1958: Damn Yankees

GWEN VERDON

as "Lola"

Lola lounging, after having driven another man who adored her to suicide...

Lola provides a history of all the men she's seduced and brought to ruin...

"It's no great art, gettin' the heart of a man"

"You gotta stack those decks with a couple-a extra aces
And this queen has her aces
In all the right places!"

"Ask me why weak men'll die for me
Strong men simply shatter
A little brains-a little talent
With the emphasis on the latter!"

"Bring out that boy, he'll be a toy to Lola"

"Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets
And little man, little Lola wants you"

"I'm irresistible, you fool, give in"

What prevents "Lola" from succeeding as a Great Role is that she doesn't succeed... We hear she's driven men to suicide, we see her flaunt her abilities to seduce men, but when she actually has to do it, she doesn't get the job done, and is even mocked by The Devil... Rather than being Sexily Dominant, Gwen Verdon is a caricature of Female Sexual Dominance... While Gwen Verdon is talented, her talent is mimicking sensuality, and while she does have a fine set of dancing gams, she's not as physically imposing as many of the 1950s musical ShowGals who could not avoid taking a role like this over the top...  Of course, if Lola actually plays as powerful as she purports to be, then you don't have a plot, you just have all men including Joe worshipping her... This comic idea of Utter Female Irresistibility / Dominance was later revisited in Batman, with Marsha, Queen of Diamonds, to much more powerful effect...