Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Such a frustrating disappointment

Great Film overall

good back-story, and good acting

Perhaps I liked this film a bit more than a lot of folks because I grew up cheering for the hapless Washington Senators--a team that hadn't been in the World Series since 1933 (and they lost!). All I know is that I enjoyed the film.The film begins with middle-aged Joe Boyd doing what he loves most--watching his beloved Senators on television. Like any Senators fan, he's miserable because, as usual, the team's losing and they haven't a prayer. Out of frustration, Joe blurts out that he'd sell his soul if the team could win the American League pennant. And, just like that, the Devil (Ray Walston) appears and offers him just that. He'll make Joe the greatest player in history for only a minor price...his soul! But Joe is too smart to just agree to this and negotiates an escape clause--a clause his new friend has no intention of honoring. Although Joe (now called Joe Hardy and is played by Tab Hunter) IS a sensation and the team does seem destined to win it all, this is when the dirty tricks begin--and the first dirty trick is Lola (Gwen Verdon)--a vamp who will destroy him. Can Joe survive with his soul intact and/or the team win it all? The plot of this musical is a reworking of the old Faust story (by the likes of Marlow and Goethe). And, if you're familiar with these tales, you might anticipate how it all ends. Regardless, the film is a lot of fun with a silly and enjoyable performance by Walston (who not once is referred to as Satan--just Mr. Applegate). The musical numbers are mostly very good, though several of the singers really could not sing--and is a bit reminiscent of "Paint Your Wagon" in that department. While most of the songs are great, "Who's Got the Pain" is irrelevant to the plot--completely irrelevant. "Two Lost Sheep" is not as irrelevant but a bit weak. Better songs are "Whatever Lola Wants" and "A Little Brains, A Little Talent" (both by Gwen Verdon). Overall, a very enjoyable film that kept me entertained from start to finish. Not great but very good.

I'm sorry but I don't understand why this film has as high a rating as it does. This is one of the worst films I've ever seen. The songs were lame, the dancing was horrible and the acting went beyond bad. Now, I really don't have anything against musicals, in fact there are many musicals I love, but this crossed the line between stupid and just unbearable. I don't suggest this film unless you enjoy dumb predictable stories, bad acting, boring dancing, and a plain bad movie experience. The only reason I gave it 2 stars is because it made me laugh once. Thats pretty bad. The rest of the humor was extremely stupid and unfunny. I don't get how it got all those good votes. It deserves much much lower. It was one of those film that while watching it you realize, oh my god, there was no effort at all put into this film

First of all, I have to say and this is kind of sad, but I would have watched this movie a lot sooner if I hadn't been under the false impression that it was actually about the NY Yankees. I was greatly relieved to see that it is instead the long defunct Washington Senators who are the focus of the play. Ray Walston is wonderful as the devil, or as he calls himself here Mr. Applegate. Rae Allen also has some nice scenes and songs as an intrusive reporter. But to me there are problems with this film precisely because of it sticking too close to the original play.Gwen Verdon is the major problem for me. She just is not winsome and erotic enough to pull off the famous "Lola" scene on the big screen. I felt kind of embarrassed for her. She has good chemistry with Walston but I didn't sense any sparks flying between her and Tab Hunter at all. I really did enjoy their one big dance scene together though, "Two Lost Souls," that was the highlight of the whole movie for me. Like the previous Donen/Abbott collaboration on "Pajama Game", this film has excellent choreography by Bob Fosse. It seems odd to complain about the presence of the original star in a film, but I just feel that Verdon did not have what it takes to hold down a film. Walston does what he can to basically fill up the space with comedy. The entire picture looks and feels very nice, although you get the feeling that you're looking at recycled sets from a Minnelli movie when they're in Lola's hotel suite. Also whatever potential there was for any kind of drama is thrown away -- in some ways the film is comparable to "Cabin in the Sky" in terms of the supernatural comedy but surprisingly considering one of the show's anthems is "You Gotta Have Heart" this film just has very little of it. Still, it's entertaining and it moves quickly enough. The mediocre nature of this film provides me with still more evidence that Donen was the least important member of the Donen/Kelly partnership.

This is not a very good musical. So much is lacking: the lead actor can't dance enough for the big production number, the lead actress can dance but is downright homely (there's a point in the script where she says she used to be the ugliest girl in such-and-such a town before Ray Walston turned her into a vamp, and one can't help but think, gosh, is this the best he could do? It makes the devil seem damn weak.) That young Tab Hunter is so pretty makes her uglier in comparison--just bad, bad, casting. (She no doubt looked leggy and good from a second balcony, but on screen--gah!) Most of the dancing is dull, shockingly enough to this Fossy choreography fan, until the big drunken production number. And the songs aren't good at all.What's better about it is that the plot (until the illogical ending) is an engaging baseball-Faust, Tab Hunter is sweet and adorable as Shoeless Joe, Ray Walston is as terrific as he always is, and the wardrobe is quite good.But since a major thrust of the plot is Lola's attempted seduction of Joe, and she's just so awfully homely, the plot is weakened. That leaves Ray Walston being devilish and Tab Hunter being aw-shucks cute--perhaps enough to support a straight comedy, but not nearly enough to support a musical-comedy.The same group of songwriters, etc. did Pajama Game, which is a much better musical, with a couple wonderful songs. Knowing this one had run for several years on Broadway, I had hoped for something as good as Pajama Game but was disappointed.