FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Annie Get Your Gun [DVD] [1950]

Annie Get Your Gun [DVD] [1950]
enlarge	Director: George Sidney Actors: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel Studio: Warner Home Video Category: DVD List Price: ~~£7.99~~ Buy New: £3.17 as of 23/11/2009 03:29 GMT details You Save: £4.82 (60%) New (3) Used (2) from £3.17 Seller: fastdvd2006 Rating: 3 reviews Sales Rank: 45548 Format: PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Universal, suitable for all Region: 2 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 104 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 7321905654383 ASIN: B000H5TICE Theatrical Release Date: 1950 Release Date: October 9, 2006 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Customer Reviews: a classic in every sense February 16, 2007 Mr. Ian A. Macfarlane (Fife, Scotland) 2 out of 2 found this review helpful This is one of the very great musicals, with a combination of panache, pathos and innocence which is very appealing. Judy Garland was contracted to make the film but withdrew for medical reasons after some work had been done - it's tantalising to think what she would have made of it. In her place, Betty Hutton is very good indeed, and extremely energetic. The whole cast is fine, with Howard Keel as a convincing Frank Butler and Louis Calherne an appealingly benign Buffalo Bill. But it's the songs... a whole procession of absolutely wonderful show-stoppers ... and the witty script that really make this. It's fair to say that the film does a good job and pretty well does the musical justice, (though I'm sorry that a good bit of 'I'm an Indian too', including some wonderful lines, has been cut, possibly on the grounds of political correctness, which is a shame ; the whites are just as silly as the Indians in this musical) which means that it is extremely enjoyable. Warmly recommended. br / br /P.S. Rather sad to read now - March 2007 - of Betty Hutton's death, and the difficulties she faced later in her career, which spiralled downwards badly. She didn't deserve that, and in a way it makes it all the better that we have this example of her energy and drive onscreen. You CAN get a man with a gun February 25, 2007 Henry Watkinson (UK) 2 out of 2 found this review helpful Frank Butler was the worlds greatest sharpshooter and enjoyed star billing with Buffelo Bill's wild West show until he meets country girl Annie Oakley, a gal with a gun who can shoot through the eye of a needle. Based (albeit loosely) on a true story, this film is typical of the legendary MGM musicals at their peak, its a musical western. The star who steals the show, is obviously comedianne Betty Hutton but this was orginally intended at a vechile for Howard Keel (Frank Butler). Through this musical Annie pushes and shoots her way and finally proves that you can get a man with a gun! Great Irving Berlin songs. Dated humor. Still, an entertaining movie August 9, 2007 C. O. DeRiemer (San Antonio, Texas, USA) 1 out of 3 found this review helpful This is one of the great big "That's Entertainment"-type MGM dinosaur musicals -- musicals carefully and almost obsequiously adapted from giant Broadway hits. Annie Get Your Gun is glossy, corny, ultra-professional and, for me, a good deal of fun once I get past the dialogue and into the songs and production numbers. The movie has some first-rate positives but also some negatives that drag it down a bit. br / br /First, the positives. Above all, it features probably the best score Irving Berlin ever wrote. One hit follows another, with memorable melodies, variety and often-times sharp humor. Berlin never thought he was more than a journeyman lyric writer who was never as good as his contemporaries, such as Lorenz Hart, Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin and Oscar Hammerstein. Maybe not, but just as with his music he was in a class by himself. The production numbers are expansive and have a lot of energy. They're fun to watch. For me, Betty Hutton does a fine job. Many critics have said that she acted at the top of her voice, that the only two emotions she could show were bathos and hysteria, that she simply never let up. Well, all true pretty much. But with the right material and a strong director, I think she was capable of coming up with performances that suited her style but weren't so loud. Look at her in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. She's great. In Annie, it seems to me that she brings off at first a kind of hill billy goofiness that's endearing. Later, she manages, in my view, to tone down her loudness and show a touching vulnerability. If you don't like Betty Hutton, however, nothing I say will probably make a difference. There is also a well constructed book. For all its quaintness and un-PC attitudes, the book spots the musical numbers logically, efficiently and often. br / br /On the negative side, the movie's humorous condescension to Indians as the butt of jokes is painful nowadays to watch. This kind of stuff is just as off-putting as what Hollywood had Mantan Moreland doing in all those late Thirties and early Forties movies. The basic storyline -- that if a woman is going to get her man she's going to have to be sure she's not as good as he -- gives off an increasingly strong aroma as the movie progresses. br / br /With all that said, however, I think the Irving Berlin score and the production values carry the day. You'd have to be a little ungenerous not to enjoy the songs and the performances in spite of the book. At any rate, when I watch the movie now I just click to the songs. br / br /While this was Berlin's biggest hit, he took on the job by accident and a little reluctantly. The idea for a tale about Annie Oakley as a Broadway musical came from the great lyric writer Dorothy Fields. She'd do the book with her brother, Herbert, write the lyrics with Jerome Kern doing the music, and entice Ethel Merman to star. Fields took her idea to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, who quickly agreed to produce. Merman agreed to play Annie and Fields, Hammerstein and Rodgers convinced Kern to leave Hollywood to do the music. Kern arrived in New York to start work but suffered a stroke and died a few days later. When the three of them began casting around for a composer they thought would be up to the task of replacing Kern, no one had any ideas until Rodgers said he had a possibility, but the guy always insisted on doing his own lyrics -- Irving Berlin. Dorothy Fields immediately said she'd give up the lyric writing if Rodgers could get Berlin to agree. After some persuasion by Rodgers (such as answering questions from Berlin, "If this musical is such a great idea, why aren't you and Oscar doing the songs?" and "I almost always write songs for reviews. I'm not sure I can do one of these new book musicals."), Berlin signed on. The result was a smash hit for all involved. br / br /Judy Garland had been scheduled to do Annie in the film version when she eventually was fired by MGM. She was in the depths of her personal and drug problems. Almost worth the price of the DVD are a couple of rehearsal numbers Garland filmed doing the songs, "I'm an Indian, Too" and "Doin' What Comes Naturally." You can compare her performance with Hutton's, although the comparison is by no means a fair one. Garland looks like she's on her last legs emotionally and physically. It painful to watch her. Still, I guess that's showbiz, too. br / br /The DVD looks great, with vibrant color.

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