The Pajama Game (1957)

The play is about workers in an Iowa pajama factory whose owner wishes to refuse them a raise and to this end hires a new site manager told to keep it from happening until the new guy falls for one of the three elected representatives of the staff. Broadway performers cast in the film include four of the leads - John Raitt, Eddie Foy, Jr., Carol Haney and Reta Shaw. Doris Day in the film takes the part played on Broadway by Janis Page as one of the three union leaders. A fine memory of life in these times for those who lived through them but so dated today it may not please every movie buff. Its two production numbers, Once A Year Day and Seven And A Half cents are well done on screen.

Pajama factory workers debate striking for a wage increase while the head of their grievance committee romances the new superintendent in this bright and colourful musical starring Doris Day. The imaginative dance sequences are choreographed by Bob Fosse and with memorable tunes throughout (there is a song number at least once every five minutes), there is hardly a boring moment to be had. The plot, however, leaves more than a little to be desired. Some have described the movie as musical version of 'Norma Rae' - a description that is pretty much on the mark - however, the need for the workers to strike here never seems anywhere near as strong. Their working conditions are actually very decent, their desired wage increase is quite minimal, and the frequency of bright song/dance numbers detracts from any sense of urgency in terms of their demands being met. Appealing a couple as Day and lead actor John Raitt are, the two of them also fall in love far too quickly for credibility with barely a mention of the unethical nature of their relationship. There is, however, a lot to like in the way the tension at work conflicts with their romance, culminating in Raitt having to make a very hard quick decision at one point. Raitt is also surprisingly decent for a first time lead actor, though the film's best moments go to trained dancer Carol Haney in (apparently) the only talking role of her movie career. Her creatively choreographed "Steamed Heat" number is a particular highlight, though "Hernando's Hideaway" deserves top marks for her best song.

When I watched this film, I was VERY surprised to see the subplot involving the jealous boyfriend (Eddie Foy Jr.) Such extreme jealousy is NOT funny--though it was sure meant to be. And late in the film when he chased his girl with a knife--tossing them right and left at her...funny?! It's pretty amazing that insane pathological violence was seen as a laugh-getter back in the day! As for the plot of "The Pajama Game", it plays a LOT like a musical-comedy version of "Norma Rae"! Seriously....it really is very similar. Doris Day plays a spunky union rep who is pushing her company for a 7 1/2 cent an hour raise--and the pig-headed boss is willing to let the business go to pot for 7 1/2 cents. Stuck in the middle is John Raitt--who represents the company BUT who is also infatuated with Day. What's to happen? See the film.This is a decent musical overall but not much more. Some of the songs are very familiar and quite good, while some seem inexplicable, as they seem to have nothing to do with the plot and just seemed crammed in regardless (such as "Steam Heat" and "Hernando's Hideaway"). Also, when it comes to Day's singing, you might find (like I did) that it came off as brash--as she belted out tune after tune with little grace--just LOTS of power. In fact, though he never went on to star in another film, Raitt came off pretty well in this one and you wonder why he didn't get more opportunities in films--though apparently his career on stage was quite long and successful.

I remember seeing The Pajama Game when it first came out back in 1957 at the old Nostrand theater in Brooklyn. It played on a double bill with The Joker Is Wild. It was the first Doris Day film I ever saw and it became and remains my favorite. By the way that was some double bill because The Joker Is Wild became my first and favorite Frank Sinatra film.The Pajama Game was the successful product of a lot of creative talent, starting with director/writer George Abbott and also including composers Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. All the principal parts of the show that ran from 1954 to 1956 for 1063 performances on Broadway made it to the screen with the exception of Janis Paige who was Babe Williams.In fact Jack Warner in keeping with his policy of making sure at least one movie name for box office was included, something we all commented about when he brought My Fair Lady to the screen seven years later with Audrey Hepburn instead of Julie Andrews, was going to do the film with either Janis Paige or John Raitt from the Broadway cast. How the decision was made who knows it could have been a coin flip. But what happened was that Doris Day got her best musical film role in my humble opinion. It's so incredibly right for her.Now if it had gone the other way, rumor has it that Dean Martin would have co-starred with Janis Paige. Dino would have been great as Sid Sarokin, but at least we got an opportunity to see John Raitt do at least one of his Broadway roles for the screen.Raitt had the big hit out of The Pajama Game, Hey There. The Pajama Game Broadway Original Cast and Film record both sold well with Hey There being featured. However Rosemary Clooney and Sammy Davis, Jr. had the big hit records on the charts for this song. In Sam's case it was the first big recording hit of his career. As for Rosemary's version, it's done the way John Raitt does it on screen, into a Dictaphone with him commenting on the playback.George Abbott and Stanley Donen co-directed The Pajama Game and their collaborative effort did a wonderful job in translating the musical from stage to screen. The Pajama Game has as much dancing as singing in it and I find it hard to believe the entire thing was done on the Warner Brothers sound-stage, looking at that Once A Year Day number that Bob Fosse choreographed. I refuse to believe that wasn't done outdoors. In fact The Pajama Game showed influences of the film version of Picnic released the year before in that particular number.Doris Day's big number is I'm Not At All In Love which is perfectly suited to her sunny optimistic style of singing. Done with a touch of irony because union organizer Doris is definitely falling for plant superintendent Raitt.We can also thank the Deity that Carol Haney got to repeat her part as kookie Gladys the secretary and get to Hernando's Hideaway. Would you believe that Shirley MacLaine was understudy to Haney on Broadway? It's a fact and again she would have made a great Gladys. But I'm happy Haney got to do her part. She was also a great choreographer in her own right and you can bet she had her input with Bob Fosse in doing her numbers.It's sad, but The Pajama Game is quite dated now. The labor situation in Eisenhower America is a whole lot different than in Bush II America. The whole plot of The Pajama Game revolves around a small town in middle America where the main employer is the SleepTite Pajama company and a labor dispute involving a 7 1/2 cent per hour raise for the workers. More than likely today, SleepTite Pajamas are being made by some third world workers for subsistence wages and there's another depressed former company town in America.Dated though it is, this is one great musical, one of the best ever done on Broadway and transferred for posterity to the cinema.