The Pajama Game 1957

Love and labor problems in a pajama factory, and as Godard called it  “the first left-wing operetta. Bright and shinny and easily one of the best movie musical adaptations of a hit Broadway show to come out of Hollywood.  Lifted intact with most of  the original cast from the show, with the main exception of one, and that one was a huge asset named Doris Day who replaced Janice Page. Day plays the head of the grievance committee at Sleep-Tite pajama factory where she toils in bright colorful outfits, she is perfection as Babe Williams with her beautiful voice and indelible screen presence and that 50’s butch hairdo of hers, which by the way I loved.  This was a star. I should say right here and now that she was my favorite “star” as a kid and young teen. I had huge scrapbooks on her, many of her LPs, and saw every movie she did, including this one that I saw at 10 at Radio City Music Hall. The memory of that Day lingers.  The musical and the audiences were lucky in many ways.  One big asset (besides Day) is its well remembered songs written and composed by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross some of which become big pop favorites and standards including “Steam Heat”. Wonderfully performed at a labor rally by the great Carol Haney and 2 male dancers which is pure Bob Fosse down to the male attire they wear. This was Fosse’s first broadway musical that he choreographed and happily his achievement is well documented in this film. Another standout is the out of doors picnic number “Once A Year Day” that is exuberant and again shows off the great talents of  Fosse and Haney along with the large chorus of dancers and singers. It pretty much pops off the screen. I can’t think of another musical up to that time, and maybe even afterwards that used an actual outdoor setting for a musical number, certainly not as brilliantly as this one. Haney won a Tony for this show, and sadly she died young but we do have this film as a lasting testament to her enormous talent. The show is also notable for giving Shirley MacLaine her big break when as Haney’s stand in she had to go on for her one night, and Hal Wallis who was in the audience, signed MacLaine up, the rest they say is movie history.  Also terrific is “Hey There” which is sung by John Raitt who plays the new superintendent of the factory and later on in a sad redux by Day. Their romance bumps and all is the stuff of musicals and is well handled here.  Vividly designed with imaginative set design especially  the factory itself which looks like a conceptual art installation what with all the neon lit signage noting staircases, restrooms and offices. Also top notch are the bright pastel colored costumes and the rich color saturated cinematography shot by the great Harry Stradling.  The film was co-directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen who was known for his collaborating with others most notably with Gene Kelly for “On The Town”,  “Singing In The Rain” and “It’s Always Fair Weather” and again in 1958 with George Abbott for Damn Yankees. The wonderful supporting cast includes the great  Barbara Nichols, Reta Shaw and  Eddie Foy Jr. One of the best films of 1957.