An aging baseball fan sells his soul to the Devil for a career with his favorite team, the Washington Senators, currently languishing in seventh place. Ray Walston's Mr. Applegate--a chic, suave Beelzebub, who smiles like a Cheshire cat--is really the only lively aspect of this heavy-spirited Broadway musical adaptation, which in turn was taken from Douglass Wallop's book "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant". Co-directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen, with choreography by Bob Fosse, the picture has a better plot (its roots in Faust) than this team's "The Pajama Game" from the year before, but still seems awfully stagy and stagnant, with the song numbers belted towards the rafters. As the protagonist's youthful incarnation, Tab Hunter tries hard but is still too colorless to make a strong impression. ** from ****

Perhaps I liked this film a bit more than a lot of folks because I grew up cheering for the hapless Washington Senators--a team that hadn't been in the World Series since 1933 (and they lost!). All I know is that I enjoyed the film.The film begins with middle-aged Joe Boyd doing what he loves most--watching his beloved Senators on television. Like any Senators fan, he's miserable because, as usual, the team's losing and they haven't a prayer. Out of frustration, Joe blurts out that he'd sell his soul if the team could win the American League pennant. And, just like that, the Devil (Ray Walston) appears and offers him just that. He'll make Joe the greatest player in history for only a minor price...his soul! But Joe is too smart to just agree to this and negotiates an escape clause--a clause his new friend has no intention of honoring. Although Joe (now called Joe Hardy and is played by Tab Hunter) IS a sensation and the team does seem destined to win it all, this is when the dirty tricks begin--and the first dirty trick is Lola (Gwen Verdon)--a vamp who will destroy him. Can Joe survive with his soul intact and/or the team win it all? The plot of this musical is a reworking of the old Faust story (by the likes of Marlow and Goethe). And, if you're familiar with these tales, you might anticipate how it all ends. Regardless, the film is a lot of fun with a silly and enjoyable performance by Walston (who not once is referred to as Satan--just Mr. Applegate). The musical numbers are mostly very good, though several of the singers really could not sing--and is a bit reminiscent of "Paint Your Wagon" in that department. While most of the songs are great, "Who's Got the Pain" is irrelevant to the plot--completely irrelevant. "Two Lost Sheep" is not as irrelevant but a bit weak. Better songs are "Whatever Lola Wants" and "A Little Brains, A Little Talent" (both by Gwen Verdon). Overall, a very enjoyable film that kept me entertained from start to finish. Not great but very good.

Forgotten, but undeservedly so,"Damn Yankees"-- as I always think of it -- is a peppy musical based on the Faustian legend in which the Devils' Advocate (Ray Walston) and his temptress assistant Lola (Gwen Verdon) persuade an ageing baseball fan to sell his soul to become Tab Hunter,baseball-player extraordinaire. But there's a problem; he allows his victim an escape clause....It's a strong storyline, then, and nicely realised, which is a good thing as the musical numbers are rather thrown in as if the songwriters had been given the screenplay and asked to fit in whatever songs they could manage wherever they could fit them, and to give everybody a turn, whether or not it advanced the story or just stopped it dead.But the score is a fine one, the Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon dance routines are stunning (even if totally superfluous) and the film as a whole is very much worth a couple of hours of relax time.....

As musicals go, DAMN YANKEES was a highly popular Broadway hit because it gave the audience GWEN VERDON's way with a song and dance and Bob Fosse's choreography. It may not have been as filled with hit tunes as some, but "You Gotta Have Heart", "Whatever Lola Wants," and "Two Lost Souls" were good enough to make theater patrons happy.When Verdon (and Ray Walston) won their Tony's, it was a good thing Warner Bros. decided to lure both of them to Hollywood for the screen version. For box-office insurance they had hunky TAB HUNTER to ensure that movie fans would show up--and, surprisingly, it all works very well. Hunter is no great shakes as a vocalist, but he's pleasantly unassuming and gets by on his duet with Verdon.GWEN VERDON lights up the screen whenever she goes into one of her routines, and her "Whatever Lola Wants" is worth the price of admission alone. RAY WALSTON has a devilish time in his rib-tickling role and it's all easy to take as a merry mixture of music and comedy.The only drawback is that its stage origins are immediately apparent and there's a certain static quality about some of the scenes. But overall, George Abbott and Stanley Donen keep it fresh and lively whenever the music takes center stage.