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Damn Yankees [VHS]

Starring: Tab Hunter, Gwen Verdon Director: Stanley Donen, George Abbott Rating: Unrated Format: VHS Tape

4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (54 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Actors: Tab Hunter, Gwen Verdon, Ray Walston, Russ Brown, Shannon Bolin
Directors: Stanley Donen, George Abbott
Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Language: English
Rating: Unrated
Studio: Warner Home Video
VHS Release Date: April 1, 1992

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (54 customer reviews)

ASIN: 6301609638
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,853 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)
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#94 in Video > Comedy > Musicals

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
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. Applegate, and his temptress, Lola. Where the team strikes out, unfortunately, is in their concession to marquee politics, handing the pivotal role of Joe Hardy to handsome, vapid, celluloid heartthrob Tab Hunter, whose thin voice and unsteady screen presence argue that he should have stayed in the dugout.

Walston is reliably spry and acerbic as the canny archangel, and Verdon, in one of her rare starring screen turns, confirms the comedic timing and sexy, muscular grace that made her a deserved draw in subsequent stage hits including another Fosse triumph, Sweet Charity. With her combination of feline grace and alternately steely, flirtatious femininity, Verdon makes you believe her when she sings, "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets." --Sam Sutherland

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Customer Reviews

54 Reviews

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (54 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine Showcase for a Terrific Gwen Verdon, November 18, 2004

By	C. O. DeRiemer (San Antonio, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Damn Yankees (DVD)

Joe Hardy is a fanatic, middle-aged Washington Senators baseball fan who makes a pact with the devil. In exchange for his soul (although there is a small escape clause). he'll become a 22-year-old savior of the Senators, the greatest long ball hitter in history, and he'll lead the team to a pennant. Later, young Hardy shows signs of yearning for the wife he left behind, so the Devil sends in Lola, his vamp supreme. But thanks to Joe's integrity, the escape clause, and after a number of song and dance numbers, things are put right for both Joe and the Senators.

The movie is an almost exact replica of the 1956 Broadway hit. Tab Hunter moved in as the young Joe, but everyone else reprised their stage roles -- and that's the reason to see or buy the DVD. Ray Walston plays Applegate, the devil, with barely contained glee. He's sly, unethical, untrustworthy and very funny. Best of all Gwen Verdon plays Lola, and she hits a home run with every number. She was a great dancer and a magnetic stage presence. I saw her do her stuff on stage once and it's a great memory. She had her big break in Can Can in 1954, then starred in three more shows during the Fifties. She won a Tony for each. She married Bob Fosse, retired, had a daughter, divorced Fosse. In 1966 she starred in Sweet Charity. And at 50, in 1975, she starred in Chicago. Believe me, she hadn't lost a thing. She was not the starlet type. She had a grainy, slightly smoky voice, and a personality that could range from gamin to raunchy. She could bring innocence to the most suggestive lyrics. As you can tell, I'm a fan.

The score for Damn Yankees is, in my view, better than average but not a classic. It includes "Whatever Lola Wants," "Two Lost Souls" and "Heart." Fosse did the choreography and dances with Verdon in one number, "Who's Got the Pain." It's a clever, fast routine and is a great showcase for them both.

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice preservation of the Broadway show, October 14, 2004

By	James M. Shertzer (Winston-Salem NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Damn Yankees (DVD)

When Warners brought Adler and Ross's "Pajama Game" and "Damn Yankees" to the screen, they make a wise choice: they brought most of the shows' original Broadway casts with them, substituting just two photogenic major studio contract players (Doris Day for Janis Paige in "Game" and Tab Hunter for Stephen Douglass in "Yankees") in leading roles. In Day's case it was probably an improvement; Hunter's not great but he's no embarrassment. Stanley Donen (on loan from MGM?) teamed up with the great stage director George Abbott for the films, and (thankfully!) Bob Fosse restaged his original dance numbers. Naturally there had to be some cuts - risque material ("The Game" in "Yankees", "Think of the Time I Save" in "Pajama") was excised - and the shows were tightened. But the spirits of the original shows were better captured than in most Hollywood transfers. The new DVD of "Yankees" arrived today and it's regrettable that there are no bonuses and there's no stereo track (unlike MGM and Fox, Warners apparently didn't believe much in multichannel recording at the time). But the show, though a little dated, is still great fun. Anyone who knows Ray Walston merely from "My Favorite Martian" is due for a special treat. Vernon, whose Hollywood career during her musical prime was far too brief, is ALWAYS a treat, and Lola was one of her signature roles. The Warnercolor transfer looks pretty good for a film nearly 50 years old. I remember Warnercolor veering a little to the dark side of the color palette but that seems to have been compensated for here.

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24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A darling show , October 16, 2004

By	Joseph Hart (Visalia, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Damn Yankees (DVD)

Tab Hunter was as good as any and everyone else in the picture. I liked him. I never saw the show, but I've had the OBC album for years. Three songs were left out and one added (at least it isn't on the cast album, and is a bloodless little thing and is used inexplicably instead of "A Man Doesn't Know" to end the show). The other 2 left out are "Near to You" and "The Game." Maybe "The Game" was meant to be in the movie but the censors got cold feet, because the tune is in the overture/credits. It's a darling cute song and I wish they'd left it in. As near as I could tell, only one song got cleaned up and that was "A Little Brains - A Little Talent." One word (boffola) was changed to something strange, and a few lines were changed. "You've seen the sign that says George Washington once slept here. Well though nobody spied him, guess who was beside him." What they changed it too was just as risque, just more subtle. "When they turned the lamps on, guess who was with Samson." I swore that if they destroyed this Adler/Ross treasure like they did Pajama Game with their puritanical fantacism, I would return the movie (I rented it to watch and kept the one I bought the day it was released unopened). I'll keep it. Changing "bofola" is just pointless, and the rhyme lamps on/Samson is so clever, it's as good as what it replaced. I'd like it if they'd left both in. The dancing was good, the songs were good, the acting was good, the plot had enough kinks in it to keep it interesting and it was just long enough. If you like musicals, I recommend it. And I repeat in flagrant defiance of all other reviewers including Amazon's sarcastic, caustic professional, Tab Hunter did just fine. I personally dislike Ray Walston, but he was a biggie in his time. And Gwen Verdon was a dream. Finally, Edith Bunker deserved bigger billing!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Damn Yankees
This is a classic. My husband really enjoys this movie from his youth. Good storyline and a musical taboot. Very enjoyable Tab Hunter and Ray Walston oldie.

Published 1 month ago by M. Angell

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great Gwen Verdon
Along with Ethel Merman and Mary Martin, Gwen Verdon was one of the great stars of the American Musical Theatre, and like those other legendary ladies, she seldom got the chance... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Michael B. Druxman

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest musicals ever made ! ! ! ! !
I was so ecstatic to see this movie! I'm 50 years old and hadn't seen this classic since I was a kid (years after on t.v. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Lauryn Elliott

5.0 out of 5 stars Damn good
An oldie but goodie, Ray Walston at his best years before Fast Times At Ridgemont High. Gwen Verdon when hot was more than cosmetic. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Dragonize97

5.0 out of 5 stars damn yankees
It was excellent. The only problem that I had with it was that it was in wide screen with bars at top and bottom.

Published 10 months ago by Jeffrey B. Semel

1.0 out of 5 stars RUINED!
I had seen the movie years ago and it was hugely entertaining. The DVD release, however, is a butchered mess. Read more

Published 14 months ago by Tom George

5.0 out of 5 stars Damn Yankees
While musicals were never really my forte, I saw this one at the movies when I was a kid and loved it .... still do. Ray Walston was a HOOT !

Published 17 months ago by Alan Talbott

5.0 out of 5 stars Good to see it again
It is great to see this old classic again. We never thought we would be able to get it anymore.

Published 18 months ago by Ronald L. Roed

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT!
They don't make em like this anymore...great choreography, terrific Gwen, a wonderful musical! See it!

Published 18 months ago by Ballet Boy

5.0 out of 5 stars Just as I remembered it.
I liked the movie when I first saw it as a young child. I enjoy it even more as an adult.

Published 21 months ago by D. Mukai

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Best Of 1958 (Part 2): A list by P. Evans "pauleky"
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