Damn Yankees (1 Viewer)

[Drew Salzan]

Any thoughts out there yet?

 

[Shem Kellogg]

Watch your language with that thread title, especially at a time like this.

 

[Roger Rollins]

It's terrific.

It's never looked so good. Previous video versions and every print I've seen have suffered from excessive grain, and a a yellow/magenta kind of look. Colors here are dead on, and the sharpness is wonderful. Great to see it in 16x9, too.

The film holds up really well. I hadn't seen it in a long time, and it moves with great pace. The only less-that-great moment is the new song they wrote for the film, which everyone seems to loathe, but it passes quickly, and to enjoy Verdon, Walston, and Hunter (who was probably at his very best here...a really good performance), not to mention the original NY cast. is a real treat.

Interestingly, the trailer WB included is the British version (leading one to think that they may not have had good elements on the U.S. trailer). It's the same trailer the U.S. used, but refers to the film with its international title..."WHAT LOLA WANTS"!

Packaging is a nice sturdy keepcase, with the original one sheet. An excellent DVD, perfectly timed to the Red Sox vs. Yankees playoffs!

 

[Joe Caps]

Is it the full lenght trailer? A VERY short trailer is included with the new Seven Brides for seven Brothers set.

 

[Will Krupp]

The disc is MARVELLOUS!! Roger is spot on with his comments. I've waited so long to see a decent rendering of this and couldn't be happier!! Such color (I'm swooning).

But maybe my appreciation for the disc is tempered by the AGONY I had to endure just to get a copy!

Online ordering doesn't give me half the thrill of picking up a title in the store, so I was SURE it would be no problem to pick this up on release day (I mean, this is BOSTON not upper Alabama.) So I trundle to Border's and have the clerk tell me that they sold the ONE copy they received (gee...more than ONE movie buff/theatre queen in Boston...WHO would have guessed?) Here's the funny part...they had 18 copies of the PBS BROADWAY set!! No problem...off to Virgin Megastore (they had none....6 on order, not yet received) Next stop: Sam Goody (zip) Strawberries (God Help Me)(also zip)...I next tried the little pop and pop stores here in the South End that LIVE for releases like this and came away with bupkis (sp?) I then learned that the Boston Tower Records is...gone!! So now I was a man possessed. I could have just waited a day or two and gotten one at Virgin, but it seemed like a "Will against the universe" contest at this point. I FINALLY found ONE copy at the Best-Buy in Cambridge (and Best-Buy is always my very LAST resort these days) and sent my boyfriend to get it on his way home from work. Geeze Louise, I would have had an easier time if I DID live in Alabama! First rule of retail folks...you can't sell what you haven't got.

Anyway, I was delirious when I finally sat down to watch it but I'm pretty sure it's a truly wonderful disc. And yes, Joe, the trailer is full-length.

 

[Conrad_SSS]

You'd think every Red Sox fan would be buying a movie called DAMN YANKEES right now!!!!

 

[MatthewA]

I suppose with the Expos moving to DC, the timing of this release couldn't be better.

 

[RobertSiegel]

I rented the dvd, it looks very good. I had the chance to see this live on stage 2 days ago by a professional company with full orchestra, After having seen the movie many times, I could not believe how good this is on stage, and how edited the movie was from the stage show. I tried to watch the movie again and could not, there is no comparison. Many songs were severly shortened, every person I saw on the stage did a better acting job than the movie, even though the producers, directors, and most of the cast was from the original Broadway production. The movie in itself is not bad, but now that I have seen this live, it seems very mediocre. Too bad the stereo tracks were destroyed on the order of Jack Warner, it's always sad to see that especially for a musical, they are so much more enjoyable in stereo.

If you're a fan of this movie or score, I would highly suggest the Broadway Cast recording on Mercury from the 1994 revival, this is almost 80 minutes of music, has alot of dialogue and the sound is first rate digital stereo. It has every song, uncut.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Robert: I couldn't agree more.

However, since the film is the only visual record of the show there is.....

My family and I saw a free summer production of Damn Yankees here in the Albany area a few years ago (Park Playhouse) and was wowed by a show we had never seen before and weren't sure we would like (even though we've got a couple of big baseball fans in the family). Truth is, we went back and saw it several more times...and the film really doesn't do this fine show justice. That said, when its all ya got...

 

[Roger Rollins]

I can't quite agree.

Most Broadway shows are bastardized, to a small or huge degree when translated to the screen.

DAMN YANKEES writing, score, cast & creative team were more inolved here that most stage veterans were when their Broadway shows were put on the big screem.

Yes, it's sad that the censorship of the era nade the filmmakers have to cut THE GAME, and alter some lyrics,
The fact that the mediocre song A MAN DOESN'T KNOW was replaced by the equally mediocre or probably inferior SOMETHING ABOUT AN EMPYU chair is a shame.

But, saddled with George Abbott as a co-director, Stanley Donen did his best, and Gwen Verdon's signature role is properly preserved forever. Tab Hunter does a very fine job as Joe Hardy, and the rest of the company gives the show their all.

It's definitely a delightful entertainment,and WB'S DVD is just damned beautiful. Sharp, great color, crisp (albeit mono) full dimensional audio.

Don't miss this one.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Roger: Don't get me wrong, I think the DVD looks great, too. Gorgeous colors, great transfer, etc.

Thanks for the explanation of why some of the tunes, story-lines needed to be tweaked. It might be interesting to see some of these older musicals revisited (ala Chicago) with a contemporary viewpoint/technology. That was one of my thoughts when I saw that local production of Damn Yankees several years ago. Doubt it would ever happen AND I wouldn't want to open up the can of worms to decide which films would be re-made...just think it might be interesting.

 

[Roger Rollins]

MIRAMAX has bought the right to re-make DAMN YANKEES.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Wow! That would be amazing! Do you think there's any chance they might really do it?

 

[Greg_M]

The plans to re-film Damn Yankees have been cancelled when Miramax and Disney parted ways a few weeks ago. Many planned projects were cancelled and Damn Yankees was one of them.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Too bad. For all the reasons discussed here...it would have been nice to have a contemporary version of Damn Yankees with all the songs and storyline nuances intact.

Gee, if Disney had been involved it would have been a nice project along the lines of their re-makes of Annie (which I prefer to the original film) and R&H's Cinderella.

 

[Neal K]

To be retitled DAMN DISNEY?

 

[Jefferson]

Unlike MUSIC MAN, i think that a tv remake of DAMN YANKEES would have actually been appropriate.

Musicals are my profession, so i have a soft spot for this film.
That said, i have never thought it was
"all that", compared to stage productions I've seen.

Gwen Verdon and the choreography are great,
but the whole thing moves slowly, even in this truncated film version.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Well...it looks like Jefferson's still smilin' over Damn Yankees!