Wonderful character development!

the audience applauded

recommended

Boring, long, and too preachy.

I have said before that sometimes stage plays, even great ones, don't translate well to film and sometimes they do. It really does depend on the screenplay and who stars in the film and a few other key details. Pal Joey has its ups and downs and is overall entertaining but mostly thanks to Frank Sinatra and his larger than life persona that is hard to ignore in any capacity. It has elements of romance and music and drama and a few genuinely funny moments. Ideally though this is a vehicle for Sinatra. With anyone else in his role it wouldn't have been even nearly as good. His charisma saves this from being a rather hum drum sort of romantic comedy/musical. I think the biggest problem I personally had with the film was the lack of chemistry between the leads. I think in order for this to be genuinely great you need a guy and two girls that have great energy opposite of each other. At the heart (pun intended) of the film is a romance and yet you don't really feel that. The main character is such an egotistical ladies man and you expect a full turn around but I'm not sure you ever get that. You are sort of left with he is who he is but she's gonna be with him anyways.I have very little experience watching Frank Sinatra on screen but I love the man for his albums, always have since I was a kid, so the highlight of this movie for me was seeing him perform. He is mesmerizing and it is easily the strong point in the film. Singing "Lady is A Tramp" to Rita Hayworth was definitely worth the price of admission. Sinatra is very good in this role and suits it to a T. He is perfectly believable as a street-wise ladies man with big dreams and his character actually is a complex guy and I'm not sure we get everything out of one movie. Kim Novak is beautiful of course and her role as Karen English is decent. I just didn't feel like she got a lot of depth nor did her and Sinatra have the right chemistry. They had some good scenes and some okay banter but the door is open here for this terrific love-hate rivalry that never really takes off. Rita Hayworth is also very good if not just a touch obvious as the aristocratic Vera Simpson who lures Frank's Joey into a relationship of necessity. Hayworth's character is not very likable though she has a very good turning point in the end. However, like Novak, her chemistry with Sinatra is okay at best and her and Novak don't share enough screen time.Like many directors of the time, George Sidney has done other musical to screen adaptations. I just think Pal Joey isn't necessarily the right stage play to adapt though I'd love to see a modern take on it (think Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan annnnd Julia Roberts in the 90's) but the chemistry was off, the pacing doesn't feel quite right and the music is a little underwhelming. Still, it is a classic for a reason and it was fun. Some of the dialogue (especially from Sinatra) was legendary. He was a fast talking sarcastic lout and he did it well. I would think for its time, Pal Joey was a touch racy and I actually liked that about it. Watching a classic with a little bit of an adult edge for its time made me feel a little naughty like I'm sure it did for them back in 1957. I can assure you that I will now check out some of Frank Sinatra's more well known roles so the movie is not a total loss. Its worth seeing if you love the classics but certainly far from the best out there. 7/10

Date: August.12, 2012 -First Time Watch- Continuing my journey through Frank Sinatra films I watched 'Pal Joey' next. In it Sinatra plays Joey Evans, a lady's man who wants nothing else then to run his own joint. He soon finds himself in the middle of two women, Linda English (Novak) a show girl and Vera Simpson (Hayworth) a wealthy widow. If you ask me, you couldn't go wrong with either women. I'm not a big musical person but I rather enjoyed this one. It didn't have too many musical numbers and the acting was really good. I especially love the scenes between Joey and Linda at the house where they're renting rooms right next to each other. Also a nice touch was the little dog that becomes Joey's after Linda pulls a bad trick on him. I really did like this movie and Frank Sinatra is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors.

Pal Joey (1957)This is a vehicle for Frank Sinatra to sing. And that's all we need, in a way. The movie has a plot, and two stellar actresses who are neither quite at their best (the overrated Kim Novak and the restrained Rita Hayworth). And it has some nice full Technicolor filming in and around San Francisco which is its own attraction. But Sinatra rules nearly every scene. He has his regular guy persona, perfected years ago for lots of musicals and even some dramas, with the slight tweak that he's a bit full of himself. Except we know it's an act just to survive. He meets chorus girl Novak and likes her rather a lot, and he meets high society and ex-showgirl stripper Hayworth and likes her rather less, but they seem to have some hot flashes anyway. And he needs her money to make it big in town.That's the plot, as the two women vie for his attention. Meanwhile a new nightclub featuring, yes, singing and dancing, is opening and so that becomes the center of all the swirling. It's all predictably held back from anything realistic, of course. I mean, Sinatra is this guy who's totally broke and desperate, but he doesn't really show it. (He says it.) When he swoops on stage at the first opportunity it's all in that fantasy world of possibilities that are what make musicals musicals. Those of you who are tempted to say, "Oh, come on!" you need to let go and just find the flow. Get used to the idea that it's a kind of parallel universe, slightly false and dreamlike on purpose. The improbable is meant to be just that because it's more fun that way!Meanwhile there's Sinatra the singer. He goes through a whole list of numbers, some of them rather famous, and he hums and sings bits of other great songs. These include "My Funny Valentine" which Novak performs in full on stage, and "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" which Hayworth performs to herself in her spacious bedroom. Both of the women's vocals are dubbed in by other vocalists, however.And yes, there are some really famous songs here. The composers are none other than Rogers and Hart, coming from their 1940 Broadway play of the same name (and originally starring Gene Kelly). Most of the songs originated there, but four, including "The Lady is a Tramp" and "My Funny Valentine" came from a 1937 musical "Babes in Arms," also by Rogers and Hart. The "charts" are by the great Nelson Riddle, who arranged Sinatra's most classic albums of the 1950s. Everything is in pitch perfect form here, and if you want a dose of pure Sinatra, the actor and singer, this is the place to start. Don't expect too much of a movie, but don't worry, either, because it's all solid and very enjoyable. And a dream you can really inhabit.

This is part of the Kim Novak 5-movie DVD set issued this month, August 2010. The picture and sound are very nice, and there is an extra which features Kim Novak at work and at home in present time.Rita Hayworth was already a veteran of the screen, and in fact was approaching the latter stages of her career, even though she wasn't yet 40. Frank Sinatra was over 40, but still in his prime. And the newcomer was Kim Novak, still only 23 or so during filming. The three of them end up in a romantic triangle that stays interesting all the way through, with some good songs and production numbers.As the movie opens we see that Frank Sinatra as the title character, Joey Evans, that some call 'Pal Joey', is being put on a train and thrown out of another city. This seems to be his life, he has great ambition and does not hesitate to take advantage of anyone he can. In fact he seems to treat everyone as a way to get something he wants. With a pretty girl all he wants is the hope of a one-night stand.Joey lands in San Francisco and at the nightspot 'Barbary Coast' he insinuates himself when the 'MC' is late, and in spite of his poor reputation is given the job. He will be 'MC' for the acts at the supper club and do songs himself.One of the showgirls is Kim Novak as Linda English. Joey falls for her immediately, and figures out a way to get a room right next to hers in the boarding house. In fact they must share a bathroom, which makes other aspects easy for Joey.But Joey's ambition is to have is own entertainment place, and he needs someone to put up the money. Enter Rita Hayworth as Vera Simpson, recently a widow and rich, but with a past as a stripper that she hoped everyone forgot about. Despite some rough edges between Vera and Joey, she agrees to bankroll the new supper club, 'Chez Joey.' Not all goes smoothly.SPOILERS: Vera wants Joey for herself, more as a boy-toy than as a true love. But when it becomes apparent that Joey has his eyes on Linda, Vera insists that Joey fire her, otherwise the 'Chez Joey' venture will be closed down. Which she ends up doing as the opening night arrives. Linda feels bad, goes to Vera and says she will quit, and Vera goes to Joey and tells him she will open is place. But he no longer has any trust in her, doesn't like someone else pulling his strings, and packs up to head for Sacramento. Linda won't take 'no' for an answer and goes with him, even though he tells her that he is sure to disappoint her. The movie ends with a beautiful scene of the two of them on the San Francisco wharf with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background framed by colored clouds at sunset.