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DVD The Pajama Game
This 1957 version of the Tony-winning Pajama Game is one of the finest film adaptations of a hit Broadway musical. The story is simple enough: Babe Williams, the head of a pajama company's grievance committee, falls for an exec--the new superintendent--Sid Sorokin (John Raitt). Doris Day, as Babe, has never been so efficiently cute. Raitt starred in the Broadway version, as did much of the film's cast (Day replaced original stage star Janis Paige). The Pajama Game is filled with recognizable, classic songs, done so well and danced so athletically that this musical can engage an action-film fan. Bob Fosse's trademark choreography shines.
Check out two numbers danced by the late, underused, and underrated Carol Haney, who performs amazing feats for "Steam Heat" and "Hernando's Hideaway." Both Day and Raitt deliver lovely renditions of "Hey There." They're also supported by a great cast that includes, in addition to Haney, a slyly coy Reta Shaw and a dynamic Eddie Foy Jr. --N.F. Mendoza
It was very rare when a Hollywood studio bought the film rights to a Broadway musical that that actualy used any of the origional cast in the film version. THE PAGAMA GAME is a rare exception. While Doris Day replaces Janis Page as Babe in the movie, The studio had great insight to bring George Abbott to Hollywood to direct the film version, Bob Fosse to recreate his broadway choregraphy. They also brought John Ratt, Eddy Foy Jr. Carol Haney and others to the project. It was an added plus for the film. The results is a fathful recreation of a BROADWAY HIT.
The DVD version in widescreen is crisp and clean and has a great look. All the songs of the broadway production are there and one gets the feeling of what this show was like on broadway. There is even a bonus feature of a song "The Man Who Invented Love" written for the film version but it was delated from the movie before it was released.
While it is often that a Hollywood (film) actor or actress can be seen on Broadway these days (Yes a name still pulls in the audience) I kept thinking that Doris Day could have held her own against any Broadway star if she had done this show on stage. The Pagama Game is still a musical that is revived on stage almost 50 years after it was a HIT on Broadway.
If you like Doris Day, if you like movie musicals, if your a fan of Broadway then this DVD should be in your collection.
Slow starter
I had a little problem getting the DVD started, but it did eventually and played satisfactorily.
A Funny, Fast-Paced Musical
This is a first-rate film because the producer was wise enough to transfer the stage version directly into the motion picture. Too many Broadway musicals are ruined by a movie producer's tinkering, but not Pajama Game. He even used many of the Broadway cast in the film, and it shows in the energy and skill of the actors. The story opens in a pajama factory with "Racing with the Clock" while Hines (Eddie Foy, Jr.), the time-study man, urges the workers to toil ever-faster. We meet Sid Sorokin (John Raitt), the new superintendent, who immediately clashes with Babe Williams (Doris Day), head of the union grievance committee. But in the song, "Hey There," we see that they are attracted to each other. The attraction grows during the union's fight for a seven and one half cent pay increase, and it blossoms into love as they sing, "I Don't Want to Talk Small Talk." Everything ends happily after memorable songs and magnificent choreography by Bob Fosse. This is the sort of movie that you can enjoy many times.
James Garner substitutes for Rock Hudson in this hilarious Doris Day outing. Housewife Beverly Boyer (Day) happens by chance to give an executive of Happy Soap an honest appraisal of one of his company's products. Charmed by her forthright and honest manner, he makes Beverly the company spokesperson. When she becomes an advertising sensation, her husband (Garner) has to deal with the social ramifications of his wife making more money than he does. Day and Garner are both in good form, and Garner nicely portrays the mounting frustration of bewildered husband Gerald.
Gerald's refusal to accept that Beverly's new career infringes on her duties as housewife is, of course, outdated thinking today. Nevertheless, the film works and is sincerely funny. No wonder: comedian Carl Reiner cowrote... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Norman Jewison DVD Release Date: Released the 04 February 2003 Usually ships in 6 to 11 days
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America's pastime gets a Faustian twist in this 1958 studio musical, which recounts the ballpark bargain struck by an aging Washington Senators fan obsessed with helping his team trump the Yanks. With echoes of the real-life 1919 Shoeless Joe Jackson scandal, and tart observations on the tradeoffs between youth and experience, Damn Yankees fuses a classic dramatic dilemma with musical comedy to often charming effect.
In transferring George Abbott's Broadway hit to the screen, codirectors Abbott and Stanley Donen are smart enough to retain Richard Adler and Jerry Ross's clever songs, Bob Fosse's sizzling choreography (with Fosse himself on camera for the sultry mambo number), and stars Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon, reprising their devilish turns as the Horned One himself, Mr.... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Stanley Donen - George Abbott DVD Release Date: Released the 12 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This is the must-see Romantic Comedy of the early 1960's. With Doris Day playing the part of an out-of-work, girl-next-door, who gets splashed in the street by a very well-to-do man in his car, played by Cary Grant. As the story unfolds, Phillip (Grant) tries to apologize to Cathy (Day) by offering to buy her a new, which she promptly turns down saying "Money doesn't buy good manners." Upon arrival at Phillips office, instead of throwing the money back in his face, Cathy falls for Phillip and is immediately whisked away on a private jet with Phillip to a board meeting, a UN speech, and ends the day by attending a baseball game. Phillip, who is totally smitten with Cathy, ask her to go away with him for the weekend to the Bahamas! What follows is a hilarious sequence of events in which... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Cary Grant - Doris Day Director(s): Delbert Mann DVD Release Date: Released the 18 September 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Peyton Reed's execrable retro-tribute to the beloved Doris Day-Rock Hudson pairings, 2003's "Down with Love" with Renee Zellweger and Ewan MacGregor, simply proved that some movies should not be copied out of their time. Presented in a welcome 2004 DVD package, the trio of films Day and Hudson made for Universal between 1959 and 1964 are hardly pinnacles in cinema history, but they show what deft writing, nimble direction and expert farceurs can do to make these soufflé-light romantic comedies thoroughly enjoyable. Not coincidentally, all three films have storylines that turn on acts of deception initiated by Hudson's character, whether intended or not, and then it becomes a series of humiliations and comeuppances before the inevitable happy ending.
A very light-hearted "feel good" movie. It is a great one for leaving your troubles behind, sitting back and being pulled into funny, yet often suspenseful situations. Doris Day as a suspected spy coming through as a real trooper fighting back. One of the better Doris Day comedies. Also, the number of famous actors in this movie gives the viewer a historical view on the evolution of true comedic talent. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Doris Day - Rod Taylor Director(s): Frank Tashlin DVD Release Date: Released the 26 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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