Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

JohnHowardReid What we have here is the original Broadway cast with the exceptions of Tab Hunter and Bob Fosse.Hunter is nowhere near as good as Stephen Douglass whom he displaced, but that's Hollywood!It's a miracle that Gwen Verdon was retained. She's terrific! Other than Miss Verdon's casting, however, this film version seems to fall short of the stage musical in many respects.Admittedly, we still have a couple of tuneful songs, plus a few very witty lines, and the sometimes inventive direction of George Abbott and Stanley Donen.Harold Lipstein's Technicolor photography is also a pleasing asset.

evanston_dad I saw "Damn Yankees" shortly after seeing another George Abbott/Stanley Donen collaboration, "The Pajama Game," which set the bar so low that just about any musical would seem better."Damn Yankees" on its own terms is a little flat and never explodes into the energy it probably has on stage, but it comes close, and much closer than "The Pajama Game" ever does. Gwen Verdon is almost exclusively the film's appeal -- not especially pretty, there's nevertheless something about her (call it good old-fashioned show-biz chutzpah) that makes it impossible to take your eyes off of her when she's on the screen. And this film benefits from a slew of dance numbers choreographed by Bob Fosse, the most memorable being the "Who's Got the Pain?" number that Fosse himself dances with wife Verdon (though I'm not sure whether or not they were married when they made this movie). If for no other reason, see this film for that number, which captures two theatre legends at their best.Grade: B

ianlouisiana It may well have been the Devil's cleverest trick to have persuaded us that he does not exist,but it is a relatively recent one.Even 50 years ago when "Whatever Lola wants" was released the concept of an anti - Christ was widely accepted in the West and the possibility of entering into a diabolical bargain for earthly riches and success was not considered seriously - "get thee behind me,Satan",as my Auntie Edie used to say.Now,it appears,almost everybody will do anything to be rich and famous and looking at the richest and most famous of them all it is hard to discern any particular talent or merit they might possess. Accordingly,Faustian compacts may have been entered wholesale thus assuring the Devil an endless supply of souls like Joe Hardy whose relatively harmless vice was the Great American Game. Portrayed by Mr R.Walston as an earthly form with a certain raffish charm and an All-American name "Mr Applegate",the Devil is a" can do" kind of guy.His assistant - Lola - played by Miss G.Verdon is the epitome of feminine seductiveness employed to keep Joe in line. As a Brit to whom baseball is little more than a more butch version of the rather girlie game of rounders the back story and plot of the movie have little cultural significance.It's significance to me is purely based on its merits as a musical - and they are considerable.Certainly Miss Verdon got me very hot under the collar as an 18 year old,and Mr Walston made me laugh a lot.Mr Tab Hunter was very good - looking and had already been in the "Top Twenty" in the U.K. with "Young Love",so it had a whole lot going for it.I had a 78 of "Heart" by the Four Aces and my friends and I had a lot of fun copying the harmony parts so it would be fair to say that I was quite involved in the whole "Whatever Lola wants" experience.Time,sadly,has not been very kind either to me or the movie,and,when I saw it recently only "Heart" moved me as it had done originally,the other songs - although remaining clever - lacked much substance and only the dancing of the wonderful Miss Verdon raised the level to that I remembered .Nevertheless it remains a nostalgic favourite,and a movie with "Heart" - in both meanings.

theowinthrop This musical, when revived about a decade ago with Jerry Lewis as Applegate, was referred to as a fable for the Eisenhower Years. It is set in a faintly comfortable period (once the McCarthyite Persecutions were finished), because the concept of this musical was the preoccupation of the American public with the national pastime of baseball, and it's singular domination (between 1947 and 1962) by the New York Yankees. Although the Yankees had had other periods of greatness, with Ruth, Gehrig, "Murderers Row" in the late 1920s and early 1930s, they had to share the domination of the World Series with other teams in that period (the Philadelphia Athletics, the Detroit Tigers, and the St. Louis Cardinals, to name three). But the Yankees in this period started with Joe DiMaggio, entered into the period dominated by Mickey Mantel, Whitey Ford, Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Don Larsen, Roger Maris, and presided over by Casey Stengel. They did not always win (one memorable defeat was by their perennial enemy the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955), but they won so often that to non-baseball fans it was monotonous to follow the sports news: you knew what should finally happen.So the background of this baseball era is important to understand the musical (one of the few times the actual historical background of the time the musical was created becomes that important). Joe Boyd (Robert Shafer) is a fanatical baseball lover and fan of the woebegone Washington Senators (the saying for many years about the Senators was, "First in war, first in peace, and last in their league."). The team had only one great moment: in 1924 they won the World Series when the team had one of baseball's greatest players on it - Walter Johnson. But it never really was in competition again after that. But Boyd is a fan, and he makes the mistake of being willing to sell his soul to allow the Senators a chance to win the series again. Enter Mr. Applegate (a.k.a. the Devil) played fiendishly well by Ray Walston. He offers Joe a contract that will make Joe the greatest baseball player of all time - and lead to the world series - in return for his soul. Hesitant at first, Joe agrees. He is transformed into Joe Hardy (Tab Hunter), and proceeds to try to join the Senators (with Applegate as his agent).The Devil can never be trusted in any agreement. Applegate hopes to cause a wave of hope and hysteria by the anti-Yankee baseball public, letting Joe lead his team to the World Series. He plans to pull the rug from underneath the team at the final moment. Unfortunately Joe is a good salesman on his own, and has insisted on an escape clause for himself. Applegate has to accept it for the sake of his own plans. The escape clause is there because Joe loves his wife Meg (Sharon Bolin) and does not want her to be hurt. So Applegate decides to recruit his best female agent, Lola (Gwen Vernon) to vamp Joe and make him forget Meg. But Joe is too faithful, and succeeds in overcoming Lola's "irrisistable" personality (as she sings, "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets" - except here). Lola, shaken by the experience, becomes a type of groupie for Joe - and eventually starts a mini-revolt on her own against Applegate.The score of the show is memorable. Besides the key song "Heart" (sung by the Washington team players), and Lola's "Whatever" number, there is also "Two Lost Souls", "Goodbye Old Girl" and Walston's wonderful "Those were the good old days!" (when he fondly recalls all the tragedies he created in the history of mankind - including the day Jack the Ripper was born). Walston was not nominated for any awards for the movie performance*, but his Applegate is one of his best film performances, with his Gillis in SOUTH PACIFIC. He had played both on Broadway first, so we are lucky to have his film performances here.*(But won the Tony Award for the role on stage.)Stanley Donan co-directed this film with George Abbott. Abbott was usually a stage director (he had done the musical on Broadway). There is a moment when it is apparent that he is directing. There is a small dance done by one of the three ball players in the "Heart" number, and the close-up of the player as he smiles shyly and steps forward is out of place in the film - but would have worked on stage.