The title character, Joey "Pal Joey" Evans, is a San Francisco nightclub entertainer with ambitions to open a nightclub of his own. The plot of the film is a fairly simple one, involving a love-triangle between Joey and the two women in his life. They are Linda English, a showgirl, and Joey's old flame Vera, today as Mrs Vera Prentice-Simpson the widow of one of the city's richest citizens, but in the days when Joey first knew her a striptease artiste known as "Vanessa the undresser". Although Linda spends most of her working hours strutting about in a skimpy costume, she is at heart sweet and innocent, whereas Vera, beneath an outward veneer of wealth and sophistication, is spoilt, selfish and possessive. So no prizes for guessing which of them Joey ends up with.
This film is one of the few exceptions to the general Hollywood rule that "first name above the title gets the girl. Or boy". Rita Hayworth, who plays Vera, received top billing, ahead of not only the relative newcomer Kim Novak but also Frank Sinatra, who plays the title role and was arguably a bigger star than her in 1957. Rita had certainly been a major star in the forties, but by the late fifties her public profile was rather lower following lengthy absences from the screen caused by events in her private life. Sinatra, however, seems not to have minded his second billing, saying of being billed between Hayworth and Novak, "That's a sandwich I don't mind being stuck in the middle of".
Now the plot of this film- two of the world's most beautiful actresses fighting over an average-looking guy- might strike you as little more than a male wish-fulfilment fantasy, although in fairness to the average-looking Sinatra it should be said that he was quite a successful ladies' man off-screen as well, counting Hollywood goddesses like Ava Gardner among his conquests. I have never, however, regarded "Pal Joey" as being particularly well-cast. Novak seems a bit too sophisticated for the innocent girl-next-door Linda, but the main problem comes with the other two main roles. The script implies that Vera is a rather sad, lonely older woman, desperate to hang on to her lover, who is probably younger than her, because, however much she may have financially, he is all she has got emotionally. This concept just does not work with Hayworth, as beautiful in her thirties as she had been in her twenties, and actually younger than Sinatra. Admittedly, the age difference between them was only three years, but on screen it looks more. Why a woman like that should have been so keen to hang on to Joey is never made clear as he, although he can be charming when he wants to, is really something of a womaniser.
Joey's favourite term for a woman is not one of the standard screen Americanisms- dame, doll, chick, babe, moll, broad, etc.- but one I had never heard before, "mouse". This appears to be a generic term and does not necessarily imply that the woman in question is either shy, petite or mousy in appearance- nobody could be less mousy than Kim Novak, but Linda is regularly referred to as a mouse.
I have never seen the original stage musical of "Pal Joey", although I understand that the film version made a considerable number of changes, both to the plot and to the music. All the songs we hear here are by Rodgers and Hart, although not all are from the stage musical. Some have been drafted in from other shows, such as "The Lady is a Tramp" (probably the best-known number here, along with "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered") and "My Funny Valentine", both taken from the 1937 musical "Babes in Arms". ("My Funny Valentine" was also resuscitated for another screen musical from the previous year, "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes"). Seen purely as a musical, "Pal Joey" is not a bad one, even though neither of the female leads do their own singing. The song-and-dance numbers are all well-handled, which is why I've given it an above-average mark. Seen as a romantic drama, however, there seems to be something lacking. 6/10
This film is one of the few exceptions to the general Hollywood rule that "first name above the title gets the girl. Or boy". Rita Hayworth, who plays Vera, received top billing, ahead of not only the relative newcomer Kim Novak but also Frank Sinatra, who plays the title role and was arguably a bigger star than her in 1957. Rita had certainly been a major star in the forties, but by the late fifties her public profile was rather lower following lengthy absences from the screen caused by events in her private life. Sinatra, however, seems not to have minded his second billing, saying of being billed between Hayworth and Novak, "That's a sandwich I don't mind being stuck in the middle of".
Now the plot of this film- two of the world's most beautiful actresses fighting over an average-looking guy- might strike you as little more than a male wish-fulfilment fantasy, although in fairness to the average-looking Sinatra it should be said that he was quite a successful ladies' man off-screen as well, counting Hollywood goddesses like Ava Gardner among his conquests. I have never, however, regarded "Pal Joey" as being particularly well-cast. Novak seems a bit too sophisticated for the innocent girl-next-door Linda, but the main problem comes with the other two main roles. The script implies that Vera is a rather sad, lonely older woman, desperate to hang on to her lover, who is probably younger than her, because, however much she may have financially, he is all she has got emotionally. This concept just does not work with Hayworth, as beautiful in her thirties as she had been in her twenties, and actually younger than Sinatra. Admittedly, the age difference between them was only three years, but on screen it looks more. Why a woman like that should have been so keen to hang on to Joey is never made clear as he, although he can be charming when he wants to, is really something of a womaniser.
Joey's favourite term for a woman is not one of the standard screen Americanisms- dame, doll, chick, babe, moll, broad, etc.- but one I had never heard before, "mouse". This appears to be a generic term and does not necessarily imply that the woman in question is either shy, petite or mousy in appearance- nobody could be less mousy than Kim Novak, but Linda is regularly referred to as a mouse.
I have never seen the original stage musical of "Pal Joey", although I understand that the film version made a considerable number of changes, both to the plot and to the music. All the songs we hear here are by Rodgers and Hart, although not all are from the stage musical. Some have been drafted in from other shows, such as "The Lady is a Tramp" (probably the best-known number here, along with "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered") and "My Funny Valentine", both taken from the 1937 musical "Babes in Arms". ("My Funny Valentine" was also resuscitated for another screen musical from the previous year, "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes"). Seen purely as a musical, "Pal Joey" is not a bad one, even though neither of the female leads do their own singing. The song-and-dance numbers are all well-handled, which is why I've given it an above-average mark. Seen as a romantic drama, however, there seems to be something lacking. 6/10