Sadly Over-hyped

Nice effects though.

Just perfect...

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The Pajama Game (1957) is a musical comedy set in a pajama factory. It follows the romance of the factory worker and member of the employee union's leadership Babe and the new superintendent Sid. This movie from 60 years back has two directors. George Abbott, who lived up to the high age of 107 (!) is the other. Then the other is Stanley Donen, who is 93 now. He is the man and the master of many classics including Singin' in the Rain. His collaboration with the main star Doris Day, who turned 95 last month, works great. This great actress, singer and animal welfare activist is just radiant in the lead. And the male lead, John Raitt in the role of Sid Sorokin is terrific. They both have a great singing voice. Carol Haney is wonderful as Gladys. Eddie Foy Jr is superb as the knife throwing Hines. Other great talents include Reta Shaw (Mabel), Thelma Pelish (Mae) and Jack Straw (Prez). The Pajama Game was a positive surprise to me. I didn't even recall hearing of the movie before finding out one library had it as a DVD. It was originally a Broadway play. There are some amazing musical numbers, that are also greatly choreographed. Racing with the Clock is one great example. Or Once-A- Year-Day. Or There Once Was a Man. And the song that I was familiar with, Hernando's Hideaway. It is performed by Carol Haney and boy does it sound good! Richard Adler and Jerry Ross are behind the music. There is also a social message in the movie, with these pajama factory workers demanding for a raise, which they'd totally deserve. But most important message of the movie is you can always break into song and dance in whatever situation.

Employees at the Sleeptite Pajama Factory are ready to go on strike if they don't get a raise of (get this) 7 1/2 cents an hour! A new manager (played by John Raitt--Bonnie's dad) is hired to cool things down and falls in love with one of the employees (Doris Day). But will the salary dispute tear them apart?The plot is OK and some of the dated aspects are amusing--the 7 1/2 cent raise and a company picnic that offers free beer! The songs are great (I love "Hernando's Hideaway" and "Hey There"), Raitt and Day can sing beautifully and the production numbers are full of energy and color. The only negatives here are that Raitt and Day have zero sexual chemistry together and Raitt isn't the best actor...but when he sings all is forgiven. For some reason this is pretty unknown but it's a very good 50s musical.

I'm currently working my way through a Doris Day box set and having now watched 10 of them this is by far the least entertaining one I've seen.I agree with those that think there are too many songs for the amount of time the films lasts but that wouldn't really matter if the songs were more memorable than they are.The biggest problem though for me is the lack of a decent story and the very unappealing leading man. It also manages to be bland and at the same time rather sinister which makes you feel a bit unsettled. The whole knife throwing at the picnic scene being the main example of that. It's possible that the songs might grow on me if I heard them a few times but I don't think I would want to watch the film again. 3/10

One of the most popular musicals of the early 1950s received a reasonable film adaptation here courtesy of Stanley Donen and Broadway legend George Abbott. For me, the main object of interest here is the presence of original cast members John Raitt and Carol Haney in the film. They are two performers who were popular on Broadway but were often replaced for film versions of their hits. John Raitt was said to be "un-photogenic" but he had an incredible singing voice and personally I found him suitably attractive and at the same time very down to earth. Carol Haney was a big discovery for me here because previously I've only heard about her dancing, but here in "Steam Heat" we get to see just how really special she was. She and Bob Fosse collaborated here obviously, and the result is truly fresh and inventive. I also like how she plays her character, a very good drunk scene included.Doris Day, what can you say? Sometimes I like her, as in "Calamity Jane", but for some reason I just couldn't enjoy her in this role. Part of the problem, for her and Raitt both, was how quickly they're supposed to be professing love for each other. After the great build-up with all the workplace tension, it's hard to accept. I was dreading through the whole film hearing her sing "Hernando's Hideaway" and I was so pleased to find out that it was one of Haney's numbers. Very well staged by the way, a very good version of that song.This has never been one of my favorite shows to listen to, but I always wanted to at least see the film version so I could know the story. Other than "Hey There" and "Hernando's Hideaway" none of the songs have really appealed to me, and some like "Once a Year Day" and "Not at all in Love" are kind of awful in their cloying way. I suppose you could say that style matches Day very well, but it's the mode I don't like seeing Day in. However Raitt, Haney, and Eddie Foy Jr. do come together and give the movie quite a bit of class.