Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Annie Get Your Gun is the film the seemed like it would never get made. Star Judy Garland dropped out of the picture allegedly due to exhaustion (or was she booted out? Perhaps we’ll never know…), then the actor who was to play Buffalo Bill (Frank Morgan) died just as filming was starting… but the show must go on, as they say, and in 1950 MGM released a great little musical… well, actually it’s not a great musical, but it is great entertainment.

Betty Hutton stars as Annie Oakley (the film is very, very loosely based on a real historical character), a sharp shooter from the rough end of society. When Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show comes to town along with “Greatest Sharp Shooter In The World” Frank Butler, Annie is put into a contest to take him on in a shooting contest. Needless to say, the gal in serious need of a bath wins, and is taken on to be Butler’s assistant, though little more than eye candy in reality. She instantly falls in love with Butler but something gets in the way before he reciprocates that love… complicating things further is the rivalry between Buffalo Bill’s and Pawnee Bill’s Wild West Shows, and the quickly deteriorating pile of money these shows are pulling in. (Ironically, success later on and a grand tour of Europe actually manages to worsen the situation!)

Can Annie become the sort of girl Frank wants to marry?

Can Frank get over his professional pride enough to love Annie?

Can the show go on?

Well yeah, you already know the answer to those questions. Like most “golden era” musicals, the plot is predictable but enjoyable escapist twaddle. The acting ranges from good to mediocre, the stunts are pretty good but not spectacular, and the camerawork is well up to scratch. To me at least the songs were, in general, rather disappointing – it’s partly because I don’t like the style of singing (Hutton belts them out in Ethel Murman, who played Annie in the Broadway musical, and Howard Keel’s 50’s heartthrob singing just doesn’t do it for me), but also the songs themselves are very forgettable. (And, at times, not very tuneful, it has to be said.) However there are three notable exceptions – firstly, “Doin’ What Comes Naturally”, which is deliberately not-so-tuneful but very funny thanks to Hutton. Then we have “There’s No Business Like Show Business” which everyone knows, and which gives an undercurrent to the whole film with it’s lyrics “they smile when they are down”. Finally one of the funniest duets ever written, “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” featuring Annie and Frank at loggerheads. “I’m An Indian Too” is pretty funny as well, and I guess “They Say It’s Wonderful” isn’t bad at all, though the singing style really does put me off that one. All songs are by Irving Berlin, and for him they’re sub-standard on the whole, but with those two gems he can easily be forgiven.

However, whether you like musicals or not (I have to admit that I’m not really a great fan of the genre myself) is Betty Hutton’s virtuoso performance as Annie. She really throws herself into the role and has you genuinely believing after only a few seconds of screen time that she is genuinely insane. She has a visual energy and comic timing that make many scenes a true joy to behold, which more than makes up for the lesser songs and the scenes that are far too slow for their own good. Louis Calhern puts in a good performance as Buffalo Bill but isn’t really given much to do, while a few other characters, such as Dolly (Frank’s assistant before Annie) are just thrown away. Fortunately J.Carrol Naish gets a few scenes as Chief Sitting Bull. (Some say Hutton over-acted and that Garland would have been better – as to the first, I think that was kind of the point, but then again maybe I’m just odd… for the second I wouldn’t really know, but it would certainly have been much different!)

Overall, Annie Get Your Gun is fairly average as a musical (perhaps better as a stage musical than a film?), but is extremely entertaining. You’ll like it if you like musicals, and if you don’t like musicals, you’re far more likely to like it than most musicals. If you like tongue-twisters, repeat the above sentence 50 times. Leave a comment to let me know what shape your tongue is in afterwards.

Runtime: 107 minutes


See also: My Top Ten Musicals - yeah I know, a top ten musicals list from someone who isn’t really a fan of musicals?!?


Recommended: Yes