Gwen Verdon was famous on Broadway for her hip movements, especially her bumps, as they were called, but in 1958, bumps such as these were not allowed in films, so her first number, "A Little Brains," contains odd static pauses where she had done her bumps on stage.
Gwen Verdon won the Tony for Best Actress (Musical) in 1956 for "Damn Yankees!" for the role she recreated in the film version. Russ Brown won the 1956 Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical and Rae Allen was nominated for the 1956 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Musical and both roles were recreated in the movie version by the same actors.
James Komack's first film.
Rae Allen's film debut.
Right after the mambo number, as the male dancer (choreographer Bob Fosse) leaves the stage, the Joe Hardy character shakes the dancer's hand and says, "Great work, Fosse!"
The actors had to sing along with a metronome because the musicians who would have accompanied them normally were on strike at the time.
The first film of Shannon Bolin.
The first film of Jean Stapleton.
The Mambo Dancer who dances with Gwen Verdon in the tribute to Joe Hardy was Bob Fosse--who was not only the choreographer of this film (and choreographer-director of later films, such as Cabaret) but also Verdon's husband.
The musical play "Damn Yankees" opened at the 46th Street Theater in New York City on May 5, 1955, and ran for 1,019 performances. Gwen Verdon, Ray Walston, Russ Brown, Jean Stapleton, Shannon Bolin, Nathaniel Frey, James Komack, Rae Allen, and Robert Shafer reprise their roles in the movie. "Damn Yankees" won the 1956 Tony Award (New York City) for Best Musical.
The original theatrical trailer carried the name of the movie as "Whatever Lola Wants" instead of Damn Yankees! (although the actual name was added parenthetically in smaller letters at the bottom of the screen).
The stadium used for filming was the old Wrigley Field minor-league park in South Los Angeles. It hosted Major League games for only one season, in 1961, when the new expansion Los Angeles Angels played there. The park was torn down in 1966.
When casting the film Damn Yankees!, the studio was initially interested in pursuing Cyd Charisse as Lola and Cary Grant as Applegate. In the end, Gwen Verdon won the right to recreate her stage role with Ray Walston, the devilish Applegate. Cyd was supposedly unavailable but later played the role on the legit stage.