, was a total original. The voice is slightly nasal; the inflection is odd. But it works. And her dancing is totally awesome.

Ray Walston seems to have been typecast in weirdo roles after Damn Yankees and My Favorite Martian. He was a better actor than these roles allowed him to show. Russ Brown is solid as the manager, Jean Stapleton plays the friend (and sings), Rae Allen is Gloria (the reporter), Shannon Bolin is the wife, Jimmie Komack is the goofy ballplayer, Nathaniel Frey is Smokey, Bob Fosse has a cameo in "Who's Got the Pain," and Robert Shafer plays old Joe.

Good songs by the same team that did The Pajama Game. Many of the songs were hits of the later 50s. My only beef is that most of the songs are truncated (I had the Broadway soundtrack) and at least one "I Thought About the Game" is used only as background music. Verdon's "A Little Brains, a Little Talent" is cut in half as is Bolin's "Six Months Out of Every Year." Certainly worth a look to see Broadway superstar Gwen Verdon in her prime and Tab Hunter at his hunkiest.