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The Pajama Game

Released 1957
Runtime 101
Category Musicals
Language English
Director Stanley Donen

What it’s about

When her fellow workers are denied a 7.5-cent raise, pajama-factory employee Katie “Babe” Williams (Day) forms a grievance committee and takes their modest wage demand to the doorstep of shop boss Sid Sorokin (Raitt). But things grow complicated for Babe — and how! — when she falls for the handsome superintendent. Just whose side is she on?

Why we love it

This Technicolor smash hit began life on Broadway but made a lively, beautiful transition to film in 1957. Funny, intelligent, and stuffed frame to frame with a jumping songbook and ebullient Bob Fosse choreography, “Game” features Day in one of her cheekiest, most adorable screen roles. Adler/Ross tunes like “Hernando's Hideaway,” “There Once Was a Man,” and the show-stopping “Steam Heat,” featuring the remarkable Carol Haney, add punch. If all workers movements looked like this, we'd have a revolution on our hands!

Doris Day, John Raitt Stanley Donen

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