FROM STAGE TO SCREEN … PAL JOEY

Pal Joey (1940)

Music by Richard Rodgers; lyrics by Lorenz Hart;

Book by John O’Hara, based on his short stories.

SONGS: “You Mustn’t Kick It Around,” “I Could Write a Book,” “Chicago,” “That Terrific Rainbow,” “Happy Hunting Horn,” “Bewitched,” “Pal Joey,” “The Flower Garden of My Heart,” “Zip,” “Den of Iniquity,” “Take Him,” “Do It the Hard Way.”

NEW YORK: Dec. 25, 1940

ETHEL BARRYMORE THEATRE; 374 performances.

Presented & directed by George Abbott; choreographed by Robert Alton; settings & lighting, Jo Mielziner; costumes, John Koenig; music director, Harry Levant; orchestrations, Hans Spialek.

CAST: Vivienne Sega! (Vera Simpson), Gene Kelly (Joey Evans), June Havoc (Gladys Bumps), Leila Ernst (Linda English), Jack Durant (Ludlow Lowell), Jean Casto (Melba Snyder), Van Johnson (Victor), Stanley Donen (Albert Doane), Sondra Barrett (The Kid), Jerome Whyte (Stagehand).

NEW YORK: Jan. 3, 1952

BROADHURST THEATRE; 542 performances.

In this production Broadway legend Elaine Stritch played Melba Snyder.

LONDON: March 31, 1954

PRINCES THEATRE; 245 performances.

The John O’Hara New Yorker short stories, written as a series of letters from “Your Pal Joey” to a bandleader friend, were adapted into a sharp, adult Bway musical that was considered daring because of its anti-hero hero. Joey is an mc-eritertainer at Mike’s nightspot in Chicago, where he meets innocent Linda but drops her in favor of wealthy Vera. Vera builds a nightclub for her paramour—the Chez Joey—but she soon tires of him and, at the end, Joey is still scheming new schemes.

Pal Joey, which gave Gene Kelly his first leading role, was also the only musical authored by John O’Hara.

Columbia, 1957, Color, 111 minutes
Produced by: Fred Kohlmar
Directed by: George Sidney
Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Music Supervised and Conducted by: Morris Stoloff
Musical Arrangements: Nelson Riddle
Orchestrations: Arthur Morton
Choreography: Hermes Pan
Gowns by: Jean Louis
Color by Technicolor

Cast:
Rita Hayworth (Vera Simpson),
Frank Sinatra (Joey Evans),
Kim Novak (Linda English),
Barbara Nichols (Gladys)

SOUNDTRACK

1. Main Title
2. That Terrific Rainbow
3. I Didn't Know What Time it Was
4. Do it the Hard Way
5. Great Big Town
6. There's a Small Hotel
7. Zip
8. I Could Write a Book
9. Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered
10. The Lady is a Tramp
11. Plant You Now Dig You later
12. My Funny Valentine
13. You Mustn't Kick it Around
14. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (reprise)
15. Strip Number
16. Dream Sequence & Finale