Calamity Jane (1953)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

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:

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:

Appearing on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962) in the 1970s, Doris Day recalled seeing early dailies from this film, in which she was stomped about the set in buckskins and leather, speaking in a high, girlishly feminine voice. She immediately brought her line readings down several registers, so she'd sound as tough as she looked.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Calamity is packing Katy's clothes into suitcases after the ball, it is clear that Katy brought more clothes with her than would have fitted into those suitcases

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:

Referenced in Before Stonewall (1984)

Soundtrack:

HIVE FULL OF HONEY

Mighty Pretty

For a film that is fifty years old 'Calamity Jane' still entertains. It is usually compared unfavorably to 'Annie Get Your Gun' but I always enjoy this more. Doris Day dominates the film; dressed in buckskin or in frills, toting a gun or wielding a broom, belting out a song or doing a pratfall. Certainly a high point of her varied career. Her sheer energy is breath taking and it is no wonder that the rest of the cast seem subdued in comparison. Even Howard Keel is a bit wooden.

The songs are great, scattered through the uncomplicated plot like jewels, from the bouncy 'Deadwood Stage' to the combative 'I Can Do Without You' to the under rated 'High As A Hawk' and climaxing with the anthemic 'Secret Love'. 'A Woman's Touch' is not proof to our modern cynicism (for good reason) but it is still jolly song.

Looking back we can give other readings of the film; the cross dressing, the gay resonances, the treatment of the native Americans, the ownership of land. Which may all be true but it is basically what it is, a colourful and tuneful film that can be enjoyed time after time. It is mighty pretty and on its own terms pretty mighty.