Judy Garland was originally slated to star in MGM's film version of Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun, but she was forced to pull out of the production due to illness (recently discovered out-takes reveal a gaunt, dazed Garland, obviously incapable of completing her duties). She was replaced by Betty Hutton who, once she overcame the resentment of her co-workers, turned in an excellent performance--perhaps the best of her career. Hutton is of course cast as legendary sharpshooter Annie Oakley, who ascends from dirty-faced ...
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Judy Garland was originally slated to star in MGM's film version of Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun, but she was forced to pull out of the production due to illness (recently discovered out-takes reveal a gaunt, dazed Garland, obviously incapable of completing her duties). She was replaced by Betty Hutton who, once she overcame the resentment of her co-workers, turned in an excellent performance--perhaps the best of her career. Hutton is of course cast as legendary sharpshooter Annie Oakley, who ascends from dirty-faced backwoods gamin to the uppermost rungs of international stardom. Her mentor is Buffalo Bill, played by Louis Calhern (like Hutton, Calhern was a last-minute replacement: the original Buffalo Bill, Frank Morgan, died before production began). Annie's great rival is arrogant marksman Frank Butler (Howard Keel) with whom she eventually falls in love. She goes so far as to lose an important shooting match to prove her affection--a scene that hardly strikes a blow for feminism, but this is, after all, a 1950 film. Of the stellar supporting cast, J. Carroll Naish stands out as Sitting Bull, whose shrewd business acumen is good for several laughs. Virtually all the Irving Berlin tunes were retained from the Broadway version, including "Doin' What Comes Naturally", "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun", "Anything You Can Do", "The Girl That I Marry", "My Defenses are Down", "They Say It's Wonderful" and the rousing "There's No Business Like Show Business", which was later tantalizingly excerpted in MGM's pastiche feature That's Entertainment II. Alas, due to a complicated legal tangle involving the estates of Irving Berlin and librettists Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields, Annie Get Your Gun hasn't been shown on television in years. Hal Erickson, Rovi
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Seller's Description:
Clinton Sundberg, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern, J. Carrol Naish, Edward Arnold, Keenan Wynn, Benay Venuta, Betty Hutton. New. 2017 Run time: 107. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Delivery Confirmation included for all orders in the US.
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Seller's Description:
Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern, J. Carrol Naish, Edward Arnold. Very good in very good packaging. Language: English. Run time: 107 mins. Originally released: 1950.
TITLE: Annie Get Your Gun
GENRE: Musical Western
CAST: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Keenan Wynn, Louis Calhern and J. Carrol Naish
PLOT: A crackshot backwoods girl gets adopted by a traveling wild west show. She falls in love, becomes a big star and an american icon.
RETURN ON INVESTMENT: 9 of 10; Some of Irving Berlin's more famous songs come from this production. The costumes are always in evidence and are quite impressive. The sets are mostly trains and circus sites and they were faithfully recreated for the film. The dialogue of Annie at first contains a lot of backwoods jargon which is informative. The stunt shooting is well executed as are the horseback stunts. The choreography is top notch.
DVD BONUS: An introduction by Susan Lucci serves as a "the making of ...". Two scenes of Judy Garland doing her acts as the lead character are saved from the heap of Hollywood discards. Brief Bio- and filmo- graphies are presented for Hutton and Keel and Berlin (well a scorography in his case) some rehearsal footage and a theater trailer.
ADDED NOTES: I don't think we lost Judy when she didn't complete this project, we gained Betty! Her performance in the guise of the country hick in the opening acts will be the stuff of legend. This is Howard Keel's first starring role of many to come. "Let's get on with the show". indeed!
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