| Pal Joey | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | George Sidney |
| Screenplay by | Dorothy Kingsley |
| Based on | Pal Joey 1940 play Pal Joey 1940 novel byJohn O'Hara |
| Produced by | Fred Kohlmar |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Harold Lipstein |
| Edited by | |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million[1] |
| Box office | $7 million (rentals)[1] |
Pal Joey is a 1957 Americanmusicalcomedy film directed byGeorge Sidney, loosely adapted from theRodgers and Hartmusical play of the same name, and starringRita Hayworth,Frank Sinatra, andKim Novak.
Sinatra won theGolden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role as the wise-cracking, hard-bitten Joey Evans. Along with its strong box-office success,Pal Joey earned fourAcademy Award nominations and oneGolden Globe Award nomination.
Jo Ann Greer sang for Hayworth, as she had done inAffair in Trinidad (1952) andMiss Sadie Thompson (1953). Novak's singing voice was dubbed by Trudy Stevens.[2] The choreography was managed byHermes Pan.Nelson Riddle handled the musical arrangements for the Rodgers and Hart standards "The Lady Is a Tramp", "I Didn't Know What Time It Was", "I Could Write a Book", and "There's a Small Hotel".
Pal Joey is one of Sinatra's few post-From Here to Eternity films that did not give him top billing, which went to Hayworth. Sinatra was, by this time, a bigger star. When asked about the billing, Sinatra replied, "Ladies first." He said as it was aColumbia Pictures film, Hayworth should have top billing because "For years, shewas Columbia Pictures" and being billed "between" Hayworth and Novak was "a sandwich I don't mind being stuck in the middle of." Hayworth had garnered top-billing status in Columbia Pictures' films starting in 1944'sCover Girl through the 1959filmThey Came to Cordura withGary Cooper.
Sinatra's earnings from the film paid for his new home inPalm Springs. He was so delighted that he also built a restaurant there dedicated to the film, named Pal Joey's.[3]
Joey Evans, a womanizing nightclub singer, is thrown out of town for romancing the mayor's underage daughter, and forced to board a train toSan Francisco. There, he reconnects with his friend Ned Galvin, a band leader for the Barbary Coast Club. When the nightclub'semcee fails to appear, Joey takes the position and is hired on the spot by Mike Miggins, the nightclub owner.
Later that night, Ned lands another gig at a children's charity event inNob Hill, and brings Joey and Linda English, a naïve chorus girl, along. The event falls short of its intended fundraising goal, in which Joey has the attendees raise thousands to have Vera Prentice-Simpson, a widowed socialite and former striptease dancer, perform a routine. Later that night, Joey and Ned escort Linda to her rooming house, where Joey wakes up a landlady after noticing an open vacancy. The landlady promptly has Joey share an apartment with Linda, to which he agrees.
Over time, Joey and Linda bond, and she persuades him to purchase awhite terrier, naming him "Snuffy." At the nightclub, Joey reconnects with Vera and the two flirt. Vera then leaves without paying, and Mike fires Joey. However, Joey strikes a deal: if he can convince Vera to return to the nightclub by Saturday, he can keep his job and get a pay raise. Joey arrives at Vera's mansion, and informs her that he has been fired because of her and intends to leave for New York. However, Vera makes an impromptu appearance at the nightclub where Joey performs the song "The Lady Is a Tramp".
Joey and Vera leave the nightclub, and she takes him aboard her yacht. There, Joey reveals his ambition to open his own club named "Chez Joey" in Nob Hill and wants Vera as his sponsor. She agrees, kisses Joey, and wakes up the next morning in love. Joey returns to his rooming house, and tells Linda about his plans about his new nightclub. Soon after, Joey hires Ned and the chorus girls from the Barbary Coast Club, with Linda hired as a featured singer. Vera, who is jealous for Joey, demands that he fire Linda. Joey persuades Linda to perform as a strip dancer, and lies to Vera claiming Linda has quit.
That same night, while Vera entertains attendees at her mansion, Joey and Linda are together aboard the yacht until she passes out drunk. The next morning, Linda wakes up ashamed of her behavior, and thanks Joey for not taking advantage of her. She evidently agrees to perform a striptease, and rehearses the number before opening night as Vera walks in, and as the staff looks on. Embarrassed for her, Joey halts the number and comforts Linda in her dressing room. Vera calls Joey in, and demands he fire Linda for good. Joey however refuses, and Vera decides to close the nightclub.
Linda meets with Vera and persuades her to open the nightclub as planned. Vera agrees to open the club on the condition Joey marries her, but Joey rejects the offer. He returns to the nightclub imagining what could have been, and prepares to leave for San Francisco. Before he does, Linda catches up with him, and the two decide to perform together as an act.
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Note:Robert Reed made his unbilled feature film debut as the boy friend sitting at the front couple's table while Sinatra sang "I Didn't Know What Time It Was."
According toDorothy Kingsley, who wrote the script, the film was meant to starKirk Douglas and be directed by George Cukor. However Lilian Burns, who was Harry Cohn's assistant, felt only Frank Sinatra could play the role. Sinatra and Cohn were feuding but Kingsley and Burns persuaded Cohn to accept Sinatra. Burns' husband George Sidney ultimately directed the film.[4]
George Sidney enjoyed working with Frank Sinatra. They would film in the afternoon as that was when Sinatra preferred to work and film until early in the morning.[5]
The happy ending of the film contrasts with the conclusion of the stage musical, where Joey is left alone at the end.
The transformation of Joey into a "nice guy" diverges from the stage musical, where Joey's character is an anti-hero. Joey is also older in the film—on stage he was played by 28-year oldGene Kelly; here, 42-year old Sinatra takes the reins.
The film differs from the stage musical in other key points: the setting was moved from Chicago to San Francisco, and on stage Joey was a dancer. The plot of the film drops a blackmail attempt, and two roles prominent on stage were changed: Melba (a reporter) was cut, and Gladys became a minor character. Linda became a naive chorus girl instead of an innocent stenographer and some of the lyrics to "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" were changed. Also in the film, Vera Prentice-Simpson is a wealthy widow and former stripper (billed as Vanessa the Undresser) and thus gets to sing the song "Zip". (Since that number requires an authenticburlesque drummer tomime the bumps and grinds, the extra playing the drums is disconcertingly swapped with a professional session musician Jimmy Fernandes in ajump cut).
Of the original 14Rodgers and Hart songs, eight remained, but with two as instrumental background, and four songs were added from other shows.[6] The music was supervised byMorris Stoloff and adapted byGeorge Duning and Riddle, with Arthur Morton contributing orchestrations.
Some of the recordings on the soundtrack album featuring Sinatra only are not the same songs that appeared in the film. "The Lady Is a Tramp" is a mono-only outtake from Sinatra's 1957 albumA Swingin' Affair!,[7] while three others ("There's a Small Hotel", "Bewitched", and "I Could Write a Book") were recorded in mono only atCapitol Studios.[8] "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" appeared in an odd hybrid: The first half of the song was recorded at Columbia Pictures but differs from the version used in the film, while the second half is the same as used in the film, also recorded at Columbia.[9] "What Do I Care for a Dame" is the film version, as recorded at Columbia. The Sinatra songs as they appear in the film as well as those performed by Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak (both were dubbed), Jo Ann Greer (Hayworth) and Trudi Erwin (Novak) were recorded at Columbia Pictures studios in true stereo.
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (OCC)[10] | 1 |
| US Albums[11] | 2 |
Opening to positive reviews on October 25, 1957,Pal Joey was an instant success with critics and the general public alike.Variety stated, "Pal Joey is a strong, funny entertainment. Dorothy Kingsley's screenplay, from John O'Hara's book, is skillful rewriting, with colorful characters and solid story built around the Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart songs. A total of 14 tunes are intertwined with the plot, 10 of them being reprised from the original. Others by the same team of cleffers are 'I Didn't Know What Time It Was', 'The Lady Is a Tramp', 'There's a Small Hotel' and 'Funny Valentine'."[12]
The New York Times stated, "This is largely Mr. Sinatra's show...he projects a distinctly bouncy likeable personality into an unusual role. And his rendition of the top tunes, notably "The Lady Is a Tramp" and "Small Hotel," gives added lustre to these indestructible standards."[13]
With theatrical rentals of $4.7 million in the United States and Canada,Pal Joey was ranked byVariety as one of the 10 highest-earning films of 1957.[14] It earned rentals of $7 million worldwide.[1]
| Award | Year | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards[15][16] | 1958 | Best Art Direction | Walter Holscher,William Kiernan andLouis Diage | Nominated |
| Best Costume Design | Jean Louis | Nominated | ||
| Best Film Editing | Viola Lawrence andJerome Thoms | Nominated | ||
| Best Sound Recording | John P. Livadary | Nominated | ||
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Film – Comedy or Musical | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor – Comedy or Musical | Frank Sinatra | Won | ||
| Laurel Awards | Top Musical | Won | ||
| Top Male Musical Performance | Frank Sinatra | Won | ||
| Top Music Director | Morris Stoloff | Nominated | ||
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Best Written American Musical | Dorothy Kingsley | Nominated | |
Other honors
The film is recognized byAmerican Film Institute in these lists:
Media related toPal Joey at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
