Damn Yankees is a 1958 musical film made by Warner Bros., a modern version of the Faust legend set in 1950 involving the New York Yankees baseball team. The film is based on the 1955 Broadway musical of the same name.
The film version was directed by George Abbott, as he did the earlier stage version, with assistance from Stanley Donen. With the exception of Tab Hunter in the role of Joe Hardy (replacing Stephen Douglass), the Broadway principals...
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Damn Yankees is a 1958 musical film made by Warner Bros., a modern version of the Faust legend set in 1950 involving the New York Yankees baseball team. The film is based on the 1955 Broadway musical of the same name.
The film version was directed by George Abbott, as he did the earlier stage version, with assistance from Stanley Donen. With the exception of Tab Hunter in the role of Joe Hardy (replacing Stephen Douglass), the Broadway principals reprised their stage roles. The film is very similar to the stage version. A notable difference between film and stage versions, however, was Gwen Verdon's performance of the song, “A Little Brains”. For the film version, Verdon’s suggestive hip-movements (as choreographed by Bob Fosse and performed on stage) were considered too risqué for a mainstream American film in 1958, and so, in the film, she simply pauses at these points. Similarly, the film was released in the United Kingdom under the title What Lola Wants, to avoid use of the word ...
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