CALAMITY JANE

Calamity Jane
Warner Bros., 1953, Color, 101 minutes, ***½
Released November, 1953

The Deadwood Stage is comin' to town, bringing Doris Day and Howard Keel to fuss, feud and fall in love as Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok in this mother lode of entertainment from the golden age of movie musicals.

At first curvaceous Calamity is too durned busy fighting Indians and cracking a bullwhip to pay much mind to such girlie what-alls as dresses and perfume. And Wild Bill is too danged busy wooing a dainty chanteuse (Allyn McLerie) to give a hoot about a hot-headed tomboy. But things change in a rootin', tootin' big way when each becomes love's target.

There are wide-open Technicolor Western spaces, lots of high-stepping terpsichory and a hummable humdinger of a score by Academy Award-winning songwriters Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, who came up with another Oscar for the classic ballad (and '50s megahit) "Secret Love"! [from back of VHS sleeve]

My favorite Doris Day film! Doris Day and Allyn McLerie are positively wonderful together in this delightful musical comedy. McLerie is a big-city music hall star who is transported to the wild-west town of Deadwood to provide entertainment for the local cowboys. She and Calamity become close friends, and McLerie helps to tame the wild Calamity Jane. Though Howard Keel's character never really gets off the ground, Day and McLerie shine! High points include Day and McLerie's rendition of "A Woman's Touch," McLerie's "Keep It Under Your Hat" and Day's moving rendition of the Academy Award winning "Secret Love."

Produced by: William Jacobs
Directed by: David Butler
Assistant Director: Phil Quinn
Written by: James O'Hanlon
Musical Direction by: Ray Heindorf
Original Songs: Music by: Sammy Fain, Lyrics by: Paul Francis Webster
Orchestrations: Frank Comstock
Vocal Arrangements: Norman Luboff
Musical Numbers Staged and Directed by: Jack Donohue
Dialogue Director: Emory Hoerger
Art Director: John Beckman
Set Decorator: G. W. Berntsen
Wardrobe by: Howard Shoup
Makeup Artist: Gordon Bau
Sound by: Stanley Jones and David Forrest
Color by Technicolor
Director of Photography: Wilfrid M. Cline
Technicolor Color Consultant: Mitchell G. Kovaleski
Film Editor: Irene Morra

Awards: Won Best Song Academy Award ("Secret Love"); Academy Award nominations for Best Score - Musical (Ray Heindorf) and Best Sound Recording

Cast: Doris Day [Calamity Jane ("Calam")], Howard Keel [Wild Bill Hickok], Allyn McLerie [Katie Brown], Philip Carey [Lt. Danny Gilmartin], Dick Wesson [Francis Fryer], Paul Harvey [Henry Miller], Francis McDonald [Hank], Chubby Johnson [Rattlesnake], Gale Robbins [Adelaide Adams], Additional Cast: Billy Bletcher, Lane Chandler [Prospectors], Emmett Lynn [Artist painting Katie's portrait], Bess Flowers [Officer's Wife], Stanley Blystone [Saloon Patron]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture: "The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away!)" (played by Orchestra and sung by Mens Chorus behind titles); [0:01] The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away!) (sung by Doris Day and Mens Chorus); [0:04] Introducing Henry Miller (sung by Doris Day); [0:16] Hive Full of Honey (sung by Dick Wesson in drag); [0:22] I Can Do Without You (sung by Doris Day and Howard Keel); [0:26] It's Harry I'm Planning to Marry (sung by Gale Robbins and Girls Chorus); [0:30] It's Harry I'm Planning to Marry (sung by Allyn McLerie); [0:39] Just Blew in from the Windy City (sung and danced by Doris Day); [0:45] Keep It Under Your Hat (tentatively sung by Allyn McLerie); [0:49] Keep It Under Your Hat (sung and danced by Allyn McLerie); [0:54] Higher Than a Hawk (Deeper Than a Well) (sung by Howard Keel); [0:59] A Woman's Touch (sung by Doris Day and Allyn McLerie); [1:13] The Black Hills of Dakota (sung by Howard Keel, Doris Day, Allyn McLerie, Philip Carey and Chorus); [1:15] The Black Hills of Dakota (instrumental arrangement danced by party guests); [1:22] It's Harry I'm Planning to Marry (sung by Allyn McLerie, danced by Allyn McLerie and Dick Wesson); [1:29] Secret Love (sung by Doris Day); [1:38] Finale: Secret Love (reprised by Doris Day) / Just Blew in from the Windy City (reprised by Allyn McLerie) / Higher Than a Hawk (Deeper Than a Well) (reprised by Howard Keel) / The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away!) (reprised by Howard Keel, Doris Day and Chorus)