Faithfulness has never been essential with me, though the spirit of the original source makes do, anything deserves to stand on its own merits. The Pajama Game is one of musical comedies that benefits from being a fine example of something being faithful to its original source done well-after seeing those being too faithful and lacking energy as a result, the remake of Bye Bye Birdie being a prime example. The dialogue is warm-hearted and sharp-witted, and while the story is unlikely it has a lot of charm and energy which wins you over at least. The songs are similarly terrific, especially those two(Steam Heat being the highlight of the film) and There Was Once a Man. You have to love its robustness and wit in Once a Year Day, but the gem is the classic and very catchy Steam Heat. The photography and editing shows signs of creativity(Racing Around the Clock was true to this), as does the energetic and quite unique choreography from Bob Fosse. The fashions and hair are very 50s but are beautiful-looking and the settings colourful and showing signs of life. John Raitt's really bland acting is the only drawback to a film that was just a pleasure to watch after an emotional roller-coaster of a week. In fact, though he never went on to star in another film, Raitt came off pretty well in this one and you wonder why he didn't get more opportunities in films-though apparently his career on stage was quite long and successful. Also, when it comes to Day's singing, you might find (like I did) that it came off as brash-as she belted out tune after tune with little grace-just LOTS of power. Some of the songs are very familiar and quite good, while some seem inexplicable, as they seem to have nothing to do with the plot and just seemed crammed in regardless (such as 'Steam Heat' and 'Hernando's Hideaway'). This is a decent musical overall but not much more. Stuck in the middle is John Raitt-who represents the company BUT who is also infatuated with Day.

Doris Day plays a spunky union rep who is pushing her company for a 7 1/2 cent an hour raise-and the pig-headed boss is willing to let the business go to pot for 7 1/2 cents. And late in the film when he chased his girl with a knife-tossing them right and left at her.funny?! It's pretty amazing that insane pathological violence was seen as a laugh-getter back in the day! As for the plot of 'The Pajama Game', it plays a LOT like a musical-comedy version of 'Norma Rae'! really is very similar. When I watched this film, I was VERY surprised to see the subplot involving the jealous boyfriend (Eddie Foy Jr.) Such extreme jealousy is NOT funny-though it was sure meant to be.

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