6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Babe Williams, the head of the union in a pajama factory, leads a call for a pay raise but is ignored by the management. She takes the grievances to the superintendent, Sid Sorokin, but her professional capacity is compromised when the couple falls in love.
Starring: Doris Day, John Raitt, Carol Haney, Eddie Foy, Jr., Reta ShawMusical | 100% |
Romance | 92% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Based on Richard Bissell's 1953 sophomore novel 7½ Cents (and, in turn, the popular Broadway adaptation released the following year), George Abbott and Stanley Donen's The Pajama Game is a fun and featherweight romantic drama starring popular singer-turned-actress Doris Day (Romance on the High Seas). She portrays Katherine "Babe" Williams, a worker and union leader at the Sleeptite Pajama Factory, whose proposed 7½-cent raise for the workers doesn't go over well with tightwad factory manager Myron Hasler (Ralph Dunn). He's just hired a new superintendent in handsome Sid Sorokin (John Raitt), who aims to keep "the girls" in line but falls in love with Babe after their very first meeting. And though business and pleasure rarely mix well, at least we get few catchy musical numbers out of it.
Still, The Pajama Game offers little more than the sum of its admittedly very capable parts, as the film rarely achieves the level of sublime cinematic magic you'd expect from something with this kind of pedigree. The core "will they or won't they" romance between Babe and Sid just doesn't have enough spark to build a feature-length show around, and secondary plot details are pushed so far into the background to make enough room that The Pajama Game ultimately feels like a collection of good to great scenes stuck together. It's still very much worth (re)discovering -- and probably worth owning -- for the performances and choreography alone, whether you're seeing them for the first or fiftieth time. But the end result, while certainly entertaining on its own terms, just doesn't feel like a genuine career highlight for anyone involved, save for Bob Fosse and the songwriting duo of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, equally famous for their contributions to Damn Yankees (also directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen) later in the decade.
It's a pretty fun show regardless, and one that's more impressive than ever thanks to its new Blu-ray presentation from Warner Archive, who
continue to impress with each subsequent catalog title. The 1080p transfer, sourced from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, is some
of their best work to date and even the lossless audio track, though limited by its source material, plays much more brightly than its DVD
counterpart. It's yet another fine package that die-hard fans will flip for, but anyone with a soft spot for musicals should at least give this
one a spin.
The Pajama Game is inarguably the best-looking classic film that mostly takes place in a warehouse. Its colorful lighting schemes and vivid costume design -- which also includes pajamas just sitting in the background, I guess -- are a visual delight, and the not-always-reliable "Warnercolor" (a re-branded name of the single-strip Eastmancolor process made popular with earlier WB films like Mister Roberts) has likely never been put to better use. This Blu-ray's 1080p transfer is advertised as being sourced from a recent 4K scan of the original camera negative, and it shows: almost every scene absolutely sparkles with fine detail and excellent color saturation, bolstered by plenty of natural film grain and Warner Archive's typically meticulous manual cleaning. Depth is extremely good during indoor and outdoor scenes alike, the latter of which includes a long but very eventful day at the company's annual union-sponsored picnic.
Tightly framed in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the compositions aren't given much headroom -- especially in contrast with its open-matte 4x3 presentation, an option on Warner Bros.' old DVD but not included here -- with the trade-off being lots more information on the left and right sides. However, the fundamental strengths of this 1080p transfer are second-to-none, as WAC's Blu-ray easily offers The Pajama Game's finest home video presentation to date.
As usual, Warner Archive has uploaded a few videos to their YouTube channel showing off the new restoration, including the three-minute opening credit sequence and this early exchange between Babe and Sid.
Sadly, the film's mono audio can't quite measure up to the visuals... but it's due to format limitations, not a disc defect. The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track wrings out plenty of sonic detail, from show-stopping musical numbers to crowded conversations on the factory floor, which regularly pushes this split one-channel track to the absolute limit. Dialogue is mostly clear but sometimes buried in the mix with a soft echo, whereas the lip-synced musical numbers stand out more strongly in direct contrast. Of course, the music itself is largely full and dynamic, playing nicely without much in the way of high-end distortion or compression issues. These moments (of which there are many) provide the track's most memorable moments, but the somewhat inconsistent nature of its source quality just can't be avoided.
Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature, which includes all the song lyrics. Combined with the "Song Selection" feature included as an extra, this gives sing-along fans something to look forward to.
This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with attractive poster-themed cover artwork and no inserts. Bonus features are kept to a minimum and seem to mirror those found on earlier DVD editions.
All fifteen songs include optional English subtitles when applicable.
George Abbott and Stanley Donen's The Pajama Game isn't exactly a top-tier Hollywood musical but it is loaded with catchy songs, fine performances, and great choreography by Bob Fosse. It feels a little padded as the musical numbers routinely outshine the plot (especially during the second act), which feels as stitched together as a pair of Sleeptite pajamas. Still, it's a mostly light and fun affair that has its charms, not to mention terrific visuals. The latter gets plenty of support on Warner Archive's outstanding Blu-ray. which as usual goes all-out to deliver a fine-looking picture that purists will really enjoy. It's recommended for die-hard fans but others might want to try before they buy.
Warner Archive Collection
1960
1953
Warner Archive Collection
1955
Rockin' Rydell Edition
1978
2016
1953
Director's Cut on BD
1990
1961
1982
1957
Warner Archive Collection
1971
Warner Archive Collection
1951
Warner Archive Collection
1955
Fox Studio Classics
1969
Warner Archive Collection
1955
1949
Limited Edition
1947
Warner Archive Collection
1957
Warner Archive Collection
1940
1964