Hot "Damn"
This is quite a find. In 1967, they did a full production of the musical Damn Yankees as a TV special for the “General Electric Theater.” On the downside, it had the cheapest, most infantile, literally cartoonish sets you can possibly imagine. (Whatever you’re imagining, it’s worse.) And weird, almost inexplicable cutaways to tacky, bizarre graphics. On the plus side – it’s a massive plus – it not only has a great cast, it arguably has a cast that, overall, compares with the original Broadway production. And they're wonderful.
For starters, it features perhaps the most quintessential actor as the conniving ‘Mr. Applegate,’ the devil – Phil Silvers. (No one will make you forget Ray Walston, but the history Phil Silvers brings to the role is just flat-out special.) It also has the most gorgeous, sexy ‘Lola’ I’ve seen in any production – Lee Remick. (And lest anyone wonder if she can sing, know that she appeared on Broadway in Stephen Sondheim’s first musical, Anyone Can Whistle, opposite Angela Lansbury.) The young ‘Joe Hardy” is played by Jerry Lanning, who most people don’t likely know, but the year before this TV production he created the role of the grown-up nephew ‘Patrick Dennis,” in the musical Mame. But for all that, my personal favorite casting is the actress who plays the “old Joe’s” patient wife – none other than Fran Allison, yes, ‘Fran’ of Kukla, Fran and Ollie. (And she’s very good.) Furthermore, in other supporting roles are Jim Backus (Thurston Howell in Gilligan’s Island, and the voice of ‘Mr. Magoo”) plays ‘the manager.’ Ray Middleton -- who starred opposite Ethel Merman in the original Annie Get Your Gun and two years before this TV special played the ‘Innkeeper’ in the original Man of La Mancha -- is ‘old Joe’ Boyd here. A young Linda Lavin, who wouldn’t star as Alice for another decade, plays the nosy reporter. And there’s also one of my favorite character actors, Bob Dishy (who among many of his roles played the sergeant in a couple episodes of Columbo). That’s some terrific cast. (And it all begins with announcer and former player Joe Garagiola setting the scene for the TV audience.)
It's a very fun production, a little sloppy and utterly bizarre in many places, but joyous in most. And a great score, highlighted of course by “You Gotta Have Heart.” And seeing Phil Silvers chew up the scenery in “Those Were the Good Old Days.” As well as understanding how ‘Joe’ could be seduced by Lee Remick’s ‘Lola’ – with “A Little Brains, a Little Talent” and (of course) “Whatever Lola Wants.” And just seeing Frank Allison show how talented she could be on her own. All a treat. I’d say the cast can almost make you forget how truly hideous the sets are, but that’s impossible. Clearly the sets were a choice – in large part to save money, I’m sure, but in part too probably because someone mistakenly thought it would add a goofy period charm and even at one especially-weird point, a psychedelic hipness. But whatever the reason, it’s really a horrifically bad choice. BUT – the rest of it is a total treat.
I’ve always remembered the final scene, in particularly Phil Silvers, and it’s as memorable now as it was over half-a-century ago when I was a kid. Again, this is an insanely weird, idiotic production – but such a treat, because there’s too much good in the show and the cast.
Comments