Annie Get Your Gun film on DVD

Perhaps this film suffers a bit from my having very recently seen Calamity Jane, but I didn't like the film version of Annie Get Your Gun as I had hoped. Both films feature strong women from the backwoods who have to subjugate themselves to win the man of their dreams--in both cases, that man is played by Howard Keel. I subjugate myself over and over thinking of the virile baritone.

Betty Hutton was a last minute replacement for Judy Garland as Annie, and it's hard for me to imagine Garland in the role, especially in the broad manner that Hutton presents. The DVD extras include the two musical numbers that Garland filmed before Hutton replaced her. They are wildly different than what is in the finished film.

I've done Annie on stage and loved it. One of my favorite songs from the score that didn't make it to the screen version is "Moonshine Lullaby." I also miss the quodlibet song "Old Fashioned Wedding" that was written for the revival of Annie in the 1966.

Annie Get Your Gun
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields
MGM film released in 1950
Cast: Bety Hutton, Howard Keel, Keenan Wynn, Louis Calhern

Calamity Jane film on DVD

I mistakenly thought this was a film version of what had been a stage musical, but it turns out it was pure Hollywood. Still, Calamity Jane has a lot of the same vim and vigor as you would expect from a stage musical, and it has baritone favorite Howard Keel who makes his first appearance in my Year. Plus it has a drag number and log-cabin lesbians!

And how could I turn my back on Doris Day, who gives an energetic and athletic performance as Calam? It also brought the world the song "Once I had a Secret Love" which remains a staple of the Doris Day songbook. While the rest of the music is enjoyable, it's not nearly as memorable as that one.

Calamity Jane
Music by Sammy Fain
Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Screenplay by James O'Hanlon
Released by Warner Bros. in 1953
Cast: Doris Day, Howard Keel, Allyn McLerie, Philip Carey