Calamity Jane (1953)

Director:

David Butler

Writer:

James O'Hanlon (written by)

Release Date:

4 November 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Musical | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Brand-new song hits by the stage load!

Plot:

The story of Calamity Jane, her saloon, and her romance with Wild Bill Hickok.

Plot Keywords:

Calamity Jane | Wild Bill Hickok | Saloon | Gay Slur | Love Triangle

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Doris Day	...	Calamity Jane
Howard Keel	...	Wild Bill Hickok
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Katie Brown (as Allyn McLerie)
Philip Carey	...	Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin
Dick Wesson	...	Francis Fryer
Paul Harvey	...	Henry Miller
Chubby Johnson	...	Rattlesnake
Gale Robbins	...	Adelaid Adams
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Billy Bletcher	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone	...	Saloon Patron (uncredited)
Budd Buster	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Lane Chandler	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Edmund Cobb	...	Saloon patron (uncredited)
Kenne Duncan	...	Ad Lib (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Officer's Wife in Reception Line (uncredited)
Terry Frost	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Robert Fuller	...	Young man with flowers (uncredited)
Bill Hale	...	Ad Lib (uncredited)
Reed Howes	...	Angry Saloon Patron (uncredited)
I. Stanford Jolley	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Donald Kerr	...	Beau (uncredited)
Tom Landon	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Rex Lease	...	Man who gets Adelaide's Picture (uncredited)
Emmett Lynn	...	Artist (uncredited)
Francis McDonald	...	Hank (uncredited)
Tom Monroe	...	Ad Lib (uncredited)
Monte Montague	...	Pete (uncredited)
Lee Morgan	...	Ad Lib (uncredited)
Zon Murray	...	Colorado (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Gene Roth	...	Saloon Patron (uncredited)
Lee Shumway	...	Bartender with white sideburns (uncredited)
Glenn Strange	...	Prospector (uncredited)
Forrest Taylor	...	MacPherson (uncredited)

Directed by
David Butler

Writing credits
James O'Hanlon		(written by)

Produced by
William Jacobs	....	producer

Original Music by
David Buttolph		(uncredited)
Howard Jackson		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Wilfred M. Cline		(director of photography) (as Wilfrid M. Cline)

Film Editing by
Irene Morra

Art Direction by
John Beckman

Set Decoration by
G.W. Berntsen

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Philip Quinn	....	assistant director (as Phil Quinn)

Sound Department
Charles David Forrest	....	sound (as David Forrest)
Stanley Jones	....	sound

Stunts
Emile Avery	....	stunts (uncredited)
Clem Fuller	....	stunts (uncredited)
Donna Hall	....	stunt double: Doris Day (uncredited)
Ted Mapes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Sailor Vincent	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Howard Shoup	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Frank Comstock	....	orchestrator
Jack Donohue	....	musical numbers staged and directed by
Sammy Fain	....	music: original songs
Ray Heindorf	....	musical director
Norman Luboff	....	vocal arrangements
Paul Francis Webster	....	lyrics: original songs

Other crew
Emory Horger	....	dialogue director (as Emory Hoerger)
Mitchell Kovaleski	....	Technicolor color consultant (as Mitchell G. Kovaleski)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents) (A Warner Bros.- First National Picture)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1953) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Calamity Jane (Denmark) [da]
Calamity Jane (Finland) [fi]
Doris Day en el Oeste (Spain) [es]
I gynaika me to mastigio (Greece) [el]
La blonde du Far-West (France) [fr]
La terreur blonde (Belgium: French title) [fr]
Non sparare baciami! (Italy) [it]
Schwere Colts in zarter Hand (West Germany) [de]
Silahsörler kraliçesi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Tarkk'ampujatyttö (Finland) [fi]
Västerns vilda dotter (Sweden) [sv]

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved certificate #16445) | UK:U (video rating) (1989) | UK:U (tv rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | Australia:G | UK:U | Canada:G | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Warner Ranch, Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Warner Bros. studio head Jack Warner decided to make "Calamity Jane" after he tried - and failed - to buy the movie rights to "Annie Get Your Gun" as a vehicle for Doris Day. He not only drew on another legendary "wild woman" of the Old West for his heroine, he hired the same male star, Howard Keel, who'd appeared in the film of Annie Get Your Gun (1950).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Calamity shoots at Katie at the ball in the fort, the bullet sprays punch all over Katie, but the punch bowl and glass remain unbroken (Katie can be seen to drop an unbroken glass)

Quotes:

[Bill is dressed as an Indian woman with a baby]
Calamity Jane: Gosh almighty, it's Bill Hickok!
[proceeds to laugh along with everyone else]
Wild Bill Hickok: [hands baby over] Here take him.
[stands up]
Wild Bill Hickok: The next man that laughs is gonna get his head ventilated.
[silence and Bill sits down. Calamity laughs again after a few moments]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Before Stonewall (1984)

Soundtrack:

KEEP IT UNDER YOUR HAT

It's hard to be a free woman in a man's world.

I think that this film tries to depict strong independent women as masculine and lesbian. It reinforces the idea that women can only win acceptance when they conform to men's stereotypical ideas of what women should do and be; i.e. wear pretty dresses, makeup, and learn the skill of homemaking for men's comforts.

This said, I think the film is very witty, and cleverly accomplished. This is especially so given that as a Warners' production it is more subdued than those musicals made at the MGM studios.

Doris Day is particularly good as Calamity, - albeit performed in a more feminine way than Jane Russel's version of this character in The Paleface (1948) - and her singing is great! This is given more credibility by the fact that the supporting cast of the film give excellent performances.

Excellent light hearted film.