"Damn Yankees" is not a musical I'm particularly fond of. It's all American pervasiveness what with the baseball milieu and the ever reliable good vs. evil theme seems somewhat calculated. Apart from two or three pleasant songs, the score is not really of much interest. Still, it certainly could have fared better on the screen, despite some of the legendary talents involved.
Hollywood has often wrestled with the decision whether or not to cast original Broadway stars in screen adaptations of hit musicals. It's not an always an easy choice. There's an apparent unfairness in overlooking those who contributed so much to a musical's success. But the studios have more often than not been right in their choices. Sensational stage stars are not always as magical on screen. The most controversial case was of course Audrey Hepburn chosen over Julie Andrews for "My Fair Lady", which in retrospect, seems to me to have been a smart choice.
Gwen Verdon's status as a stage performer is legendary. While we should be grateful for "Damn Yankees" in allowing us an opportunity to witness Verdon's talents; on screen there's much lacking. My immediate impression was that she was too old for the role. I was stunned to find out she was only 33 at the time. Despite the sexy moves, it's a little hard to swallow her so called seductive powers. Verdon would come into her own on the screen in her latter years. As intriguing as it is to imagine a screen version of "Chicago" with Verdon and Chita Rivera reprising their original roles, one cannot help but wonder how kind the big screen would have been to them.
At the time there was apparently opposition in the casting of Tab Hunter who it was hoped would lure teenage audiences. Co-director Stanley Donen is quoted as calling Hunter a triple threat; can't sing, can't dance, can't act. While he was not much of a dancer, he turned in a convincing and touching performance and certainly was physically perfect for the part. As to his vocals, they are in no way inferior to the others on display. Verdon has an attractive rasp, but the others are uniformly mediocre.
There are a couple of enjoyable dance sequences, but at this point, Bob Fosse was still early in his career and his choreography is nowhere as inventive as his later works.
There are many points of interest especially for fans of the musical, but "Damn Yankees" remains ultimately a second rate screen musical.
Hollywood has often wrestled with the decision whether or not to cast original Broadway stars in screen adaptations of hit musicals. It's not an always an easy choice. There's an apparent unfairness in overlooking those who contributed so much to a musical's success. But the studios have more often than not been right in their choices. Sensational stage stars are not always as magical on screen. The most controversial case was of course Audrey Hepburn chosen over Julie Andrews for "My Fair Lady", which in retrospect, seems to me to have been a smart choice.
Gwen Verdon's status as a stage performer is legendary. While we should be grateful for "Damn Yankees" in allowing us an opportunity to witness Verdon's talents; on screen there's much lacking. My immediate impression was that she was too old for the role. I was stunned to find out she was only 33 at the time. Despite the sexy moves, it's a little hard to swallow her so called seductive powers. Verdon would come into her own on the screen in her latter years. As intriguing as it is to imagine a screen version of "Chicago" with Verdon and Chita Rivera reprising their original roles, one cannot help but wonder how kind the big screen would have been to them.
At the time there was apparently opposition in the casting of Tab Hunter who it was hoped would lure teenage audiences. Co-director Stanley Donen is quoted as calling Hunter a triple threat; can't sing, can't dance, can't act. While he was not much of a dancer, he turned in a convincing and touching performance and certainly was physically perfect for the part. As to his vocals, they are in no way inferior to the others on display. Verdon has an attractive rasp, but the others are uniformly mediocre.
There are a couple of enjoyable dance sequences, but at this point, Bob Fosse was still early in his career and his choreography is nowhere as inventive as his later works.
There are many points of interest especially for fans of the musical, but "Damn Yankees" remains ultimately a second rate screen musical.