Doris Day

Warner Bros. Pictures' 1957 film adaptation of the 1954 Broadway musical +The Pajama Game (about a strike for higher wages at a pajama factory) was unusually faithful to the show. Not only did Warner Bros. retain the Richard Adler-Jerry Ross score in its entirety, but the film company also preserved most of the cast, including male lead John Raitt and supporting actors Carol Haney, Eddie Foy Jr., Reta Shaw, and Buzz Miller. The only significant substitution was that of Hollywood star Doris Day for Broadway female lead Janis Paige, probably a box-office necessity. But Day fit right in, and the script was not altered to emphasize her part. Instead, the production remained an ensemble story in which Raitt got to sing the hit "Hey There" and Haney had showcases with "Steam Heat" and "Hernando's Hideaway." Day shone on "I'm Not at All in Love," throwing herself into the production number, and paired well with Raitt on "Once-a-Year Day" and "There Once Was a Man." Foy and Shaw retained their own showcase number, "I'll Never Be Jealous Again." The show worked as well on film as it had on stage, and the score remained fresh and catchy. The soundtrack album was nearly as popular as the original Broadway cast album had been three years earlier, making the Top Ten. Collectables Records is to be credited for reissuing the album on CD, but it is regrettable that the company chose to bill it as a Doris Day album, which does a disservice to the rest of the cast. Day is only on five out of 11 tracks on the soundtrack, though there is a bonus track, her recording of "The Man Who Invented Love," an Adler composition intended to be added to the score for the movie but ultimately dropped. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide