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54 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Local 343 Amalgamated Shirt & Pajama, September 22, 2002
Labor relations in a pajama factory. This is the world into which songwriters Adler and Ross managed to weave a string of Broadway standards ("Hey There", "Hernando's Hideaway") in the musical "The Pajama Game". In 1955 it opened on Broadway with legendary director George Abbot at the helm and newcomer Bob Fosse making his debut as choreographer. John Raitt (the original Billy Bigalow in "Carousel"), Eddie Foy Jr., and Retta Shaw all earned praise for their work and Carol Haney delivered a career-making performance in a supporting role. (A week after the show opened, Carol Haney was ill so her understudy, chorus girl Shirley McLaine, went on in the part with no rehearsal. She was a great success, especially to film producer Hal Ashby who was in the audience to see Haney. He brought McLaine to Hollywood to star in his upcoming Hitchcock film, which started Shirley's career.) In 1957 Warner Brothers brought the entire cast and production team from New York to do the film version. All, that is, but one. Janice Paige was replaced by Doris Day as Babe Williams, the feisty union garment worker opposite John Raitt's suave role as Pajama Factory manager, Sid Sorokin. Doris Day comes across with a bit more grit in both her acting and her voice than many may be expecting. But she makes a great Babe - whether belting "I'm Not At All in Love" or cooing the romantic ballad "Hey There". John Raitt is equally adept as Sid and does so well with his tough guy good looks, that you wonder why Hollywood failed to cast him in any of his previous stage hits. But it's that full baritone voice that knocks you over. A voice of such lush timbre that contemporaries like Frank Sinatra and Gordon McRae pale in comparison. Carol Haney is a hoot as the zany (and at one point hilariously drunk) bookkeeper, Gladys. And Eddy Foy Jr, a veteran vaudeville clown shows off as her insanely jealous boyfriend. (Ever hear of Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foy's? That's where Eddie Jr. got his start with his father and siblings.) The script also allows small chorus parts like Barbara Nichols as the dopey blond Poopsie, Thelma Pelish as the zaftig Mae, and Jack Straw as the nebbish Prez to shine in their roles and even gives them some of the best lines. (Mae: I like a man with spunk. Poopsie: You like a man, period!) Broadway's George Abbot teamed with Stanley Donen ("Singing in the Rain") as director. But the other breakout talent here was Bob Fosse ("Cabaret" and "All That Jazz"), doing his first (credited) choreography for film. He stages the star turns (Day's "Not at All in Love" and Raitt's "Small Talk", for example) like a pro. But he shines in the chorus numbers. Once a Year Day" explodes in athletic dances reminiscent of Michael Kidd ("Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "Hello Dolly"). And the mysterious "Hernando's Hideaway" is done in total darkness with the singers lit only when they strike a match. But the number that shows us what Fosse would become is undeniably "Steam Heat". What would normally have been a throw-away number (a little amateur entertainment for a union rally) is infused with the slinky, inverted style that would become his trademark. No one had ever seen anything like it in 1957, and it "stops the show", so to speak, were that possible in film. For all the music and comic shenanigans, the film never looses the flavor of working class people in a small factory town. "Pajama Game" may not top its contemporaries like "Gigi" and "Singing in the Rain" - but it's not trying to. It's just a slice of middle America filled with some fine song and dance numbers and some of the top Broadway stars of the day.
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