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
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