Damn Yankees (1958) Review

Damn Yankees (1958)

cinema

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My Review

“Damn Yankees” is a musical comedy about a middle-aged Washington Senators baseball fan who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for helping his team win the pennant against the New York Yankees. The devil also transforms him into a young ball player. Producers-directors George Abbott and Stanley Donen were adept at transforming the entertaining 1955 stage play to the big screen, with Abbott penning the screenplay. It was adapted from the 1954 novel “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant” by Douglass Wallup. This book was in turn an updated version of the old story of Dr. Faust, which originated in Germany in the 16th century.

The cast includes Tab Hunter as the young ballplayer Joe Hardy, Ray Walston as Applegate the devil, Gwen Verdon as the devil’s demonic assistant Lola, Robert Shafer as Joe Boyd (who is transformed into Joe Hardy), as well as Russ Brown, Shannon Bolin, Rae Allen, James Komack, and Jean Stapleton, many years before her big break as Edith Bunker on the CBS sitcom “All in the Family” (1971-1979). There were uncredited cameos by Bob Fosse, Yogi Berra, and Mickey Mantle.

“Damn Yankees” was popular in theatrical release for Warner Bros. Pictures. It was nominated for one Academy Award – Best Musical Scoring (Ray Heindorf). A popular song from this movie is “Whatever Lola Wants,” written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. It was sung to Joe Hardy (Tab Hunter) by Lola the devil’s demonic assistant (Gwen Verdon).

Most of the baseball action was filmed at the old Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, used in many baseball films of the 1950’s. Wrigley Field was the home of the Pacific Coast League’s Los Angeles Angels, owned by the Wrigley Chewing Gum Co., who also owned the Chicago Cubs and Catalina Island. It was located in South Los Angeles, and for one year in 1961 was the home field of the expansion team Los Angeles Angels, owned by Gene Autry. Wrigley Field was demolished in 1969.

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