On the list of musicals I don't like, The Pajama Game ranks pretty high. Almost nothing in it appeals to me and some of it, like the Once a Year number at the company picnic, seems almost too cute to stomach. I can't deny the talent and likability of John Raitt and Doris Day (even if Day seems a little half-hearted) but there's still very little here to inspire me or catch my interest.Except Carol Haney.
She has the supporting role as Gladys Hotchkiss, a role created from two separate characters for her after impressing the director with her talents. She went on to win the Tony for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical and then reprised her role for the film (she had small parts in a few other films but this was her one major role). And thank god she did because she carries the whole damn thing and does it without missing a beat. Her incredible charisma and "playing to the rafters" style clearly caught the eye of everyone involved in the original Broadway production because she's the lead dancer and singer of every important/good number in the show/movie: Hernando's Hideaway, Steam Heat and, hell, even that Once a Year number I don't like has its moments: the moments when Carol Haney's the main dancer on screen.
She's also an effective comedian, even if her delivery style is B-I-G with a capitol every-damn-letter. But that's the thing; The Pajama Game, about pajama factory union workers trying for
more pay while finding love on the job, is pretty dull storytelling that only benefits from the electric style of a Haney. In fact, in as far as it does entertain, it entertains mainly because it has some engaging numbers and those numbers are only engaging because 1) Bob Fosse choreographs them and 2) Carol Haney performs them. Had those two not been involved I don't think this would have ever made it out of previews (well, okay, it would've but it wouldn't have been the same). Sometimes the talents of a great choreographer and dancer can make a show, and this is one of those cases.But Carol Haney did so much more. She assisted Gene Kelly with the choreography of every major film he did and went on to win three more Tony awards for her own choreography on Broadway. Sadly, Carol died at the age of 39 from pneumonia, made worse by diabetes. She was an immense talent and her one major film credit, The Pajama Game, shows her at her best. Thank goodness we have it.
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The Short List, so far, can be viewed here.
8 comments:
Thanks for remembering Carol, one of my favorite dancers, even if her film career was brief. (By the bye, I believe her drinking contributed to her diabetes.) I can see why many would find The Pajama Game dull, irritating or ridiculous; co-director George Abbott (who carried far more weight in showbiz than his collaborator on this picture, Stanley Donen) never abandoned his broad theatrical stylings for the cinema. Yet I still like the picture (albeit in small doses) and consider it superior to Abbott & Donen's more popular Damn Yankees!.
Another great Carol Haney performance is when she dances with Fosse in the otherwise bland Kiss Me Kate. Fosse rarely danced on camera, but the "From This Moment On" number is a wonderful testament to his talent and craft. Most of the choreography is standard MGM, but Fosse worked out their portion of the number beginning at the 2:36 point of this clip. Notice how sultry and sensual the number becomes... from this moment on!
Flickhead, she's makes such an impression in The Pajama Game that she's one of my favorites too and all I have to show for that is this musical and the Kiss Me, Kate number (which, by the way, you can link at the moment it starts by pausing the video and right-clicking which gives the option to copy url at current time). And you're right, their section in Kiss Me, Kate is the liveliest piece in the whole film.
I saw on her Wikipedia entry that her diabetes was complicated by alcoholism but couldn't confirm it anywhere else and, maybe because I love her so much, didn't want that to be a part of the bio. I know, I shouldn't censor anything but since I can't absolutely confirm it I'm going to go with pneumonia and diabetes and figure we all do things that complicate our illnesses in our life.
I really wish she had lived out a full life because someone of her talent and skill still had so much to give. And it's so interesting that she worked on choreography with both Kelly and Fosse because when you start to look at some of the similarities in their physical styles, I like to tell myself that was Carol's influence on both of them, since she's the connecting factor.
Yessir! Haney's the very best thing about PAJAMA GAME, a third-grade musical which I still like a bit better than you, although your assessment of it is pretty accurate. My favorite things about it are, in order, the musical numbers, Haney, and Raitt.
Tony, that seems about right. The numbers, Haney and Raitt although, for me, Haney stands out the most. But even though this is about Haney, I must say Raitt should've been better known too, he was very talented and very likeable.
Not to belabor this, but if you play that entire Kiss Me Kate clip, you can see the radically different styles distancing the choreographers Hermes Pan and Bob Fosse. By the way, did you know Fosse employed knock-kneed, pigeon-toed moves because he was knock-kneed and pigeon-toed?
I did not know that about Bob Fosse. You, sir, are veritable well of information. And, yes, it is instructive to watch the whole clip because the difference in styles is pretty amazing.
I completely agree -- though I will add that there a few very nice Stanley Donen touches in numbers like "Hernando's Hideaway."
I could have used this post during the Fossethon...
Bob, I'm saving it up for the Westalthon instead, your comment alone qualifying it for entry.
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