Pal Joey

PAL JOEY's original source was John O'Hara's series of fictional "letters," published in the New Yorker, from a mythical dancer who signed all the missives, "Your Pal Joey." O'Hara was approached by producer George Abbott, who talked him into adapting the stories into a book for a musical. Rodgers and Hart came aboard and the play was a success, with sensational, sexy tunes. In this bowdlerized film adaptation, Joey is not a dancer but a singer. Sinatra does a bang-up job as Joey, a saloon singer who arrives in San Francisco with a gleam in his eye, a tuxedo in his suitcase, and not a penny in his pocket. He gets a job at a nightclub, and soon has his way wi...