What we have here is the original Broadway cast with the exceptions of Tab Hunter and Bob Fosse.Hunter is nowhere near as good as Stephen Douglass whom he displaced, but that's Hollywood!It's a miracle that Gwen Verdon was retained. She's terrific! Other than Miss Verdon's casting, however, this film version seems to fall short of the stage musical in many respects.Admittedly, we still have a couple of tuneful songs, plus a few very witty lines, and the sometimes inventive direction of George Abbott and Stanley Donen.Harold Lipstein's Technicolor photography is also a pleasing asset.

I'm sorry but I don't understand why this film has as high a rating as it does. This is one of the worst films I've ever seen. The songs were lame, the dancing was horrible and the acting went beyond bad. Now, I really don't have anything against musicals, in fact there are many musicals I love, but this crossed the line between stupid and just unbearable. I don't suggest this film unless you enjoy dumb predictable stories, bad acting, boring dancing, and a plain bad movie experience. The only reason I gave it 2 stars is because it made me laugh once. Thats pretty bad. The rest of the humor was extremely stupid and unfunny. I don't get how it got all those good votes. It deserves much much lower. It was one of those film that while watching it you realize, oh my god, there was no effort at all put into this film

As musicals go, DAMN YANKEES was a highly popular Broadway hit because it gave the audience GWEN VERDON's way with a song and dance and Bob Fosse's choreography. It may not have been as filled with hit tunes as some, but "You Gotta Have Heart", "Whatever Lola Wants," and "Two Lost Souls" were good enough to make theater patrons happy.When Verdon (and Ray Walston) won their Tony's, it was a good thing Warner Bros. decided to lure both of them to Hollywood for the screen version. For box-office insurance they had hunky TAB HUNTER to ensure that movie fans would show up--and, surprisingly, it all works very well. Hunter is no great shakes as a vocalist, but he's pleasantly unassuming and gets by on his duet with Verdon.GWEN VERDON lights up the screen whenever she goes into one of her routines, and her "Whatever Lola Wants" is worth the price of admission alone. RAY WALSTON has a devilish time in his rib-tickling role and it's all easy to take as a merry mixture of music and comedy.The only drawback is that its stage origins are immediately apparent and there's a certain static quality about some of the scenes. But overall, George Abbott and Stanley Donen keep it fresh and lively whenever the music takes center stage.

Gwen Verdon was a Broadway legend with long gorgeous legs and an undeniable stage and screen charisma. Her legendary stage career earned her four Tony Awards, thanks in no small part to her long time Svengali and ex-husband Bob Fosse. Sadly, the only time Verdon was allowed to bring a role she created on Broadway to the big screen was in DAMN YANKEES, a sparkling film adaptation of the Richard Ross-Jerry Adler musical about a middle-aged baseball fan named Joe Boyd (Robert Shafer)who sells his soul to the devil for his favorite team, the Washington Senators, to win the pennant. The devil, apparently in desperate need of converts, appears in Joe's living room in the form of a Mr. Applegate (Ray Walston)and changes Joe Boyd into Joe Hardy (Tab Hunter), a young and unbeatable baseball player who helps lead the Senators to the pennant until he starts to get homesick and Applegate sends in his # 1 agent/witch named Lola (Verdon) to distract Joe. The film is well-mounted by Broadway legend George Abbott and Verdon and Ralston effectively reprise their Tony-Award winning stage roles and Fosse is even showcased, dancing in a rare duet with wife Verdon on "Who's Got the Pain?" and trust and believe, seeing Fosse and Verdon dance together is worth the price of admission alone. Other great songs in the score include "Whatever Lola Wants", "Heart","Those Were the Good Old Days", and "Shoeless Joe From Hannibal Mo". Not the greatest musical ever made, but Verdon, Ralston, and Fosse's brilliant choreography make it worth watching and re-watching.