THE PAJAMA GAME

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I had two reasons to watch this run-of-the-mill musical from the 1950s.  It was the first musical where Bob Fosse did the choreography, and one of the lead roles is played by Carol Haney.

Carol Who, I hear you ask.

Well, I first became aware of her because of a one-minute (yes, literally one minute) dance routine she and Fosse performed (uncredited) in the middle of the 'From This Moment On' number towards the end of the film version of 'Kiss Me, Kate'.  It's an electric minute, trust me.

Back in 2008 when I was going through a low period in my life I was perusing (as one does) 'The Rough Guide to Film Musicals' which mentioned this routine and identified the female dancer as Carol Haney (who of course I had never heard of).

This enabled me to use the internet to do some research into her life, which for a short while I became rather obsessed about.

The high point of her career came after 'Kiss Me Kate' when she won a Tony for her performances in the Broadway version of 'The Pajama Game', a role she reprised in this film.

But a diagnosis of diabetes led to a change of career into choreography, before she died at the age of 39 from a combination of pneumonia, diabetes and alcoholism.

Anyway, back to this film.

'The Pajama Game' was written by the same partnership that wrote 'Damn Yankees', another overrated musical of this era. So I shouldn't be surprised that I found this picture to be a bit of a yawn.  The songs are nothing special, and the same goes for the story (about an industrial dispute at a clothes factory).  The comedy elements are best described as broad.  (Although since I fast-forwarded through quite of lot of this, concentrating on the musical numbers, I maybe have no right to criticise).

There's not a lot in the choreography that indicates Fosse is responsible, other than in the standout number 'Steam Heat', which is performed by Haney and a couple of male dancers.  It's sensationally good.  

The only other song I enjoyed was 'Hey There' as performed by lead performer Doris Day.  Playing opposite her is John Raitt (the father of Bonnie Raitt), in his only lead performance in a film, which is not surprising given his lack of star quality.  

As for Carol Haney, she gets no real chance to show off her dancing skills other than in the 'Steam Heat' number.  She's the second lead, and her role is simply to provide some comedic relief.

If she had had better health, more conventional good looks and a less husky voice she could have been as big a star as Gwen Verdon, a contemporary of hers.  Lots of ifs... 

RATING: x Curb Your Enthusiasm

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