Calamity Jane (1953)

Director:

David Butler

Writer:

James O'Hanlon (written by)

Release Date:

4 November 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Musical | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Brand-new song hits by the stage load!

Plot:

The story of Calamity Jane, her saloon, and her romance with Wild Bill Hickok.

Plot Keywords:

Calamity Jane | Wild Bill Hickok | Saloon | Gay Slur | Love Triangle

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Doris Day	...	Calamity Jane
Howard Keel	...	Wild Bill Hickok
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Katie Brown (as Allyn McLerie)
Philip Carey	...	Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin
Dick Wesson	...	Francis Fryer
Paul Harvey	...	Henry Miller
Chubby Johnson	...	Rattlesnake
Gale Robbins	...	Adelaid Adams

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved certificate #16445) | UK:U (tv rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1989) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | Australia:G | UK:U | Canada:G | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Warner Ranch, Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Doris Day recorded the song "My Secret Love" in only one take.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Calamity rides into the Indian camp to rescue Dan, she fires seven shots from her six-shooter in such rapid succession she would have had no time to reload.

Quotes:

Calamity Jane: [singing] Hi Joe / say where'd you get them fancy clothes? / I know / off some fella's laundry line. / Hi Bow / aren't you the prairie rose / Smell like a watermelon vine.

Movie Connections:

Featured in You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

SECRET LOVE

Doris Day's shining hour

In the early fifties, Hollywood had to find a way to draw audiences who were staying home and watching television, and "Calamity Jane" was one of the best musical efforts to get them into the theaters. This movie's redeeming quality is its high spirits. They never let up. The Deadwood community that James O'Hanlon rustles up is a motley bunch of soldiers, scouts, prospectors and farmers, and they all have a good time giving one another a hard time--none more so than the title character played by Doris Day. Her performance probably owes something to Betty Hutton's Annie Oakley, and it looks an awful lot like what Billie Hayes and Irene Ryan had been doing years afterwards, but Day dons a buckskin suit and tears right into the role like it was a tailor's fit.

I don't think I have to go into the rumor about the real Calamity Jane to point out how daring Day's work is. Hollywood might have sanitized history (or maybe not), but Day is as close to being Martha Jane Canary as anyone is likely to be in a time when drag acts were something no one ever talked about. And she is lucky to have some of the best movie music of that year (or maybe any year when you consider what now passes for good). Sammy Fain and John Francis Webster took the Oscar for best song, yet the ones that weren't in the running are every bit as good.

How can you pass up a musical that delivers the deeply satisfying baritone of Howard Keel? When he bursts out with joy in "Higher than a Hawk," the light from the screen surges, and you feel like you're resting on a sunlit cloud right next to his. His smile matches Day's for brightness, and as they ride through the Black Hills singing harmony, even the birds seemed to have stopped to listen. It's a beautiful pairing that I don't think ever happened again.

"Calamity Jane" may not be everyone's cup of tea. If you're looking for history, this is not the place to go. But stop by, and Day and Keel and Dick Wesson and Allyn Ann McLerie and Paul Harvey and company will more than tickle your fancy. They'll keep you humming for days.

Directed by David Butler who has given us over the years a string of felicitous moments to remember from Will Rogers in "A Connecticut Yankee," to Jane Withers in "Bright Eyes," to the Ritz Brothers in "Kentucky Moonshine," to Bob Hope in "Road to Morocco," to S.Z. Sakall in "Lullaby of Broadway" and on and on and on.