I've come to the conclusion that anticipation can be a bad thing. You see, I have always wanted to see Annie Get Your Gun. I absolutely love Irving Berlin's incredible songs. I also enjoyed all of the tall tales I've heard about Annie Oakley, so it seemed natural to try to see this musical. Unfortunately I've never had the chance to see a stage production. Even more unfortunate was the failure to release the 1950 movie on video or DVD over the years. MGM musical after MGM musical was released but not this one - until now.

I'm sure the recent revival of Annie Get Your Gun on Broadway had a lot to do with the recent release of the movie on video and DVD. Whatever the reason, the moment I saw the DVD in my local Suncoast, I knew I had to buy it. This past Sunday I sat down at my computer (my DVD viewer of choice) and starting watching what I was sure would be the best thing I've ever seen in my life.

Instead I was faced with an overacted almost comic book like characterization of Annie Oakley. Every movement Betty Hutton made as Annie seemed exaggerated, drawn out for some strange effect I didn't quite seem to get. As soon as Frank Butler (played by Howard Keel) walked anywhere within peering distance, Annie was swooning. Literally. Or leaning half-slumped with some overplayed star struck expression in some sort of attempt to illustrate love at first sight and hero worship. Now to be perfectly honest, I can't entirely blame Annie here. I must admit that I've had more than a wee crush on Howard Keel for as long as I can remember. He is definitely worth staring at. However, even in my adolescent lusting, I never managed to achieve such distorted facial expressions when he sauntered on screen. I wonder if Betty Hutton is related to Jim Carrey.

The Story

Let me backtrack a bit in case some of you aren't familiar with the story of Annie Oakley. Annie was born in the Ohio wilderness in the 1860s and was the sole provider for a large family by the age of 12. She supported them by selling the wild game she shot to fancy hotels in Cincinnati. She beat Frank Butler in a contest designed to promote his fancy shooting act. They joined forces, and later were married.

The movie takes quite a few liberties with her story while maintaining its core. In the movie, Annie becomes Frank's assistant, and they part ways when Frank got jealous. Annie alone tours Europe with Buffalo Bill, then they get together after she gets back. In reality, Annie and Frank did team up, but they were a team. Frank voluntarily retired to manage Annie's career, and they were already married when Annie joined the wild west show and toured Europe. Still, the movie story works fairly well (except for the aforementioned overplayed crush), and it doesn't feel that far off from reality.

The Music

This is where Annie Get Your Gun shines. The songs were written by Irving Berlin, and are a prime example of why he is considered one of the best songwriters of musical theater. The songs are witty, charming, boisterous, and sweet (not always at the same time). Even so, there were a few disappointments in this area. Several songs from the Broadway show are not in the movie, and another was seriously toned down to remove some sexual references.

Moonshine Lullaby and I Got Lost in His Arms are both absent from the movie. Moonshine Lullaby is a sweet pretty song about longing. It's one of my favorite songs from Annie and I was disappointed to not see it in the movie. I can only suspect that it was dropped because of the references to illegal alcohol - the censors seemed quite active on this movie. I Got Lost in His Arms is less of a loss in my mind, but I still like to see songlists preserved - in many cases these movies are the only archive of the musical, and songs get lost if they aren't in the movie versions.

My biggest disappointment here was the gutting of the song Doin' What Comes Natur'lly. As originally written and performed in the play, this is a clever suggestive funny song. It was severely toned down for the movie. I can accept removing the sexual references I suppose, given the state of censorship of the time (even though I don't like it) but the new version of the song isn't nearly as funny. I realize Berlin probably needed to write new lyrics in a hurry, and that replacing existing lyrics that work is very hard, but I just don't feel that the replacements work well.

One new song was added for the movie, Colonel Buffalo Bill. It's a nice showy song, and a good opening for the movie. It fits the movie well, and I'm not upset about its addition. It basically acts as an introduction to the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, Frank Butler, and other main characters.

The comic songs are the most appealing. You Can't Get a Man with a Gun, I'm an Indian Too, and Anything You Can Do are the highlights of the movie. These songs alone are worth the price of admission, with lines like this one from I'm an Indian Too:

Just like Rising Moon, Falling Pants, Running Nose
I'm an Indian too


The Cast

As already mentioned, I have a wee bit of a crush on Howard Keel who plays Frank Butler. This role is perfect for Keel, who shines in overbearing big-headed alpha male roles. Keel has a light in his eyes that makes him remain appealing even at his most arrogant. Butler as written isn't necessarily a likeable character, but Keel always presents him in a sympathetic way. Keel has a wonderful singing voice that lends itself very well to some of the ballads and to the showy songs like There's No Business Like Show Business.

Annie Oakley was supposed to be played by Judy Garland. She got ill during the initial shooting (most people feel it was alcohol-related) and was replaced by Betty Hutton. Betty Hutton was a fairly well known comedic actress, and her comedic sense is very obvious throughout the movie. She plays for laughs too often. Everything is campy. True, there are elements of the movie that should be campy, but it doesn't work to the extreme that she takes it to. I don't know if Hutton sang her own songs; there is no credited song double, but there rarely is. It sounds like her, and if so, she did quite a credible job. Considering I am used to listening to Ethel Merman sing Annie's role, the fact that I can even tolerate, let alone like, most of her songs is pretty amazing.

Louis Strahern plays Buffalo Bill. He too is a late addition to the cast. Frank Morgan (the wizard in the Wizard of Oz) had the part but he died suddenly near the start of filming and had to be replaced. Strahern makes a good Buffalo Bill - he does showman well.

The rest of the cast is also good, especially Keenan Wynn who plays the business manager of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. Other than Hutton I have no real complaints about the acting.

DVD Extras

I bought the DVD which isn't overflowing with extras. In addition to some fairly standard stuff like cast biographies, scene selection, and a French language track, the DVD has a short introduction by Susan Lucci who has played Annie on Broadway and four cut scenes - three with the original cast members.

Lucci's introduction is nice, but certainly not spectacular. The priceless extras are the two cut scenes with Judy Garland. Seeing Judy Garland sing Doin' What Comes Natur'lly and I'm an Indian Too is an very nice and unexpected pleasure, even if it is the greatly edited version of Doin' What Comes Natur'lly that appeared in the actual movie. There is also a version of Colonel Buffalo Bill with Frank Morgan and vastly different staging (I like this staging much better), and a song sung by Hutton cut from the movie called Let's Go West Again.

The Final Verdict

If you like musicals, Annie Get Your Gun is worth seeing. Howard Keel is at his arrogant best. Irving Berlin's music is engaging and fun, even if it isn't as good as it could have been. Betty Hutton overacts, marring an otherwise excellent movie, but it's still worth sitting through her performance if you are willing to turn your head away at a few places where she gets unbearable. I recommend getting the DVD version if possible for the Judy Garland outtakes and the better staging of Colonel Buffalo Bill.

Don't run out and go out of your way to buy this movie like I did, and don't expect it to be the greatest thing since sliced cheese like I did. But if the opportunity presents itself to watch this movie once, I'd take it.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12