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starring: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel directed by: Charles Walters, George Sidney (II), Busby Berkeley

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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: Rating: - I Say That Betty Hutton Is Wonderful! Anyone who says that Judy Garland (looking wan and in a terrible fright wig) would have been better than Betty Hutton in the role of Annie Oakley either didn't see the outtakes of Garland or saw something that wasn't there. At that time in her life Judy Garland would not have brought to the role anything approaching the energy and brilliance that Hutton brings to it. Also judging by the aborted scenes and the soundtrack CD Hutton sang the musical numbers much more "in character" while Garland retained her own voice (as great as it was). Hutton was truly fantastic in the role and it is too bad that the experience was so bad for her but the backstory makes her performance seem even better. If Keel treated her as badly as Hutton claims then he should be ashamed of himself. There are many great songs in the picture but to me the musical highlight of the film is the "You Can't Get A Man With A Gun" number. Hutton does such a great job on the number that I can't think of another actress who could have approached it. Robert Osborne on TCM said that when he saw the film in Seattle the audience in the movie theater broke into loud applause after that number. Because Paramount has not done a good job of preserving and making available their catalog of films over the years many people today have no idea how big of a star Betty Hutton was. After becoming an instant star after her debut in "The Fleet's In" she starred in many huge Paramount hits throughout the 40s and early 50s. At the time of its release "Annie Get Your Gun" was the highest grossing MGM musical of all time and moviegoers at the time loved her performance as Annie Oakley. She received a star of the year award from Photoplay and was on the cover of Time magazine. Garland was a truly great performer but her Annie would not have come close to the brilliant Hutton's. Rating: - Betty Hutton scores a triumph as Annie Oakley At last the 1950 movie muscial "Annie Get Your Gun" is finally available for a whole new generation and fans who fondly recall seeing it years ago to experience the magic of America's greatest composer,Irving Berlin(who in addition to the great score of this film brought us"White Christmas", God Bless America" and hundreds of others)dynamic stars, Betty Hutton, Howard Keel and a first rate supporting cast perform in one of Hollywood's greatest and at the time most expensive musical. The technicolor has been preserved in such a manner that the colors are a joy to behold and the meticulous detail of the great photography of Charles Rosher and the costumes by Walter Plunkett("Gone With The Wind")and Helen Rose, who did the exquisite western costumes for Betty Hutton are truly a feast for the eye.This film showcases Betty Hutton at her best. She may not have "voice of the century" like Judy Galand who had to bow out of the role due to illness and other problems but she adds a tremendous gusto to the role plus an almost child like innocence to her early scenes as the backwoods, uneducated Annie. She is especially touching in several scenes in addition to her special gusto (toned down here from some of her earlier roles). Betty Hutton was one of the top stars in Hollywood when this film was released. That same year she made the cover of Time magazine and the film went on to be one of the top grossing movies that year. She went on to sing and dance with Fred Astaire in "Let's Dance" and then won the coveted starring role in Cecil B. DeMille's oscar winning film(for best picture of 1952)"The Greatest Show on Earth"in which she did most of her own stunts in her role as a trapeze performer in a circus.(both of these films are available on video Her last big film was "Somebody Loves Me" in 1952. She left Paramount Pictures due to a dispute over having her then husband direct her next film. She later made one more film in 1956(released in 1957 called "Spring Reunion" a small black and white film produce by Kirk Douglas'company co-starring Dana Andrews. Miss Hutton gave a sensitive performance in this drama about an unmarried career woman in her 30's ,lonely and living with her parents. Once the most popular girl in high school, she meets and old classmate at a reunion. The film gave Miss Hutton a chance to really show that she was a actress fo considerable depth. It is a small film but quite affecting. It is not available on videobut has been aired on TCM) Also in "Annie Get Your Gun", Howard Keel made his movie musical debut and it was an auspicious one indeed. The first of many great parts showcasing his magificient baritone voice, natural acting ability and his strong, handsome ,masculine prescence.Mr. Keel later reached his peak in MGM musicals in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and especially "Kiss Me Kate" (both available on video and probably DVD)The theatrical version of "Annie Get Your Gun"had several songs that were not included in the film. One "I'm a Bad Bad Man" would have been fun to have had Mr. Keel perform and two sung by Annie were a ballad"I Got Lost In His Arms"(beautifully done recently by Bernadette Peters in the broadway revival) and the delightful "Moonshine Lullaby" sung by Annie to her little brother and 3 sisters with an assist by them . It would have been nice to have had Miss Hutton do these in the film. Most of her songs except "They Say It's Wonderful" are of the exuberant variety. She is a standout doing the show's greatest number "There' No Business Like Show Businesss" in which she sings with her co-stars, later a reprise by herself and a again with Mr. Keel. Before the film, it is enjoyable to see the original trailer(or coming attraction promotion) for the film, a short introduction and brief history of Annie Oakley and her various incarnations by broadway/television star, Susan Lucci. Shown are outakes made by Judy Garland before she was let go for the film. After the film 2 completed numbers by Miss Garland are shown. She appears rather tired in them but her voice is just great and fine natural acting ability is evident as always. Finally a lovely number that unfortunately was later deleted from the film before it was released is shown for the first time.It is called "Let's Go West Again" with Betty Hutton. It is a good number , beautifully shot, sung in a more low key manner by Miss Hutton. Another interesting sideline, some of the original lyrics by Mr. Berlin were considered a little too "racy" for movie censors in 1950. For example in "You Can't Get a Man With A Gun",The lyric "a man's love is mighty he'll even buy a nighty for a gal who he thinks is fun, but they don't make pajamas for pistol packing mamas" was altered for the movie to "a Tom, Dick or Harry will build a house for Carrie when the preacher has made them one" Although a minor complaint it did cause a few of the songs to lose a little of their "bite".The film won 2 Oscars for sound recording and musical adaptation and it is obvious by the smooth , clear arrangements which give great justice to Irving Berlin's genius as both a composer and lyricist. I highly recommend this film for the entire family, especially if you are tired of the current films that offer nothing more than extreme violence, car chases, boring performers, gimmicky special effects, blatant sexuality etc. run and get this film. Betty Hutton was recently interviewed by the brilliant Robert Osborne on TCM(the Turner Classic Movies cable channel) and if they see my review I want to say "Bravo" to both of you for an outstanding one hour conversation about Miss Hutton's life and career. I hope that Betty Hutton will continue to give future interviews and lectures . She is a remarkable "survivor"who gives so much of herself to her audience.It is not surprising that she got her start on the Broadway stage and after her movie career continued appearing all over The USA and Europe in concerts and and theatrical productions to sellout audiences until personal problems in the 1960's caused her to stop performing until she made a brief return to Broadway in 1980(filling in for Alice Ghostley) in the role of Miss Hannigan in "Annie" ( muscial based on Little orphan Annie) Rating: - Knockout Betty Finally on DVD Like several other reviewers here, this was the first movie musical I ever saw in a theater back in l950 and to this day, I've never forgotten the exhiliration of watching Betty Hutton portray Annie Oakley, the very hunky Howard Keel as Frank Butler and the magnficent Technicolor hues of Betty's costumes. Those glowing reds and blues and greens are just as beautiful now on DVD as they were back in l950. But there are some serious questions about this DVD's program of extras: why was Susan Lucci, a TV performer who played Annie on Broadway, chosen to be the hostess of the history of Annie Oakley when Betty Hutton and especially Howard Keel are still very much alive and kicking? Why wasn't there a 'Making-of-the-Movie'documentary, like the one made for another fantastic MGM musical, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" with the documentary showcasing everybody from Jane Powell, Howard Keele, choreographer Michael Kidd to several extras and dancers? "Annie" was certainly one of MGM's biggest grossing movies but the only extras you get are the trailer (big deal)and two scenes of Judy Garland, looking horrible and sounding worse, before she was fired. It's obvious that Garland could never have completed the grueling work demanded of this role. "Seven Brides" was presented on DVD with the loving care of someone and I've watched the documentary about a dozen times in just two weeks. The same should have been done for this DVD version of "Annie." Why couldn't they have included Betty Hutton's interview with the host of Turner Classic Movies about the terrible problems she encountered when taking over the role of Annie from Garland? How about footage of the premieres (Betty complains she was never even invited to the NY premiere by MGM. If this is true, what was the reason? Who were her enemies on the set?)Anyway, let's rejoice that at last, after mysterious restraints and roadblocks, we've finally got Betty Hutton and Howard Keele back at their peaks. Somebody at Turner's, which owns all these great classics, should really get on the ball, though, and start treating these masterpieces with care. Just look at Turner's DVD version of "Gone With the Wind." This greatest of all movies doesn't have a single extra--except for a trailer. Wow. Wonderful treatment of HOllywood's all-time movie masterpiece. But gee, these movies are real old, you know, and therefore they shouldn't get the razzle-dazzle extras package like "The Perfect Storm" and "Mission Impossible: II". Wake up Turner and Warners and DVD producers. We want our classics presented with archival materials, outakes, screen tests, etc.

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