| Pal Adrienn (2010 Film), Pakners (2003 Film) | |
| Pal O'mine (1924 Film), Palabras Encadenadas (2003 Film) |
| Pal Joey | |
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Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | George Sidney |
| Produced by | Fred Kohlmar |
| Written by | Dorothy Kingsley, screenplay from the play by John O'Hara |
| Starring | Rita Hayworth Frank Sinatra Kim Novak |
| Music by | Richard Rodgers Lorenz Hart Morris Stoloff(supervision) Nelson Riddle George Duning (arrangements) Arthur Morton (orchestrations) |
| Cinematography | Harold Lipstein |
| Editing by | Viola Lawrence Jerome Thoms |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 25, 1957 |
| Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $6.7 million (US) (by 1962)[1] |
Pal Joey is a 1957 film, loosely adapted from the musical play of the same name, and starring Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, and Kim Novak. Jo Ann Greer sang for Hayworth, as she had done previously in Affair in Trinidad and Miss Sadie Thompson. Kim Novak's singing voice was dubbed by Trudy Erwin. The director is George Sidney and the choreographer is Hermes Pan.
Considered by many critics as the definitive Frank Sinatra vehicle, Sinatra won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role as the wise-cracking, hard-bitten Joey Evans. As to be expected the musical arrangements are particularly fine, with some near-perfect Nelson Riddle charts for the Rodgers and Hart standards "The Lady is a Tramp", "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," "I Could Write a Book" and "There's A Small Hotel."
Pal Joey is also one of Frank Sinatra's few post-From Here to Eternity movies in which he did not receive top-billing, Sinatra deciding himself to allow Rita Hayworth this honor stating, with regards to being billed "between" Hayworth and Novak, "That's a sandwich I don't mind being stuck in the middle of."
Along with being a strong box office success, Pal Joey also earned four Academy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations.
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The setting is San Francisco; Joey Evans is a second-rate singer, a heel known for his womanizing ways (calling women "mice"), but charming and funny. When Joey meets Linda English, a naive chorus girl, he has stirrings of real feelings. However, that does not stop him from romancing a wealthy, willful, and lonely widow Vera Simpson, in order to convince her to finance his dream, "Chez Joey", a night club of his own. Soon Joey is involved with Vera, each using the other for his/her own somewhat selfish purposes. But Joey's feelings for Linda are growing. Ultimately, Vera jealously demands that Joey fire Linda. When Joey refuses ("Nobody owns Joey but Joey"), Vera closes down Chez Joey. Linda visits Vera and agrees to quit in an attempt to keep the club open. Vera then agrees to open the club, and even offers to marry Joey, but Joey rejects Vera. As Joey is leaving, Linda runs after him, offering to go wherever he is headed. After half-hearted refusals, Joey gives in and they walk away together, united.
The happy ending of the film contrasts with that of the stage musical, where Joey is left alone at the end.
The transformation of Joey into a "nice guy" departed from the stage musical, where Joey's character was notable for being the anti-hero.
The film varies from the stage musical in several other key points: the setting was changed from Chicago to San Francisco, while the stage Joey was a dancer. The plot of the film drops a blackmail attempt and two roles prominent on stage were changed: Melba (a reporter) was cut and Gladys became a minor character. Linda became a naive chorus girl instead of an innocent stenographer and some of the lyrics to "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" were changed.
In the film, Vera Simpson is a wealthy widow and a former stripper (billed as "Vanessa the Undresser") and thus gets to sing the classic Hart name-list song "Zip". (As that number required an authentic burlesque drummer to mime the bumps and grinds, the extra playing the drums is disconcertingly switched with a professional musician in a jump cut).
Of the original 14 Rodgers and Hart songs, eight remained, but with two as instrumental background, and four songs were added from other shows. [2]
The recordings on the soundtrack album featuring Sinatra only are not the same songs that appeared in the film. "The Lady Is a Tramp" is an outtake from Sinatra's 1957 album A Swingin' Affair!, while the others were recorded in mono only at Capitol Studios. The Sinatra songs as they appear in the film as well as those "sung" by Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak (both were dubbed) were recorded at Columbia Pictures studios in true stereo.
| Chart | Year | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart[3] | 1958 | 1 |
| Preceded by The King and I by Original Soundtrack The King and I by Original Soundtrack |
UK Albums Chart number-one album 2 February 1958 - 22 March 1958 29 March 1958 - 26 April 1958 |
Succeeded by The King and I by Original Soundtrack The Duke Wore Jeans by Original Soundtrack |
Opening to positive reviews on October 25, 1957, Pal Joey was an instant success with critics and the general public alike. The Variety review summarized: "Pal Joey is a strong, funny entertainment. Dorothy Kingsley's screenplay, from John O'Hara's book, is skillful rewriting, with colorful characters and solid story built around the Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart songs. Total of 14 tunes are intertwined with the plot, 10 of them being reprised from the original. Others by the same team of cleffers are 'I Didn't Know What Time It Was', 'The Lady Is a Tramp', 'There's a Small Hotel' and 'Funny Valentine'."[4]
The New York Times commented, "This is largely Mr. Sinatra's show...he projects a distinctly bouncy likeable personality into an unusual role. And his rendition of the top tunes, notably "The Lady Is a Tramp" and "Small Hotel," gives added lustre to these indestructible standards."[5]
With box office rentals of $4.7 million, Pal Joey was ranked by Variety as one of the ten highest earning films of 1957.
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