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:

Stage Show | Mistaken Identity | Gay Slur | Wild West | Cross Dressing

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Billy Bletcher	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone	...	Saloon Patron (uncredited)
Budd Buster	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Lane Chandler	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Edmund Cobb	...	Saloon patron (uncredited)
Kenne Duncan	...	Ad Lib (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Officer's Wife in Reception Line (uncredited)
Terry Frost	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Robert Fuller	...	Young man with flowers (uncredited)
Bill Hale	...	Ad Lib (uncredited)
Reed Howes	...	Angry Saloon Patron (uncredited)
I. Stanford Jolley	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Donald Kerr	...	Beau (uncredited)
Tom Landon	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Rex Lease	...	Man who gets Adelaide's Picture (uncredited)
Emmett Lynn	...	Artist (uncredited)
Francis McDonald	...	Hank (uncredited)
Tom Monroe	...	Ad Lib (uncredited)
Monte Montague	...	Pete (uncredited)
Lee Morgan	...	Ad Lib (uncredited)
Zon Murray	...	Colorado (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Gene Roth	...	Saloon Patron (uncredited)
Lee Shumway	...	Bartender with white sideburns (uncredited)
Glenn Strange	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Forrest Taylor	...	MacPherson (uncredited)

Directed by
David Butler

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
James O'Hanlon		written by

Produced by
William Jacobs	....	producer

Original Music by
David Buttolph		(uncredited)
Howard Jackson		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Wilfred M. Cline		(director of photography) (as Wilfrid M. Cline)

Film Editing by
Irene Morra

Art Direction by
John Beckman

Set Decoration by
G.W. Berntsen

Costume Design by
Howard Shoup

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Philip Quinn	....	assistant director (as Phil Quinn)

Sound Department
Charles David Forrest	....	sound (as David Forrest)
Stanley Jones	....	sound

Stunts
Emile Avery	....	stunts (uncredited)
Clem Fuller	....	stunts (uncredited)
Donna Hall	....	stunt double: Doris Day (uncredited)
Ted Mapes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Sailor Vincent	....	stunts (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Mitchell Kovaleski	....	color consultant: Technicolor (as Mitchell G. Kovaleski)

Music Department
Frank Comstock	....	orchestrator
Jack Donohue	....	musical numbers staged and directed by
Ray Heindorf	....	musical director
Norman Luboff	....	music arranger: vocals

Other crew
Emory Horger	....	dialogue director (as Emory Hoerger)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1953) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

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:

Revealing mistakes: The arrow which lodges in Adelaid Adams' trunk atop the stagecoach casts two shadows, revealing studio lighting.

Quotes:

Calamity Jane: I got a strange feelin' somebody's bein' hustled.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Going Shopping (2005)

Soundtrack:

THE BLACK HILLS OF DAKOTA

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.