moonspinner55 An aging baseball fan sells his soul to the Devil for a career with his favorite team, the Washington Senators, currently languishing in seventh place. Ray Walston's Mr. Applegate--a chic, suave Beelzebub, who smiles like a Cheshire cat--is really the only lively aspect of this heavy-spirited Broadway musical adaptation, which in turn was taken from Douglass Wallop's book "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant". Co-directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen, with choreography by Bob Fosse, the picture has a better plot (its roots in Faust) than this team's "The Pajama Game" from the year before, but still seems awfully stagy and stagnant, with the song numbers belted towards the rafters. As the protagonist's youthful incarnation, Tab Hunter tries hard but is still too colorless to make a strong impression. ** from ****

billielove Frankly, I do not get why they made this one ... other than they owed a film to Tab Hunter! Tab was better than usual, he actually looked like he was enjoying himself. The one person that stole the film away from everyone else ... Jean Stapleton! There is one scene where she discovers whom is renting the room from her best friend ... and the job she did during that scene is pure gold, 24k, especially if you liked her in "All In The Family!" Miss Stapleton was one heck of an actress ... such a pity that her ego was such a problem. But who cares ... she was absolutely wonderful in this film. Shannon Bolin did a good job as well ... very natural.Actually, everyone in the film does a pretty good job, excepting Gwen Verdon, and, everyone's favorite martian, Ray Walston. Frankly, the only thing I ever Walston in, where I appreciated his acting, was South Pacific! Well, he was pretty good as a martian too. What I did not like, at all, was his imitation of Al Jolson in one of the worse songs in the history of the musical comedy genre! If you're going to imitate a great star ... join a drag show, not a movie crew!As for Gwen Verdon ... I don't get why she ever got this role in the movie, let alone on Broadway. The only thing she does in this film that I liked was her dance number with Bob Fosse ... now that was one great number, for sure, that suited both of them. Also, as Bob Fosse wasn't credited with this movie ... Tab's character calls him "Fosse" right after the number he did with Gwen. That was a great thing he did for Fosse, for sure! He kept up with Gwen Verdon, and that isn't an easy thing to do! Hmmm ... just realize who would have been better in that part ... Shirley MacLaine, would have been perfect, or even Jane Russell. Considering that Gwen Vernon never saw herself as attractive, she always thought she looked like a mouse (Reba MacEntyre has that problem too, but she looks more like an elf), one wonders why Gwen took a role as a fem-fatale, which she is NOT! On second thought ... Jane Russell could never have matched Gwen's ability to dance, but Shirley could have! Unfortunately, the powers that be decided they wanted the original Broadway Cast, excepting for using Tab in the lead role. Of course, they saved a lot of rehearsal dollars by using the original cast!Actually, when it came to Tab Hunter, the director hated using Tab ... he complained that Tab was too "faggy" ... the studio set the director straight ... no Tab, no movie! Tab wasn't replacable ... but the director was! One wonders if Tab had turned down the director ... sexually? Never heard anyone complain about Rock Hudson of being "too faggy! Besides, Tab had lots of female fans, tons of them ... and "Mr. Director" ... the gays buy theater tickets too! Lots of them!One of the things I found totally irritating about this film ... Gwen used every trick in the book to have her voice all over this film, as though she was being paid for each word that came out of her mouth! Now, I do know there are those that will raise the roof if anyone has more dialog that the "STAR!" ... however, Gwen was a star of the stage, not a Movie Star ... like MITZI GAYNOR! Actually, Mitzi could have done this movie 100 times better than Gwen, Jane, and Shirley, all put together! Here's a suggestion ... go to YouTube and watch "Mitzy Gaynor Stops The Oscars! That was the night that the Hollywood Elite were so in awe of her performance of "Georgie Girl" that they gave her a standing ovation that actually did bring the Oscars to an abrupt hault! People still talk about that performance! And ... if Mitzi had done the movie ... her performance would have changed it from a "B Movie" to a worldwide hit! Now, tell me I'm wrong!As for Gwen ... her timing was off in many places in this film, as well as was her singing ... and that is unprofessional. If you watch the film ... notice how she points to herself before she gives the dialog requiring her to point to herself. A total mess. I can't help but wonder if she screwed up intentionally as a protest for using Tab, and not the actor she was use to working with?In the "Two Lost Souls" number ... while dancing, she bends over with her butt pointed right at the camera! And not just once! This has always been a huge "no-no" in making films, or even doing doing it in a play. It is disrespectful to the audience. The only woman that ever got away with showing her backside to camera was Marilyn Monroe in "Niagara!" The longest film time ever filmed of a female star walking away from the camera ... sorry, but Gwen Vernon was no Marilyn Monroe! I repeat ... Gwen Verdon had no business playing a fem-fatale! Oh, yes ... I hated the "Lola" number, her face really looked ugly in that number ... but I did like her costume, once she got rid of all that other crap covering it up. Her black lace look was superb, still not a Marilyn Monroe.The two high lights were Jean Stapleton, and that tango number by Fosse and Verdon, Fosse was superb, as was Gwen. Well, some of the "Lost Souls" number was pretty well directed ... but Tab looked so out of place in that one.

edwagreen A Washington Senator fan makes a pact with the devil to make him young so that he can play against those Damn Yankees.A truly great opportunity for Tab Hunter to perform in the leading role and he comes through with a genuine performance. The devil is the wonderful Ray Walston; he was always devilish by nature so that is why he is so good in the role.The true accolades go to Gwen Verdon, as the temptress Lola. Who can forget her infamous "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets."Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets......I'm no exception to the rule. I'm irresistible you fool.Give in.Verdon repeats her Broadway role and is a master at it. No wonder she won the Tony Award so many times.

theowinthrop This musical, when revived about a decade ago with Jerry Lewis as Applegate, was referred to as a fable for the Eisenhower Years. It is set in a faintly comfortable period (once the McCarthyite Persecutions were finished), because the concept of this musical was the preoccupation of the American public with the national pastime of baseball, and it's singular domination (between 1947 and 1962) by the New York Yankees. Although the Yankees had had other periods of greatness, with Ruth, Gehrig, "Murderers Row" in the late 1920s and early 1930s, they had to share the domination of the World Series with other teams in that period (the Philadelphia Athletics, the Detroit Tigers, and the St. Louis Cardinals, to name three). But the Yankees in this period started with Joe DiMaggio, entered into the period dominated by Mickey Mantel, Whitey Ford, Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Don Larsen, Roger Maris, and presided over by Casey Stengel. They did not always win (one memorable defeat was by their perennial enemy the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955), but they won so often that to non-baseball fans it was monotonous to follow the sports news: you knew what should finally happen.So the background of this baseball era is important to understand the musical (one of the few times the actual historical background of the time the musical was created becomes that important). Joe Boyd (Robert Shafer) is a fanatical baseball lover and fan of the woebegone Washington Senators (the saying for many years about the Senators was, "First in war, first in peace, and last in their league."). The team had only one great moment: in 1924 they won the World Series when the team had one of baseball's greatest players on it - Walter Johnson. But it never really was in competition again after that. But Boyd is a fan, and he makes the mistake of being willing to sell his soul to allow the Senators a chance to win the series again. Enter Mr. Applegate (a.k.a. the Devil) played fiendishly well by Ray Walston. He offers Joe a contract that will make Joe the greatest baseball player of all time - and lead to the world series - in return for his soul. Hesitant at first, Joe agrees. He is transformed into Joe Hardy (Tab Hunter), and proceeds to try to join the Senators (with Applegate as his agent).The Devil can never be trusted in any agreement. Applegate hopes to cause a wave of hope and hysteria by the anti-Yankee baseball public, letting Joe lead his team to the World Series. He plans to pull the rug from underneath the team at the final moment. Unfortunately Joe is a good salesman on his own, and has insisted on an escape clause for himself. Applegate has to accept it for the sake of his own plans. The escape clause is there because Joe loves his wife Meg (Sharon Bolin) and does not want her to be hurt. So Applegate decides to recruit his best female agent, Lola (Gwen Vernon) to vamp Joe and make him forget Meg. But Joe is too faithful, and succeeds in overcoming Lola's "irrisistable" personality (as she sings, "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets" - except here). Lola, shaken by the experience, becomes a type of groupie for Joe - and eventually starts a mini-revolt on her own against Applegate.The score of the show is memorable. Besides the key song "Heart" (sung by the Washington team players), and Lola's "Whatever" number, there is also "Two Lost Souls", "Goodbye Old Girl" and Walston's wonderful "Those were the good old days!" (when he fondly recalls all the tragedies he created in the history of mankind - including the day Jack the Ripper was born). Walston was not nominated for any awards for the movie performance*, but his Applegate is one of his best film performances, with his Gillis in SOUTH PACIFIC. He had played both on Broadway first, so we are lucky to have his film performances here.*(But won the Tony Award for the role on stage.)Stanley Donan co-directed this film with George Abbott. Abbott was usually a stage director (he had done the musical on Broadway). There is a moment when it is apparent that he is directing. There is a small dance done by one of the three ball players in the "Heart" number, and the close-up of the player as he smiles shyly and steps forward is out of place in the film - but would have worked on stage.