Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

jhkp Every time I watch Pal Joey, it hooks me by its interesting beginning, but I get bored around the time Joey starts planning his new night spot on Nob Hill with the help of his wealthy, older benefactress, Mrs. Simpson (Rita Hayworth), which messes up his budding relationship with a much younger "mouse," Linda English (Kim Novak).Up to that point, it's been a pretty fun show. Joey wangling his way into a nightclub job, chasing the girls at the club, exchanging barbs with one of the dancers (Barbara Nichols). His cynical friendship with an old friend, the back-and-forth with the club manager, his cute one-on-one with the landlady (Elizabeth Patterson). Etc.It's also been a treat to see Frank take the stage at the club and do one of the best numbers he ever did on screen (even if he's clearly way too talented to be scrounging for jobs as a girlie show MC).If only the breezy, atmospheric tone had continued for another few reels. But it's amazing how lugubrious the film becomes once Joey gets in with society dame Rita and starts getting his nightclub plans realized. And the delightful relationship with Novak bogs down into slush right around the same time.The three central performances are good. Sinatra's is the most three-dimensional and real. He walks a fine line, being able to make a jerk likable and attractive. (It's when we're being asked to love the jerk that the film gets a little messed up). Hayworth, 39 years old, tries and almost succeeds at being a believable cougar. But Sinatra at 38 is too old to be her boy toy. Novak is good in her attempts to do musical comedy and good in her role in general.Former MGM director George Sidney (Holiday In Mexico, Bathing Beauty, Anchors Aweigh, Show Boat, Kiss Me Kate) gets some but not all of it right. A former MGM screenwriter, Dorothy Kingsley, adapted Pal Joey for this version.

wes-connors Run out of town after being caught with the mayor's underage daughter, womanizing singer Frank Sinatra (as Joey Evans) lands in sinful San Francisco. On the strip club show circuit, Mr. Sinatra lands a job with access to leggy, top-heavy women. First to receive Sinatra's attention is comely chorus girl Kim Novak (as Linda English). Then, arousing ex-stripper Rita Hayworth (as Vera Prentice Simpson) helps sponsor Sinatra's "Chez Joey" nightclub. Their singing voices are played, quite nicely, by Jo Ann Greer (for Ms. Hayworth) and Trudi Erwin (for Ms Novak). The question becomes, which of the two women will win Sinatra's heart, if he has one...Hindsight makes the seams in this stitched-together musical more evident...Originally a stage play about a dishonorable, dancing heel played by Gene Kelly, it was tailor made for Frank Sinatra. As far as the singer is concerned, the role is a perfect fit. You will find much of his persona - though certainly not all of the real Sinatra - in the attitude and mannerisms herein. The part helped provide the man with a character to "play" for the public. The selection of Rogers and Hart tunes is terrific, with Sinatra shining especially well on "The Lady Is a Tramp". Surprisingly, he doesn't sing a couple of standards we hear, although Sinatra's versions are the ones that linger on, long after the "Pal Joey" comes to its unmemorable ending.***** Pal Joey (10/25/57) George Sidney ~ Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak, Barbara Nichols

loveballet12 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.

jc-osms I really wanted to like this colourful adaptation of one of Rogers and Hart's last and most successful shows and attracted by big names like Sinatra, Hayworth and Novak, thought I couldn't lose. Sheesh, was I wrong.Concerning ne'erdowell Joey (Sinatra's) self-obsessed attempts to get himself up the greasy pole to his own club in San Francisco and no doubt attendant fame and fortune, the film fails ultimately for a number of reasons. First Frank's character just isn't desperate enough, purportedly down on his luck, he always looks perfectly turned out, even before he becomes wealthy widow Hayworth's kept man. And the idea to give this hard-bitten Casanova a cute puppy dog is just wrong on so many levels. His character never seems to stop talking and often re-hashes the same stock phrases, which gets wearing after a while. As for Hayworth and Novak, both look fantastic, filmed in great clothes in great light, as befits two of the sexiest women to ever come out of Tinseltown, but the former lacks that dare I say it, Norma Desmond controlling, self-deluding and even slightly deranged conviction which would have made her character more rounded while Novak gets to play a whimpering simpering child, completely at odds with her overly sensual demeanour.Some of the scenes are ridiculously contrived too, like Novak's strip-tease, her later passing out on Sinatra when they're on Hayworth's yacht and Joey's dream sequence when both his loves sashay around him like bees to honey. Worst of all is Hayworth's "Sugar Mommy" backing out of the competition for Joey by personally fetching Novak for their hold-hands, run-at-the-camera, big love shot at the conclusion.On the plus side, as indicated, the stars all look great, Sinatra too, being in the middle of his classic Capitol series of recordings, even getting to quote one of his catch-phrases "Ring-a-ding-ding" at one point. The San Francisco locations are also easy on the eye and the musical numbers excellent, including "The Lady Is a Tramp", "My Funny Valentine" and "Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered" amongst them. Unfortunately, the movie dialogue too rarely matches the sharpness of Lorenz Hart's lyrics. Damon Runyan, this ain't.A missed opportunity them and I'm not sure I can tell quite why. Some shows may just work well on stage, I'm guessing this is one of them.