Damn Yankees, Bedeviling Movie with Tab Hunter

I first saw this 1958 film when it aired on television, likely in the 1960s, but I really can't recall the year. It "may" have been first shown on one of the network movie nights, which were popular back in the 1960s and 1970s, as NBC, ABC and CBS all had such movie nights at some point in those days (there were no true cable stations back then). The networks would broadcast movies for their initial television showing that had been main features in movie theaters when they were released. I saw the movie again later a couple of times on local television, which was common after films had been shown once or twice on network television, and then these movies would often be rented out to local television stations.

The movie opens with a man watching a baseball game on television at home, as his wife, Meg, played by American actress Shannon Bolin, sits sewing. After a little while, the wife asks, "Is Washington winning, dear?" The husband answers, "No... Those damn Yankees." This brings the opening credits. Hm, "Those damn Yankees..." I've heard that said a few times in my life... a few thousand times! But I don't believe I ever said it myself, because I always said much worse than that. Hahaha! Actually that's not true, although perhaps in the heat of the moment I may have uttered something about the Yankees or some other opponent, my most scornful and curse filled lines would have been directed at my own Cleveland Indians team, a team that's deservedly had Cleveland fans utter more profanity laced statements ..... well, let me put it this way: if you think the transcripts of the Watergate tapes had a lot of messages of "expletive deleted," think again.

Anyway... we learn the man's name is Joe and Joe is a middle-aged guy, played by American actor Robert Shafer, who loves baseball and the Washington Senators. * Joe walks out onto his porch talking to himself about his team and how he wishes Washington had a power hitter. He wants a power hitter so much, he's willing to sell his soul for a player who can hit the long ball. When Joe turns around, there's a man standing behind him on his porch, a Mr. Applegate, played by American actor Ray Walston (later known for his role on "My Favorite Martian" in the 1960s). Applegate discusses Joe's desire to add a power hitter to the Washington ball club, and he takes up Joe's offer to trade his soul for that power hitter, especially since Joe always wanted to be a baseball player himself. Applegate tells Joe to come along with him, and he'll make him the greatest baseball player ever. Joe is convinced, especially when a couple of neighborhood ladies walk by, but they can't see Applegate, who is in plain view to Joe.** Now Joe knows that Applegate is legit, ah, illegit...oh, whatever the hell it is! Joe does get an escape clause; that is, he has until September 24 to get out of the deal; otherwise, Applegate gets his soul. (NOTE: In those times there were no playoffs, as there were no divisions, only 16 major league teams; 8 in the American League and 8 in the National League. Let me check my math.... let's see... 8 + 8 is ...ah, wait until I take my shoes off to use my toes... yep, 16! There was only the World Series, which was played between the two pennant winners; that is, the teams with the best record in their respective leagues. The World Series typically started within the first few days of October. In 1958, the year the film was released, the World Series actually began October 1.)

Applegate "changes" Joe from a guy of about 50 to a guy in his early 20s and he later tells the Press Joe is from Hannibal, Missouri, actually the hometown of Joe's wife, Meg. They go to the ballpark, where the Senators are practicing, and Applegate is able to get the Washington manager, played by American actor Russ Brown, to give Joe, who uses the name "Joe Hardy," a chance to swing the bat in practice. Joe proceeds to knock several pitches out of the park. The manager can't ignore such power, and he offers Joe a contract. Joe plays superbly and the Washington Senators begin to become a team to be reckoned with. Some wonder how such a great player just appeared from nowhere, but everyone is so happy, the questions are put aside, by most, except by some in the Press, especially a woman reporter, played by American actress Rae Allen.

In the meantime, Joe's wife misses him, and no matter how pessimistic her friends are about his return, Meg believes he'll come back. Joe decides to go and see her (remember, he's totally unrecognizable), and he tells her he heard she has a room for rent. After consulting with her friends, Meg agrees to rent Joe her husband's den. One of the neighbors recognizes Joe as Washington's new baseball savior, but it means nothing to Meg without her husband to tell her about the Senators. Applegate comes by and tells Joe to stay away from Meg and to concentrate on baseball, so the Senators can beat the Yankees, but it is Joe's love for Meg that upsets Applegate; after all, love is not the inspiring emotion in Hades. To pry Joe from his wife, Applegate promises to get Joe "a real sexy baby," but Applegate doesn't understand, and could never understand, Joe's love for Meg. Applegate goes to a phone booth and drops a good many coins into the slot to call Lola. I guess it took so many coins, because any call to the "infernal regions" is a long distance call.*** Applegate tells Lola about Joe and puts her on the case to seduce him to make Joe forget his wife. Applegate is happy that Washington fans are now brimming with hope since Joe's play has inspired the team. With people so hopeful, Applegate wants to pull the rug out from under the team at the last moment, which will bring despair to the fans, and despair, along with some suicides and heart attacks, is what will make the devil... ah, Applegate, happy.

The Press keeps asking questions about Joe, bringing Applegate to portray himself as a newspaper man from Joe's hometown of Hannibal, Missouri, where he says everybody is proud of Joe.

Lola fails in her attempt to seduce Joe, as he proves to be a kind and respectful young man who only wants to get home to his wife. So Applegate feels he'll have to take matters in hand himself. Applegate goes to Joe's neighborhood and tells some stories, since Joe is living in the same house with Meg. He figures the gossip will force Meg to make Joe leave, and it does. The season is near its end, with only two games left, and Washington needs to win just one of the two games to win the American League pennant, but September 24th has come too. In the meantime, Lola joins Joe's fan club and she finds she is more than a little fond of Joe.

The lady reporter goes to Applegate to tell him she just came back from Hannibal, Missouri, where nobody knows Joe Hardy. Applegate deliberately drops a hint that Joe's name might not really be Joe Hardy, and he also drops the name Shifty McCoy, who the reporter finds out was a player who had thrown a game (that is, deliberately lost the game in exchange for some gain, usually money) in the Mexican League, but he'd been caught at it and nobody ever heard of him again. She naturally wonders if Shifty McCoy has resurfaced as Joe Hardy. The reporter digs up the old story and a new story about Joe Hardy hits the headlines. The baseball commissioner calls a hearing and Joe struggles to explain why no one in Hannibal knows him, but Applegate steps in and says he has someone flying in who actually knows Shifty McCoy. Applegate has to keep Joe busy until the escape clause is no longer valid, then Joe's soul is his and he plans to have Joe throw the game, just as he had Shifty McCoy do a few years earlier.

A tribute is held for Joe by various fan organizations, and Lola performs in one of the acts during the tribute. Washington fans are behind Joe and so is the team. Some believe the whole thing was instigated by the New York Yankees to thwart Washington's drive for the pennant. Meg and her neighbors are upset by the allegations against Joe and they decide to testify that they DO remember Joe (they were all originally from Hannibal). Other witnesses brought in from Hannibal by the newspaper say they don't remember Joe Hardy. At Applegate's, Lola tells Applegate she feels sorry for Joe, and Applegate has Lola repeat over and over, "Never feel sorry for anybody." Joe comes to see Applegate to tell him he wants to use the escape clause, that he now realizes that there is something more important than being a hero. Applegate tells Joe he needs to speak up at 5 minutes until midnight, and if other people are present, the two of them will go out of sight and Joe will be changed back to himself. Joe leaves and in order to rehabilitate Lola, whose feelings for Joe have seen her losing her devilishness, Applegate gives her the assignment to think of three dirty tricks, "and they'd better be good," he tells her.

At the hearing, Meg and the two neighbors come in and tell the commissioner they want to testify that they knew Joe in Hannibal. Meg even talks to one of the witnesses who testified against Joe, trying to make him remember Joe. Meanwhile it is nearly midnight and Joe grabs Applegate so he can exercise the escape clause. Meg takes Joe by the arm and the clock begins to strike midnight and Applegate smiles. It's too late, Joe's soul will belong to Applegate. Joe goes out and sits by himself, but Lola comes to him and tells Joe she gave Applegate pills that will knock him out until after the game is over, so Applegate can't cause Joe to lose the game for the Senators. Joe asks Lola what she had been before Applegate took her soul. She says, "I was the ugliest girl in Providence, Rhode Island." Joe calls them "two lost souls," and he gives Lola a kiss and off they go to a club for drinking, singing and dancing (hey, this is a musical).

The game is well underway, but Applegate awakens when the game is in the 7th inning, with Washington leading 1 to 0. Applegate quickly changes and takes Lola with him to go to the game. He tells Lola he knows she doped him, but he wants to know why. She says, "Because I love him," which is enough to make Applegate sick. The two get to the game, where it is the 9th inning, and Lola thinks it's too late for Applegate to use Joe to lose the game for Washington, but he tells her he will change Joe back to his former self, a statement that causes Lola to turn to leave, but Applegate changes her back to her former self, an ugly witch of a woman. The Yankees get a hit and have a runner at first, with two outs, and the very dangerous Mickey Mantle comes to bat. Mantle hits a long drive to center field. Joe runs back, but Applegate now changes him back to his old self, and the now much older man falls to the ground, then struggles enough to put his glove up and to catch the ball for the final out. Washington wins and Applegate is as hot as the Devil... ah, as mad as hell... ah, he's plenty angry. Joe runs through a door in the center field wall and disappears. Everyone wonders what has happened to Joe, and we hear speculation on the radio that a possible answer is about "foul play" by a group of New York gamblers who lost a bundle on the game. Joe goes home to Meg and who appears but Applegate. As Joe and Meg embrace, Applegate rants about how Joe has cheated and robbed him. He then disappears. 

* The Washington Senators were one of the original teams of the American League in Major League Baseball. They were also called the "Nationals," at times. This team has no historical connection to the present Washington Nationals, as the original Washington team moved to Minnesota for the 1961 season, and became the Minnesota Twins, but it was immediately replaced by a brand new Washington Senators team (termed an "expansion team," because the American League then "expanded" to ten teams from eight teams). This team moved to Texas in 1972 to become the Texas Rangers, and it wasn't until 2005 that the Montreal Expos team moved to Washington to become the Washington Nationals that Washington DC again had a major league team, but it was now in the National League. Try not to be too confused, but I'll understand if you have trouble; after all, I lived through all of these changes and I have difficulty keeping track. 

** One of the ladies is played by American actress Jean Stapleton, who later became famous for her portrayal of Edith, the wife of Archie Bunker in the popular CBS television comedy series, "All in the Family."   

*** I guess I need to explain to younger people today, that in the past there were public landline telephones all over the place (no cellphones back then, AT ALL), usually in booths (some with wooden frames, some with metal frames, but both with lots of glass panes) with folding doors. There were standard charges for local calls, a dime when I was a kid, and if you called outside what was considered your local calling area, the cost of the call escalated according to its distance. You had to deposit the amount of the call into the coin slot, and such a call required the assistance of an operator. No credit card slots back then, but they did change that later. I can't quite remember, but I'll guess by 1980, but I don't believe all public phones had even changed by then. Even long distance calls made from home required an operator, and perhaps even more than one, as an operator in your home community might well connect you with an operator in the area you were calling. Understand, these things gradually changed over time, with metro areas seeing changes faster than in rural communities, but it took time for "direct dial" long distance calls to become nationwide. "Direct dial long distance" was when you didn't need an operator to connect you to the number, but you simply dialed it yourself and you were connected.


Photo is of Warner Home Entertainment DVD

WORD HISTORY: 
Seduce-This prefixed word, the main part of which is related to "duke" and "duct," words of Latin derivation borrowed by English, and it is distantly related to "tow" (as in, "tow your car"), a word going back to the Germanic roots of English, but connected to the previously mentioned words through Indo European. The "se-" goes back to Indo European "sed," a pronoun form which meant, "itself," ^ but also prepositionally meaning, "off to itself, by itself;" thus also, "apart." The main part of the word goes back to Indo European "deuk," which meant, "to lead, to guide, to draw or pull along" (that is, "to cause to move along"). This gave Latin "ducere," with the same meanings. These were combined in Latin as "seducere," literally meaning, "to lead off to itself;" thus, "to lead off, to lead away from," thus, "to lead astray." It was borrowed into English in the early 1500s, initially with the meaning, "to lead someone away from allegiance to an authority," its meaning at the time in Latin. Within just a few decades, it also took on the meaning in English, "to lure a woman into giving herself over for sexual purpose," but it wasn't long before the "luring" could be from either gender.  

^ For those familiar with German, the reflexive pronoun "sich" is from the same Indo European form, which gave Old Germanic "sek." Old English, Old Saxon and Old Frisian all changed, however, to use forms of the personal pronouns, in English: "itself," "himself," "herself."  

"Mame" Addendum: The Criticism

The release of the movie version of "Mame" in 1974 brought many a severe critical review. The main object of the scorn was Lucille Ball, whose singing and age were often the target. When I read through some of the critical writings about the movie and Lucille Ball, I came to the conclusion that some people have too much time on their hands, or they are consumed by a bitterness in their own limited abilities that manifests itself in tantrums and diatribes against others. Criticism is an important part of life, as it gives us a chance to see how others view us, or our work, and it gives us a chance to assess how we can improve. But some people seem to feel the need to spend gads of time being negative; oozing negativity like pus running from a sore. Just putting something or somebody down is not constructive, and it may tell us more about the person who is so highly critical, than it does about the recipient of the criticism. We also have to look beyond the negative at times and view the overall story and its message.

I'm not saying that some of the criticism was wrong, but it was the ferocity with which it was delivered. No question about it, Lucille Ball was not a great singer in "Mame." She also was already in her 60s, playing a character who in a great deal of the movie was supposedly much, much younger. By contrast, Angela Lansbury, who played Mame in the earlier Broadway version was only about 40 when she first got the role. When the movie was cast, I'm sure those involved thought they had guaranteed a box office success by landing Lucille Ball for the lead role. In those times, while Lucille Ball's television popularity had peaked prior to the filming of "Mame," she was one of the best known people on the planet, and most of us didn't refer to her as "Lucille Ball," but rather simply as "Lucy," and there was no need for further explanation, as everyone knew whom was meant. The thing was, Lucy's magic of the 1950s and 1960s only carried into the early 1970s, and by the time of "Mame," while still much admired, she was unable to command the strong box office numbers in the lead role of "Mame" the movie needed to cover the large cost of its production. It seemed that audiences were far more willing to sit at home and watch Lucy on television for free, than to pay to watch her performance at a movie theater. So the critics had their points, and the movie was not financially successful,* but those points were often just made in an unnecessary way, in my opinion. I'm not sure of this, but since those times, the film may now be seen in a better light than when it was released. But regardless what the critics said, I liked the movie and its great music and lessons about life.

The character of Mame perseveres through some trying times in her life and she inspires others to do so too. It isn't that Mame doesn't get depressed, she does, but she bounces back and doesn't let life's beatings destroy her. She exemplifies TOLERANCE for other people's eccentricities, something that all of us need to learn, and it isn't always easy, as even some of the most patient people likely have "their days," where just about anything gets on their nerves, let alone those with some unusual behavior. I don't recall the exact lines, but in the movie, when Agnes, her nephew's nanny, calls Mame "peculiar," Mame answers with something like, "Thank you Agnes, you're peculiar too." No offense taken, but rather seen more as a compliment received and then returned in kind. Mame's conflict with her nephew after she leaves the home of the parents of his fiancee is capped off by her retort to his accusation that she and her "crazy friends" have embarrassed him in the past. "My friends are not crazy. My friends are colorful," and she proceeds to contrast those friends with the bigoted and self centered parents of his fiancee. This is my favorite scene in the movie. 

Mame's desire to experience more about life and that general philosophy is expressed in one of the film's (and the stage play's) great songs, "Open A New Window," as well as in another, "It's Today," which really expresses that yesterday is past and tomorrow may be too late, live for today, now. Mame was not afraid to fail, although most of us likely shudder at the thought of failing. There are many lessons in "Mame," things the nasty critics of the film quickly forgot.    

* I have no idea if the movie became financially successful later with its release to network television (NBC), and I believe also it was later available to be shown on local stations, or with its release on video/DVD. I seem to recall that John Wayne's film, "The Alamo," was a financial disaster for him in its original release, but that the film later recouped its losses and made some money through re-releases to theaters and its network television showings. Now whether similar happened with "Mame," I have no idea. 

WORD HISTORY:
Dizzy-This word, related to "doze," and likely also "tizzy," goes back to Indo European "dheu," which had the notion of  "smoke, haze, dust," and the derived "dheus," meaning "swirl, whirl." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "dusijaz," which had the more figurative meaning, "hazy/unclear in the mind, confused." This gave Old English "dysig," which meant "foolish, unwise." This then became modern "dizzy." The other Germanic languages have: German and Low German Saxon "dösig/däsig" (meaning "drowsy, dizzy, unclear in the mind"), ^ Low German Saxon also has "düsig" (dizzy), Dutch "duizelig" (dizzy), West Frisian "dize" (a noun meaning "fog" or "mist"), Danish and Norwegian "døsig" (sleepy, drowsy), and Norwegian also has "disig" (hazy), Swedish "dåsig" (drowsy). I could not find a form in Icelandic.

^ An altered form gave German the noun "Tor," which means "fool," and "Torheit," which means "stupidity."    

" 'Mame,' Life Is A Banquet"

"Mame" came from a popular mid 1950s novel, "Auntie Mame," written by Edward Tanner, who used the name "Patrick Dennis" for his published works. The story was based upon his real life aunt, Marion Tanner, his father's sister. Note that the story was "based" upon her life, and was not truly biographical in every detail. The success of the book spawned a Broadway hit, with actress Rosalind Russell playing the title character, a role she also landed for a film version a couple of years later. The 1960s saw a musical version of story on Broadway, written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, with music by Jerry Herman. This musical starred Angela Lansbury (later of NBC's "Murder, She Wrote" series) as Mame, with Beatrice Arthur as Mame's hard drinking friend Vera Charles. Beatrice Arthur was then unknown to the general public, but her performance in "Mame" boosted her career, and she later played liberal character "Maude," opposite conservative "Archie Bunker" in a couple of episodes of CBS's "All In The Family," before carrying on with that character in the CBS comedy series, "Maude." Later still she played Dorothy in NBC's "The Golden Girls" for many seasons beginning in the mid 1980s. The Broadway musical version ran for about four years, by which time a film version of the musical was under consideration. Big television star Lucille Ball was given the role of Mame, and Beatrice Arthur was signed to again play Vera Charles, and the movie was released in 1974.

The basic story was this: in the late 1920s, Mame's brother died and his son Patrick (of about ten, played by Kirby Furlong) goes to live with his only known relative, his Auntie Mame, who lives in a luxurious Manhattan building, where she is famous for throwing parties. The child arrives, accompanied by his nanny, Agnes Gooch (played by Jane Connell, who also played the same role in the Broadway version), during one of his aunt's big parties, which has lots of booze and lots of "making out" by some of the guests. The audience already gets the message that this will not be any standard guardian and child relationship. Mame and her nephew hit it off immediately and Mame exposes the boy to her form of a liberal arts education by enrolling him in a school that is anything but conservative (the headmaster wears no clothes and the kids are nearly that way too, and where running around and pranks like dropping water filled balloons from the window onto unsuspecting heads below are commonplace). She also teaches the boy tolerance, taking him to both Christian churches, but also to Jewish temples. The boy's highly conservative and stuffy trustee walks into the school one day and takes the boy with him to keep Mame from anymore influence over her nephew.

The stock market crashes and the Great Depression begins with Mame broke, but far more brokenhearted over the loss of her nephew, who has now been sent off to a conservative school by the trustee. The boy gets to visit on occasion, but that's all. Mame gets a job in a play starring her friend Vera, but she messes up the relatively minor role so badly, she and Vera have a falling out of sorts. She gets a job in a department store, where she meets customer Beauregard Burnside (played by long time actor Robert Preston), of Georgia. The two fall in love and marry, and as he is financially well off, her money problems are over. Meanwhile, Mame's nephew has grown up (played by Bruce Davison) and is attending college, where he has become quite a ladies' man, including another student from an upscale background, whom he wants to marry. Mame had had money in her earlier years, but she never looked down on other people who were less well off. When she regained her financial security through her marriage, after going broke during the Depression, she did not change. Her husband, Beauregard, is killed in an avalanche in Europe and Mame and Vera patch things up, only to collaborate in turning Patrick's former shy nanny, Agnes, who dresses like someone ready for a nursing home, into a sexy, hot to trot, woman. Mame's philosophy was summed up by her statement, "Life is a banquet, but most poor son of bitches are starving to death."* After Agnes' makeover, she goes off to experience the banquet, only to return months later looking "very" pregnant.        

Patrick wants his aunt to meet his future wife's family, and off Mame goes to their home, where she  finds the parents to be snooty, intolerant bigots. She and Patrick later have words about the whole matter, but they reconcile just in time for Mame to invite the parents to her home, where unwed, pregnant Agnes is to be kept out of sight. Of course, Mame delivers an evening totally opposite of the one she experienced at the parents' home, accompanied by a main course of "baked monkey," and a visit by Vera, who proposes a toast to Patrick and his fiancee, but Vera mistakes Mame's attractive new maid as Patrick's fiancee, adding some insult to the whole thing for the snooty family. Agnes makes an appearance and her obvious condition is also later supplemented by the revelation that she is not married (gasp!). This later leads to Mame's announcement that she has bought a piece of property right next door to the parents' home, where she will have a home for unwed mothers built. Need I tell you, the parents have more than some ruffled feathers, rather more like singed and plucked.

Patrick ends up realizing his mistake and he marries the MAID! When their son is born, guess who takes a hand in exposing him to life's banquet? He will not be like "most poor son of a bitches, or souls!"

The real aunt of the author lived well into her 90s, surviving her nephew, who unfortunately died when only in his 50s. The aunt was well known for her generosity (some might say, "over generosity") to those in need, and she literally gave until it hurt, often depriving herself of a comfortable lifestyle.

Way back in the 1960s when the Broadway version about Mame was popular, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass did their own version of the lead song for the show. I loved that song so much, I sort of became known for it with my closest friends, who would mock the way I got into the song and danced and sang along with the music. I can't put that Tijuana Brass song on without thinking of those times back then. There were many other great songs from the musical, likely best known are "We Need A Little Christmas," "My Best Girl" and "Open A New Window."

I'm going to do a brief (I intend it to be brief, at this time) follow up about the movie next.   

* I did not see the movie when it was released in theaters, but only when it was on television a few years later. If my memory is correct, it was on a two part NBC movie presentation. Anyway, television did not allow "most poor son of a bitches," and I believe it was replaced with "most poor souls." Since there did not seem to be any dubbing used for this, the scenes where the expression was used may well have been originally filmed with both versions, but that is just my guess.
 
The picture is from the 2007 Warner Home Video DVD version

WORD HISTORY:
Oft/Often-This word goes back to Old Germanic "ufta/ofta," which meant "often, a number of times," but how Germanic got it is uncertain. The Old Germanic form gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "oft," which expanded to "often" in the 1300s, and indeed eventually replaced "oft" in the 1500s as the primary word to express the frequency of something.^ "Oft" is still around, but it tends to be rather quaint and is used in expressions like "oft stated," "oft repeated," etc. The other Germanic languages have: German and Low German Saxon "oft," Dutch "oft" (now archaic), Danish and Norwegian "ofte," Swedish "ofta," and Icelandic "oft." A form of the word apparently died out in Frisian. 

^ The addition of the "en" to "oft" to form "often" seems to come from its antonym, "selden," (the old form of "seldom"). Interestingly, some of the other Germanic languages used similar forms to English "selden," German for instance has "selten," but they did not follow suit with English "often," as they kept the shorter form similar to English "oft." By the way, the "t" was pronounced in "often," but the sound later died out, at least for most people, although some are criticized today for still pronouncing the "t," but I guess you could say, in fact, they are correct, more "ofTen," than not.     .