CALAMITY JANE
WARNER BROS., 1953 | COLOR (TECHNICOLOR), 101 MINUTES
DIRECTOR: DAVID BUTLER PRODUCER: WILLIAM JACOBS SCREENPLAY: JAMES O’HANLON SONGS: SAMMY FAIN (MUSIC) AND PAUL FRANCIS WEBSTER (LYRICS) CHOREOGRAPHER: JACK DONOHUE STARRING: DORIS DAY (CALAMITY JANE), HOWARD KEEL (WILD BILL HICKOK), ALLYN [ANN] MCLERIE (KATIE BROWN), PHILIP CAREY (LIEUTENANT DANNY GILMARTIN), DICK WESSON (FRANCIS FRYER), PAUL HARVEY (HENRY MILLER), CHUBBY JOHNSON (RATTLESNAKE), GALE ROBBINS (ADELAID ADAMS)
A hot-tempered scout in the Dakota Territory realizes that there’s more to life than rifles and buckskins.
Few singers ever hit film with the impact of Doris Day. Although she’s remembered more for her later comedies with Rock Hudson and others, most of her first decade in movies was spent in musicals. If some of those were not consistently of the highest quality, Calamity Jane is a major exception, and she’s terrific in it.
Clearly, there would be no Calamity Jane without Annie Get Your Gun, which is not a criticism of either film; they even share the same leading man. While not necessarily better than Annie—an arguable point—Calamity is less beholden to theatrical conventions and has a more cinematic feel. It also has, under veteran director David Butler, a rambunctious enthusiasm that sets it apart from many other musicals of its time. The screenplay has some enjoyable twists, the pacing is consistently upbeat, and the songs are excellent. Besides the classic, Oscar-winning “Secret Love,” the most arresting number is that “Deadwood Stage” piece that opens and closes the movie; once heard, its “Whip crack-a-way” line is permanently embedded in most viewers’ minds.
Calamity is, quite simply, one of the best roles Doris Day ever had, and if the character is conceived as a close relative of Annie Oakley, Day makes her seem entirely different. Rarely, in a musical, is anyone, male or female, permitted to be this physical, to which Day responds with a kind of liberated joy that is captivating. Calamity runs and leaps and shoots until she finally is tamed, and Day stays gloriously on-target the whole way. As one of the rare singers who could really act, she clearly understands the links between speech and song, action and reaction, being vocal and being silent. The only pity, in all this, is that she so seldom had the opportunities she seizes here so triumphantly. With musicals in decline, she moved on to the comedies that made her an even bigger star without always making the best use of such a big-league talent. One Calamity Jane is worth any number of Do Not Disturbs or some of the others, and small wonder that Day later cited the role of Calamity as her favorite. There is also, here, the strong and sturdy presence (and great voice) of Howard Keel, and Allyn McLerie is as pert and vibrant as she was, the previous year, in Butler’s lovely Where’s Charley?
Ironically, Calamity Jane didn’t do as well at the box office as a number of less worthy Day films. If this was not her fault, it scarcely offered her much incentive to keep exploring musical territory. All the more reason, then, to treasure her spectacular turn as Calamity Jane: a beloved, abundantly gifted artist is given truly outstanding material, and the result is wonderfully spontaneous musical combustion.
Doris Day and Allyn McLerie
WHAT’S MORE
Calamity Jane is an early example of a practice that would later become excessively prevalent: a movie musical subsequently reconfigured for the stage. It was first done that way in 1961, and Carol Burnett performed the role live and on television. Allyn [Ann] McLerie repeated her film role in one production, while other theater Calamities have included Martha Raye and Ginger Rogers. The show has been frequently performed in the UK and Australia as well as the United States, so evidently Calamity Jane can fare quite nicely on its, or her, own.
“A Woman’s Touch”: Doris Day and Allyn McLerie
While it’s safe to assume that little of it occurred as a result of conscious subterfuge, Calamity Jane has long been seen by some as a carnival of playfully alternative sexuality. There’s Calamity herself, who is kidded about her lack of femininity, mistaken for male, and propositioned by a Chicago hooker. There’s Francis (Dick Wesson), who goes way over the top in a drag number. There’s some rather strong bonding between Calamity and Katie that can be viewed in all sorts of ways. Even Wild Bill Hickok (Keel) is compelled, at one point, to don the attire of a Native American mother. What drew little comment all those years ago sure can set off lots of bells for a modern audience.
MUSICALLY SPEAKING
If the film itself was a financial disappointment, no one could argue with the success of its hit song. “Secret Love” was near the top of the pop charts for a number of months in 1953–1954, with several weeks in the number one spot. Day, for her part, knew how good it was the first time composer Sammy Fain played it for her. On the day of the recording she rode her bicycle to the studio, went into the booth, and sang it without a rehearsal. After just one take, musical director Ray Heindorf told her, “That’s it. You’re never going to do it better.” She had nailed one of her biggest hits the first time out.
Dick Wesson, Doris Day, Howard Keel, and Allyn McLerie on the set
Doris Day, Allyn McLerie, Howard Keel