Pal Joey

• Directed by George Sidney
• October 25, 1957 (United States)
• Loosely adapted from the Rodgers and Hart musical play Pal Joey

When a man meets a former chorus girl (and now rich widow) the pair seem made for each other but complications arise.

Pal Joey gets a lot of mileage out of what little foundation for a story it has. This could’ve easily been compressed into an hour episode of just about any drama from the time but there are enough problems and enough “Will they or won’t they” that the story gets stretched out but does not feel stretched out.

In the opener Joey Evans (Frank Sinatra) is getting kicked out of some nameless town for messing around with the mayor’s underage daughter (he claims ignorance on age). It is treated very humorously yet ignorance or not it’s serious. Never gets mentioned in the movie after the opener though. Joey as it stands is a charming and irresponsible womanizer that mercifully learns some lessons and by the end grows up.

There are a few musical numbers performed but Pal Joey is not a musical. Music is placed in when appropriate such as Joey having to sing because of his work or the character of Vera getting forced to reveal her past by performing her famous number from her showbiz daysand so on.

A love triangle develops involving widowed heiress Vera Prentice-Simpson (Rita Hayworth), Linda English (Kim Novak with her voice dubbed by Trudy Stevens for reasons), and Joey. That is quite a choice for the time. Linda is clearly the woman to pick but George Sidney and pals make a good case for Vera. Not that anything is wrong with Vera but she doesn’t really need Joey. Linda does in that way that you need your significant other. You’ll be fine without them but there’s just something better with them.

Linda is a little more innocent in comparison to Vera who despite her desire to be more upper-class is certainly more street than she would like the world to see. Vera even goes so far as to try to hide her past from those around her. As Joey tries to woo and even underhandedly score with the women, they see through his mechanizations and mess with him. The women are perhaps a step or two ahead and he doesn’t know it.

While all involved were good my complaint is that Sinatra put on a tough street accent. His natural speaking voice has enough street tough in it that he didn’t need to over emphasize it. Not everybody can do an accent and I don’t think Sinatra was one of them.

Joey’s moment of final growth comes when Linda basically decides to degrade herself for a number at a club he has convinced Vera to bankroll. The performance is risqué by 50s standards with Novak getting down to her unmentionables. Novak to her credit is quite good but Joey stops it just before it goes too far.

On the one hand Joey values Linda and isn’t willing to let her demean herself. On the other it shows a level of desperation and lack of self-worth on the part of the character. A well-done moment and maybe that’s why I’m not sure how to land on it. If you think a little bit Joey is fine with other women performing the number. Just not Linda. That is a little messed up.

What makes this mostly straightforward romcom entertaining is the talented cast. There is nothing really unique in the story but if you take a step back and think about the time it was a little bit special. And a little bit special got made very special by the talent in front of the camera as well as behind it. It’s a very entertaining movie.

Pal Joey is a good movie. Between the songs and the story and the acting it is a great bit of classic film that doesn’t get talked about too much.