The Pajama Game Details

Workers' demands for a seven-and-a-half per cent pay rise in a pajama factory is the unlikely subject for this bouncy, infectious musical. However, it provided an exuberant Doris Day with several terrific songs and one of her best roles as the head of the workers' grievance committee who falls in love with the foreman (John Raitt). Co-directors Stanley Donen and George Abbott demonstrated that it was possible to remain true to a stage original, in this case the Broadway hit (by Abbott and Richard Bissell, with songs by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross), while using creative camerawork and editing. A good example is the Once-a Year-Day number, enhanced by Bob Fosse's robust and witty choreography, in which the worker-dancers cavort at a picnic.

Brilliantly conceived musical on an unlikely subject, effectively concealing its Broadway origins and becoming an expert, fast-moving, hard-hitting piece of modern musical cinema.