Just once in my life I want to see Pal Joey done straight up. No chaser. No watering down the hootch. No sticking other songs from other R&H musicals into it. No screwing around with John O'Hara's book (which he took so long writing, that Larry Hart teased it out of him with the lyrics for "I Could Write A Book." Could he? It was getting doubtful there a while. Seriously, musicals now are dark as hell, far darker than this, quite often. I went to see Sweeney Todd a lifetime ago, with Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury--nobody walked out. I was just a kid. I got it. I'd get this. (One of our parish priests was there at the Uris that night--he loved it--yes, even 'A Little Priest.) But I guess what bothered people was, Joey just walked away, without really changing, or suffering any permanent consequences. No better or worse off than he was before. And that's the point. He'll only change if he wants to. Most people don't really want to. They just want the world around them to change--to suit their selfish needs. The narration is wrong about one thing. There is a moral person in that show. Linda. The ingenue. As to Vera, the siren, and the true antihero of the piece--she's not really bad. She's just drawn that way. She's cynical, hardbitten, but there's no real meanness there. She and Linda understand each other pretty well, which sure doesn't happen in the movie. Still not somebody you want to mess with. I know all this because I've read O'Hara's book--and the stories that preceded it. And of course, Hart's lyrics have been sung so many times, by so many brilliant performers with brilliant accompaniment. And always will be, whatever else happens.
If you can figure out how to do it, I suggest reaching out to one or more of Gene’s kids. My understanding is that a trust for them owns the commercial rights to whichever of Gene’s performances he retained. (The radio rights probably belong to the network, though.)
Wow! Gene Kelly looking simply gorgeous. So young. Great dancing. Such energy. Shame MGM wouldn't loan him out for the film version that was made years later. He would have been a better choice than Frank Sinatra. The film version was a boring and lacking in every way.
Wonderful footage. The recent revival at City Center was interesting but took too many liberties, adding a "Griot" chorus, and turning the show into a jukebox musical. Kelly looks perfect....
PBS Great Performances on Stephen Sondheim's Company traced four productions of it from 1970-2022. I thought of Pal Joey as it may relate to the Bobby character. Now that I have seen this I wonder if there is any other similarity.
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What romantic times, Hart was so talented & well respected by many!
Just once in my life I want to see Pal Joey done straight up. No chaser. No watering down the hootch. No sticking other songs from other R&H musicals into it. No screwing around with John O'Hara's book (which he took so long writing, that Larry Hart teased it out of him with the lyrics for "I Could Write A Book." Could he? It was getting doubtful there a while.
Seriously, musicals now are dark as hell, far darker than this, quite often. I went to see Sweeney Todd a lifetime ago, with Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury--nobody walked out. I was just a kid. I got it. I'd get this. (One of our parish priests was there at the Uris that night--he loved it--yes, even 'A Little Priest.)
But I guess what bothered people was, Joey just walked away, without really changing, or suffering any permanent consequences. No better or worse off than he was before. And that's the point. He'll only change if he wants to. Most people don't really want to. They just want the world around them to change--to suit their selfish needs.
The narration is wrong about one thing. There is a moral person in that show. Linda. The ingenue. As to Vera, the siren, and the true antihero of the piece--she's not really bad. She's just drawn that way. She's cynical, hardbitten, but there's no real meanness there. She and Linda understand each other pretty well, which sure doesn't happen in the movie. Still not somebody you want to mess with.
I know all this because I've read O'Hara's book--and the stories that preceded it. And of course, Hart's lyrics have been sung so many times, by so many brilliant performers with brilliant accompaniment. And always will be, whatever else happens.
Have you every come across the full radio broadcast of Pal Joey with Kelly? I have only found snippets of it :(
No, but gosh I’d love to hear it. I can only hope that there’s a collector out there who has it and decides to share it one day🙏
@@mostlydaydreaming2983 I've reached out to Patricia Ward in case she might have it. - No reply :( What I have is just the "Pet Shop" scene.
If you can figure out how to do it, I suggest reaching out to one or more of Gene’s kids. My understanding is that a trust for them owns the commercial rights to whichever of Gene’s performances he retained. (The radio rights probably belong to the network, though.)
Wow! Gene Kelly looking simply gorgeous.
So young.
Great dancing.
Such energy.
Shame MGM wouldn't loan him out for the film version that was made years later.
He would have been a better choice than Frank Sinatra.
The film version was a boring and lacking in every way.
Wonderful footage. The recent revival at City Center was interesting but took too many liberties, adding a "Griot" chorus, and turning the show into a jukebox musical. Kelly looks perfect....
PBS Great Performances on Stephen Sondheim's Company traced four productions of it from 1970-2022. I thought of Pal Joey as it may relate to the Bobby character. Now that I have seen this I wonder if there is any other similarity.
It was a serious art period
If only, if only there was an Original Cast album but there isn't.
Lovely Julie Andrews narrates.