Damn Yankees (1958)

Just perfect...

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

What we have here is the original Broadway cast with the exceptions of Tab Hunter and Bob Fosse.Hunter is nowhere near as good as Stephen Douglass whom he displaced, but that's Hollywood!It's a miracle that Gwen Verdon was retained. She's terrific! Other than Miss Verdon's casting, however, this film version seems to fall short of the stage musical in many respects.Admittedly, we still have a couple of tuneful songs, plus a few very witty lines, and the sometimes inventive direction of George Abbott and Stanley Donen.Harold Lipstein's Technicolor photography is also a pleasing asset.

First of all, I have to say and this is kind of sad, but I would have watched this movie a lot sooner if I hadn't been under the false impression that it was actually about the NY Yankees. I was greatly relieved to see that it is instead the long defunct Washington Senators who are the focus of the play. Ray Walston is wonderful as the devil, or as he calls himself here Mr. Applegate. Rae Allen also has some nice scenes and songs as an intrusive reporter. But to me there are problems with this film precisely because of it sticking too close to the original play.Gwen Verdon is the major problem for me. She just is not winsome and erotic enough to pull off the famous "Lola" scene on the big screen. I felt kind of embarrassed for her. She has good chemistry with Walston but I didn't sense any sparks flying between her and Tab Hunter at all. I really did enjoy their one big dance scene together though, "Two Lost Souls," that was the highlight of the whole movie for me. Like the previous Donen/Abbott collaboration on "Pajama Game", this film has excellent choreography by Bob Fosse. It seems odd to complain about the presence of the original star in a film, but I just feel that Verdon did not have what it takes to hold down a film. Walston does what he can to basically fill up the space with comedy. The entire picture looks and feels very nice, although you get the feeling that you're looking at recycled sets from a Minnelli movie when they're in Lola's hotel suite. Also whatever potential there was for any kind of drama is thrown away -- in some ways the film is comparable to "Cabin in the Sky" in terms of the supernatural comedy but surprisingly considering one of the show's anthems is "You Gotta Have Heart" this film just has very little of it. Still, it's entertaining and it moves quickly enough. The mediocre nature of this film provides me with still more evidence that Donen was the least important member of the Donen/Kelly partnership.

As musicals go, DAMN YANKEES was a highly popular Broadway hit because it gave the audience GWEN VERDON's way with a song and dance and Bob Fosse's choreography. It may not have been as filled with hit tunes as some, but "You Gotta Have Heart", "Whatever Lola Wants," and "Two Lost Souls" were good enough to make theater patrons happy.When Verdon (and Ray Walston) won their Tony's, it was a good thing Warner Bros. decided to lure both of them to Hollywood for the screen version. For box-office insurance they had hunky TAB HUNTER to ensure that movie fans would show up--and, surprisingly, it all works very well. Hunter is no great shakes as a vocalist, but he's pleasantly unassuming and gets by on his duet with Verdon.GWEN VERDON lights up the screen whenever she goes into one of her routines, and her "Whatever Lola Wants" is worth the price of admission alone. RAY WALSTON has a devilish time in his rib-tickling role and it's all easy to take as a merry mixture of music and comedy.The only drawback is that its stage origins are immediately apparent and there's a certain static quality about some of the scenes. But overall, George Abbott and Stanley Donen keep it fresh and lively whenever the music takes center stage.

"Damn Yankees" is not a musical I'm particularly fond of. It's all American pervasiveness what with the baseball milieu and the ever reliable good vs. evil theme seems somewhat calculated. Apart from two or three pleasant songs, the score is not really of much interest. Still, it certainly could have fared better on the screen, despite some of the legendary talents involved.Hollywood has often wrestled with the decision whether or not to cast original Broadway stars in screen adaptations of hit musicals. It's not an always an easy choice. There's an apparent unfairness in overlooking those who contributed so much to a musical's success. But the studios have more often than not been right in their choices. Sensational stage stars are not always as magical on screen. The most controversial case was of course Audrey Hepburn chosen over Julie Andrews for "My Fair Lady", which in retrospect, seems to me to have been a smart choice. Gwen Verdon's status as a stage performer is legendary. While we should be grateful for "Damn Yankees" in allowing us an opportunity to witness Verdon's talents; on screen there's much lacking. My immediate impression was that she was too old for the role. I was stunned to find out she was only 33 at the time. Despite the sexy moves, it's a little hard to swallow her so called seductive powers. Verdon would come into her own on the screen in her latter years. As intriguing as it is to imagine a screen version of "Chicago" with Verdon and Chita Rivera reprising their original roles, one cannot help but wonder how kind the big screen would have been to them.At the time there was apparently opposition in the casting of Tab Hunter who it was hoped would lure teenage audiences. Co-director Stanley Donen is quoted as calling Hunter a triple threat; can't sing, can't dance, can't act. While he was not much of a dancer, he turned in a convincing and touching performance and certainly was physically perfect for the part. As to his vocals, they are in no way inferior to the others on display. Verdon has an attractive rasp, but the others are uniformly mediocre.There are a couple of enjoyable dance sequences, but at this point, Bob Fosse was still early in his career and his choreography is nowhere as inventive as his later works.There are many points of interest especially for fans of the musical, but "Damn Yankees" remains ultimately a second rate screen musical.