ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1951)

Howard Keel and Betty Hutton in Technicolor!

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1950). Director: George Sidney.

Famed sharpshooter Frank Butler (Howard Keel of Jupiter's Darling) with Buffalo Bill Cody's (Louis Calhern) wild west show, takes on any challenger, but he meets his match in hillbilly Annie Oakley (Betty Hutton), who falls for him but discovers his male pride takes a beating each time she learns a new trick. During their first match she beats him, but she isn't so sure she wants to win the second one at the climax. On this she is advised by none other than Chief Sitting Bull (J. Carroll Naish) of Custer's Last Stand, who comes to see her as his honorary daughter. Will Annie get the man she loves or the prizes?

Naish, Hutton, Calhern

I had trepidation about watching this film because I had always loved the TV version with the wonderful Mary Martin, which was broadcast seven years after this film came out. I was also afraid Betty Hutton would be too overbearing. There are moments in her performance that are borderline, but I must say Hutton is excellent as Annie, capturing both the vulnerability and the pride of the character. Although Hutton does not sing badly (except on "They Say That Falling in Love is Wonderful" in which Howard Keel saves the day), her vocal skills are no match for Mary Martin's (who played Annie in a more feminine and lady-like fashion). In any case, Judy Garland was originally signed for the lead and did a few scenes that survive, and, frankly, she isn't nearly as good as Hutton.

That "handsome devil" Keel

Now we come to Chief Sitting Bull. Although he was in part responsible for the massacre of American soldiers (who attacked first) at Little Big Horn, I guess that even in the 19th century celebrity trumps everything. The chief joined Buffalo Bill's show and stood around signing autographs -- yes! -- and participating in some re-enactments. Annie Oakley did indeed become like a daughter to Sitting Bull, but whether he encouraged her to throw a competition so she'd get her man is debatable. What is not debatable is that Irving Berlin's score is one of his finest, and one of the best of any Broadway musical, responsible for "There's No Business Like Show Business;""" "Doin' What Comes Naturally;" "The Girl That I Marry;" "My Defenses are Down;" "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun;" etc. although it's disappointing that the film excludes "Moonshine Lullaby;" "I Got Lost in His Arms;" "I'm a Bad, Bad Man" (which could have been quite a showcase for that handsome devil Keel); and "Old-Fashioned Wedding."

In addition to Hutton and Keel, there are fine performances from Naish and Calhern [The Asphalt Jungle] and Keenan Wynn, Clinton Sundberg, and little Brad Morrow as Annie's cute baby brother, Jake. Charles Rosher's widescreen, technicolor cinematography is often breathtaking.

Verdict: The cartoon Indians are questionable in this day and age, but the movie has an interesting (if heavily fictionalized) story and lots of great music and performances. ***. 

THIS IS THE ARMY

Irving Berlin

THIS IS THE ARMY (aka Irving Berlin's This Is the Army/1943.) Director: Michael Curtiz.

There were several all-star revue super-patriotic movies put together during WW2, and most of them had thin plots, but this one has perhaps the thinnest. In WW1 soldier and entertainer Jerry Jones (George Murphy of No Questions Asked) puts together a show featuring Army boys for purposes of morale and patriotism. When WW2 comes around, his son Johnny Jones (Lt. Ronald Reagan of Million Dollar Baby) puts together his own show and takes it on a tour. A minor sub-plot has to do with Johnny resisting marriage to his fiancee Eileen (Joan Leslie of Hollywood Canteen) because he's afraid to leave her a war widow.

Robert Shanley

It would be easy to dismiss This is the Army as outdated propaganda were it not for the fact that there's a lot of talent on display, as well as some memorable songs by Irving Berlin and others. (For instance, I believe "Mandy" was composed by Victor Herbert.) The film was made to raise money for Army Emergency Relief, and it accomplished its task and became a hit at the box office. The highlights include Kate Smith singing "God Bless America," Irving Berlin and chorus doing "This Time is the Last Time:" singer Robert Shanley performing "American Eagles" and others; the sailors getting their due in "Cheers for the Navy;" Earl Oxford singing "I Left my Heart;" and at least one other dark-haired male vocalist who does a couple of numbers as well. There is also a group of black tap dancers who do a splendid Harlem-based number. Apparently everyone in the cast was in the armed forces at the time.

Corporal Tilestone Perry as Lynn Fontanne

A strange thing about the movie is the sheer amount of drag in the film, so much so in fact that you keep expecting RuPaul to strut out on stage any second. Yes, these are all Army boys in the show, but surely they could have enlisted some Waves or Wacs or Army nurses to play the female parts, as the men forced to do drag, although they seem like good sports, also look debased and rather gross; it's rather insulting, in fact, and the drag routines aren't especially funny in any case. Guest stars in the film include everyone from Frances Langford to Sgt. Joe Louis to Ross Elliott to Delores Costello (whom I didn't even catch!) and many others. If this film taught me nothing else, it's that the word "nerdy" dates back to at least 1943. The best non-musical sequence, inspired by a similar moment in the classic silent film, The Big Parade, has a mother thinking of her boy, overseas, when he's at various ages.

Verdict: More drag than anyone should have to sit through but some fun moments and notable musical numbers. ***. 

THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS

The technicolor finale of There's No Business ...

THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS (1954). Director: Walter Lang.

Molly Donahue (Ethel Merman) and her husband Terence (Dan Dailey) are long-time vaudevillians who have three children who join their act: girl-happy Tim (Donald O'Connor); pretty Katy (Mitzi Gaynor); and jazz baby Steve (Johnnie Ray), who actually prefers to enter the priesthood. Tim falls hard for a sexy lady named Vicky (Marilyn Monroe), but a misadventure with her sends him running off from a role in a Broadway show on the eve of WW 2. Is this the end of the Five Donahues? Aside from the title tune (which actually comes from Annie Get Your Gun), you'd be surprised that the music is by Irving Berlin, as the new numbers are pretty terrible and the older ones are ruined by inappropriately jazzy arrangements. As Steve, Johnnie Ray over-sings everything and makes faces, and his rendition of "Alexander's Ragtime Band," which he butchers, has to be seen to be believed. Ray also delivers the pious "If You Believe" (while mimicking Elvis' movements!) while the Adorable One -- La Monroe -- sexes up "Tropical Heatwave" in her inimitable style, although she's dubbed by Delores Gray and the number is otherwise not especially memorable. Although Monroe isn't quite up to her more "serious" scenes, she's positively luminescent in this and delivers her comedy sequences with her usual panache. As for the rest of the cast, Merman is terrific, with fine support from Dailey, Gaynor [The Joker is Wild] and O'Connor; Ray is fairly pleasing when he isn't singing. Hugh O'Brian [Rocketship X-M] shows up briefly as a theater man who falls for Katy; Robin Raymond [The Glass Wall] is the crude Lillian, who dates Tim; and Chick Chandler and Lee Patrick hardly get any lines as a couple of old vaudevillians at the Donahues party. The ending is nicely sentimental, and the last production number is a positive riot of brilliant technicolor.

Verdict: It would be all too easy to quibble about this picture's general mindlessness and often hokey numbers, but it all plays in spite of it. ***.

WHITE CHRISTMAS

Percy Helton gives Kaye and Der Bingle a hard time

WHITE CHRISTMAS (aka Irving Berlin's White Christmas/1954). Director: Michael Curtiz.

Grateful that he saved his life in WW2, singer Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) teams up with his buddy, Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) when they return to civilian life. The two become a rich and successful team, and are called upon to advise the singing sister duo of an old Army buddy. Bob falls for Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Phil has special feelings for Judy (Vera-Ellen). However, there are complications, and the two men follow the gals to their engagement at an inn in Vermont, which turns out to be owned by their former commanding officer, General Waverly (Dean Jagger). Can they do something to win the girls' hearts and save the inn and the general from bankruptcy? The first picture presented in VistaVision, White Christmas is amiable enough, but aside from some standard tunes by Irving Berlin, it's minor, and the plot is a dog. Der Bingle and Kaye play well together, as do the two gals, with Clooney giving a truly warm and sympathetic performance. Vera-Ellen is a terrific dancer primarily, and she struts her stuff in one number with a male partner, and yet another set to the tune of "Mandy" (which I'd always believed was composed by Victor Herbert but is actually a bonafide Berlin tune). One interesting thing about the movie is that while it's basically fluff, it begins with a rather somber sequence overseas near the end of the war -- while the two men sing the wonderful "White Christmas" there are shots of the homesick soldiers, near tears, thinking about their families back home. However, the attempt to create another lump in the throat with a climactic tribute to the general doesn't quite work -- surely a simple reunion would have made more sense, but this is Hollywood and you need a big finish! The performances from the leads and Jagger are all good, Mary Wickes shows up as a housekeeper at the inn (but her scenes are limited, unfortunately), and we even get the ubiquitous Percy Helton as a train conductor interacting with Bing and Danny! The gals' big number, "Sisters," has pretty much become high-camp and the quartet"s "Snow" is Berlin at his worst.

Verdict:  Nice songs and dancing but once is enough. **1/2.

CAREFREE

CAREFREE (1938). Director: Mark Sandrich.

Stephen Arden (Ralph Bellamy) is in love with Amanda Cooper (Ginger Rogers) but she keeps postponing the wedding, so he thinks his buddy Tony Flagg (Fred Astaire), who is a psychiatrist, may be able to find out why she's dragging her feet. Unfortunately Amanda hears Tony making a condescending remark about another female patient, and takes an instant dislike to him. But it isn't long before she's changing her attitude, creating complications. This is a slight but amusing musical trifle bolstered by winning performances, some pleasant Irving Berlin tunes ("Change Partners"), and the great dancing of Rogers and Astaire. One big number, "Do the Yam," in which virtually the entire cast joins in, is a sheer delight. Astaire's skill and joy in dancing is a wonder to behold. Jack Carson, Luella Gear, and especially Clarence Kolb ("Mr. Honeywell" of My Little Margie fame) as Judge Joe add to the fun.

Verdict: Great fun and light as a feather. ***.

CALL ME MADAM

CALL ME MADAM (1953). Director: Walter Lang.

Entertaining if minor adaptation of Irving Berlin musical stars a vibrant Ethel Merman as Sally Adams, who becomes ambassador to the Duchy of “Lichtenbourg” (Adams thinks that “Duchy” means that the people are Dutch!) She falls hard for General Cosmo Constantine, who is very well played by George Sanders. The delightfully irritable Billy DeWolfe is annoyed by Adams' usurping of his power so he causes trouble any way he can, while her young press attaché (Donald O'Connor) finds himself falling for the princess (Vera-Ellen) who is betrothed to a handsome sourpuss (Helmut Dantine). It all works out okay in the end, of course. Merman and Sanders are a rather odd pairing, but they actually play very well together, and the other cast members are all fine. There are times, however, when some of the funny lines aren't given the best delivery. Songs include such standards as “It's a Lovely Day Today” and “I Wonder Why/You're Just in Love” (“I hear music and there's no one there”), and there are other nice tunes as well [“Old-Fashioned Idea;” “International Rag;” “The Best Thing for You”]. By the way, Sanders' singing is not dubbed. He reveals an excellent baritone voice in this. Sanders was signed to replace Ezio Pinza in the Broadway production of South Pacific – and would have been both dramatically and vocally marvelous in it – when he chickened out at the last minute.

Verdict: Not a masterpiece, but tuneful and entertaining. ***.

ON THE AVENUE

ON THE AVENUE (1937). Directed by Roy Del Ruth.

A charming and genuinely amusing musical with some pleasant (if unspectacular) Irving Berlin songs. Gary Blake (Dick Powell) is the star of a hit Broadway revue, and his co-star, Mona Merrick (Alice Faye), seems a bit smitten with him. In one of the show’s most popular sketches, Mona plays a well-known heiress, Mimi Carraway (Madeleine Carroll), and Blake is her very stuffy father, the Commodore (George Barbier). Father and daughter Carraway are outraged by the sketch and Mimi contacts Gary in an attempt to gain revenge. The two wind up falling in love with each other, naturally, and Blake agrees to make the sketch less offensive. However, a jealous Mona decides she’s not going to take all the juice out of the sketch, and ... well, let’s just say it leads to the funniest sequence in the movie. All three leads and the supporting cast are in top form. Especially notable is Cora Witherspoon as Mimi’s free-spirited aunt, who thinks the aforementioned sketch is hilarious and seems to be the only person in the family with a sense of humor. The Ritz Brothers do some funny routines but one of them goes on forever and nearly stops the picture dead. Otherwise, this fast-moving musical comedy is a pip.

Verdict: Lots of fun. ***.