Damn Yankees - DVDfile.com forum for DVD, Blu-Ray, and HD-DVD

NotaNumber · 02-12-2003, 04:28 PM

Damn Yankees is a title I'm waiting for from Warner Brothers. This 1958 film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical is an all-time favorite of mine. The snappy musical numbers, Bob Fosse choreography and steller performances by Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon make for an entertaining experience even if you are not a baseball fan.

Here in Los Angeles on channel 9 (then KHJ now KCAL since Disney bought the station) there was The Million Dollar Movie which aired at prime time during week nights and they would show the same movie the entire week. The amazing thing about that MDM is that they would often show movies letter-boxed and this was back in the late 60's. I recall that the host of show explained what the black bars meant when they presented The Land of the Pharoahs letter-boxed.

Anyway, some movies my brothers and I enjoyed so much that we'd watch them all week - Mister Roberts, Land of the Pharoahs, Forbidden Planet and of course Damn Yankees

The Broadway musical had a musical number The Game about how the team members resist "booze and broads" for the good of The Game (i.e. Baseball) is not in the film version that I saw broadcast in LA. However when I was in Seattle in 1979-80 or 81 I could have sworn that I saw this number in the film version I saw broadcast on local television in Seattle. At that point I thought that perhaps it was cut out in the LA area because it was a little too lurid for the audience.
However the tape, Laserdisc and soundtrack albums do not have this number on them. The Original Broadway Cast album does.

Could I have imagined this or perhaps there is an alternate version of Damn Yankees?

BubbleGumUK · 02-12-2003, 10:29 PM

Surprised anyone else remembers this movie!

I love Damn Yankees, but haven't seen it since I first caught it during a season of screen musicals that the BBC (here in the UK) showed when I was just a kid (a good 15 years ago)!

It was the first "adult" musical I'd seen (mostly Disney and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang up till then) and I loved it, for all the reasons you state.

It's a title I've been meaning to pick up for years now, but by the time I bought my LD player it was hard to come by. I was hoping that a DVD would have been issued by now (they did Calamity Jane already!) but no luck.

I keep a look out for it on TV, but to be honest I've never seen it shown again! I'll be second in line for an eventual DVD issue (behind NotaNumber of course).

About "The Game" sequence: it did not appear in the 1958 Warners film (only as background music during one montage sequence). There was another version, made for TV in 1967, with Phil Silvers in the Ray Walston part. This production DID include "The Game" song and sequence, but overall this take on the musical has to overcome a tiny budget.

Despite the lack of the sequence from the film version, it still outshines the TV edition, and if Warners will have any sense they will put Damn Yankees out during this "musical renaissance" and while "Chicago" (with choreography based on Fosse's) riding high in the charts and the Oscar race.

Hope this helps - and even better if you really did see "The Game" with the film cast - that'd be something special to put on any DVD release that comes along, but I do think it was the TV version you saw.

NotaNumber · 02-13-2003, 03:36 PM

I'm quite sure it was the 1958 film version. I didn't even know there was a TV production until yesterday when I lookied it up on IMDB.

I'm a big Phil Silvers fan and I would have certainly remembered him in the role of Mr Applegate.

I had seen the movie at least a dozen times on television in Los Angeles prior to this. When you're that familiar with a movie something as obvious as a different cast would get remembered.

The drama class at my high school in the early 70's put on a production of Damn Yankees - controversial enough because of the word 'damn' but it did not include the number The Game

Ok, I pulled the liner notes from my soundtrack CD (notes written in 1989):
[The score itself underwent some minor modifications: a couple of songs from the original stage show were dropped ("A Man Doesn't Know," "Near To You"), and a new ballad, "There's Something About an Empty Chair," was composed for the occasion.[/i] Curiously, no mention of The Game and it does not appear on the album.

I remember rushing to get the videotape when it first became available because I liked the number so much. To my surprise it was not on the tape.

This is the only instance where I've found differences in Warner Brothers movies. A few years back I saw a Cinemascope print of Mister Roberts at the UCLA Archives and in the scene where Fonda throws the palm tree overboard "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is playing in the background and he hums a few bars when leaving the scene (actually it sounds like Mel Blanc). Yet the TV prints and the Pan & Scan tape all have a different (unidentified by me) march playing.

The current DVD is the "Stars and Stripes Forever" version but if you watch the Fonda on Fonda bonus the clip from the Pan & Scan version is shown and you can hear the other march!

BubbleGumUK · 02-13-2003, 05:34 PM

Hmmm, interesting about the Fonda clip.

Only thing I could think of was that Stars And Stripes was used in the domestic US prints, and the other march in International release. Sometimes these can get mixed up in trasfers to tape for TV or video and maybe the wrong prints were used?

As for Damn Yankees, I agree that a cast change would have been noticed (or at least I would HOPE it was!) but only offered that as a possible reason.

I hope that you did see this sequence in the WB 1958 film, and that it would either come complete in whatever disc issue we get eventually or as an extra.

Let's just hope that Warners get this out there!

NotaNumber · 02-14-2003, 06:43 AM

Well, someone on the UseNet group rec.video.dvd.titles claims he has only seen the movie version on television also and distinctly recalls The Game number in it (even able to recite the chorus).

Soooooo....

We just have to wait for Time-Warner to stop dragging their feet and get these titles out!

02-12-2003, 04:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
NotaNumber I paid for this! Join Date: May 2002	Damn Yankees Damn Yankees is a title I'm waiting for from Warner Brothers. This 1958 film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical is an all-time favorite of mine. The snappy musical numbers, Bob Fosse choreography and steller performances by Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon make for an entertaining experience even if you are not a baseball fan. Here in Los Angeles on channel 9 (then KHJ now KCAL since Disney bought the station) there was The Million Dollar Movie which aired at prime time during week nights and they would show the same movie the entire week. The amazing thing about that MDM is that they would often show movies letter-boxed and this was back in the late 60's. I recall that the host of show explained what the black bars meant when they presented The Land of the Pharoahs letter-boxed. Anyway, some movies my brothers and I enjoyed so much that we'd watch them all week - Mister Roberts, Land of the Pharoahs, Forbidden Planet and of course Damn Yankees The Broadway musical had a musical number The Game about how the team members resist "booze and broads" for the good of The Game (i.e. Baseball) is not in the film version that I saw broadcast in LA. However when I was in Seattle in 1979-80 or 81 I could have sworn that I saw this number in the film version I saw broadcast on local television in Seattle. At that point I thought that perhaps it was cut out in the LA area because it was a little too lurid for the audience. However the tape, Laserdisc and soundtrack albums do not have this number on them. The Original Broadway Cast album does. Could I have imagined this or perhaps there is an alternate version of Damn Yankees? Last edited by NotaNumber : 02-12-2003 at 04:33 PM.

02-12-2003, 10:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
BubbleGumUK Actor Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: England	Surprised anyone else remembers this movie! I love Damn Yankees, but haven't seen it since I first caught it during a season of screen musicals that the BBC (here in the UK) showed when I was just a kid (a good 15 years ago)! It was the first "adult" musical I'd seen (mostly Disney and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang up till then) and I loved it, for all the reasons you state. It's a title I've been meaning to pick up for years now, but by the time I bought my LD player it was hard to come by. I was hoping that a DVD would have been issued by now (they did Calamity Jane already!) but no luck. I keep a look out for it on TV, but to be honest I've never seen it shown again! I'll be second in line for an eventual DVD issue (behind NotaNumber of course). About "The Game" sequence: it did not appear in the 1958 Warners film (only as background music during one montage sequence). There was another version, made for TV in 1967, with Phil Silvers in the Ray Walston part. This production DID include "The Game" song and sequence, but overall this take on the musical has to overcome a tiny budget. Despite the lack of the sequence from the film version, it still outshines the TV edition, and if Warners will have any sense they will put Damn Yankees out during this "musical renaissance" and while "Chicago" (with choreography based on Fosse's) riding high in the charts and the Oscar race. Hope this helps - and even better if you really did see "The Game" with the film cast - that'd be something special to put on any DVD release that comes along, but I do think it was the TV version you saw. __________________ Check out DVD Toons for the latest in animated discs! And catch breaking Animated-News stories here!

02-13-2003, 05:34 PM	#4 (permalink)
BubbleGumUK Actor Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: England	Hmmm, interesting about the Fonda clip. Only thing I could think of was that Stars And Stripes was used in the domestic US prints, and the other march in International release. Sometimes these can get mixed up in trasfers to tape for TV or video and maybe the wrong prints were used? As for Damn Yankees, I agree that a cast change would have been noticed (or at least I would HOPE it was!) but only offered that as a possible reason. I hope that you did see this sequence in the WB 1958 film, and that it would either come complete in whatever disc issue we get eventually or as an extra. Let's just hope that Warners get this out there! __________________ Check out DVD Toons for the latest in animated discs! And catch breaking Animated-News stories here!

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02-13-2003, 03:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
NotaNumber I paid for this! Join Date: May 2002	I'm quite sure it was the 1958 film version. I didn't even know there was a TV production until yesterday when I lookied it up on IMDB. I'm a big Phil Silvers fan and I would have certainly remembered him in the role of Mr Applegate. I had seen the movie at least a dozen times on television in Los Angeles prior to this. When you're that familiar with a movie something as obvious as a different cast would get remembered. The drama class at my high school in the early 70's put on a production of Damn Yankees - controversial enough because of the word 'damn' but it did not include the number The Game Ok, I pulled the liner notes from my soundtrack CD (notes written in 1989): [The score itself underwent some minor modifications: a couple of songs from the original stage show were dropped ("A Man Doesn't Know," "Near To You"), and a new ballad, "There's Something About an Empty Chair," was composed for the occasion.[/i] Curiously, no mention of The Game and it does not appear on the album. I remember rushing to get the videotape when it first became available because I liked the number so much. To my surprise it was not on the tape. This is the only instance where I've found differences in Warner Brothers movies. A few years back I saw a Cinemascope print of Mister Roberts at the UCLA Archives and in the scene where Fonda throws the palm tree overboard "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is playing in the background and he hums a few bars when leaving the scene (actually it sounds like Mel Blanc). Yet the TV prints and the Pan & Scan tape all have a different (unidentified by me) march playing. The current DVD is the "Stars and Stripes Forever" version but if you watch the Fonda on Fonda bonus the clip from the Pan & Scan version is shown and you can hear the other march!

02-14-2003, 06:43 AM	#5 (permalink)
NotaNumber I paid for this! Join Date: May 2002	Well, someone on the UseNet group rec.video.dvd.titles claims he has only seen the movie version on television also and distinctly recalls The Game number in it (even able to recite the chorus). Soooooo.... We just have to wait for Time-Warner to stop dragging their feet and get these titles out!