Annie Get Your Gun (film)

Infobox Film
name = Annie Get Your Gun


image_size = 230px
caption = Promotional movie poster for the film
director =George Sidney
Busby Berkeley (uncredited)
Charles Walters (uncredited)
producer =Arthur Freed
Roger Edens
writer =Sidney Sheldon (screenplay)
Dorothy Fields (book)
Herbert Fields (book)
narrator =
starring = Betty Hutton
Howard Keel
Benay Venuta
music = Irving Berlin
cinematography = Charles Rosher
editing = James E. Newcom
distributor = Metro Goldwyn Mayer
released = May 17, 1950
(re-released on April 16, 2004)
runtime = 107 minutes
country = flagicon|USA USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0042200

"Annie Get Your Gun" is a 1950 American musical film loosely based on the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley. The Metro Goldwyn Mayer release, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and a screenplay by Sidney Sheldon based on the 1946 stage musical of the same name, was directed by George Sidney. Despite some production and casting problems (Judy Garland had to withdraw from the film due to ill health), the film won the Academy Award for best score and received three other nominations. Star Betty Hutton was recognized with a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

Production history

Betty Hutton played Annie with Howard Keel (making his movie debut) as Frank Butler and Benay Venuta as Dolly Tate. Frank Morgan was originally cast as Buffalo Bill Cody but after filming the movie's opening production number, "Colonel Buffalo Bill", he unexpectedly died. Morgan was replaced by Louis Calhern. Originally, Judy Garland had been cast in the title role, and recorded all of her songs and worked for two months under Busby Berkeley's direction. She was forced to leave the production due to poor health and other personal problems that would soon end her career with MGM. Garland's dismissal from this film (from which some footage and recordings have survived) figures pivotally in the show-biz legend of Judy Garland's fall from grace, her alleged unreliability, and the view of her as a victim of the studio on which she'd so generously lavished her remarkable talent, her heart-breaking vulnerability, and her youth. Betty Garrett was considered but the role of Annie eventually went to Hutton. Shooting resumed after five months, with George Sidney replacing Charles Walters (who in turn replaced Berkeley) as director. [Green, Stanley; revised and updated by Elaine Schmidt. "Hollywood Musicals Year By Year, Second Edition" (1999) Hal Leonard Corporation, p. 159 ISBN 0-634-00765-3]

According to Betty Hutton, she was treated coldly by most of the cast and crew because she replaced Garland. During an interview with Robert Osborne (first telecast on Turner Classic Movies "Private Screenings" on July 18, 2000), she recalled the other cast members as hostile and the MGM management as so unappreciative it didn't even invite her to the New York premiere. Only two production numbers were completed with Garland: "Doin' What Comes Naturally" and "I'm an Indian Too" and these were released to the public for the first time in the 1990s in "That's Entertainment III" Additional studio recordings of Garland also exist and have been released by Rhino Records.

Despite the production problems, the film became popular in its own right. In its initial release it grossed more than $8 million, easily earning back its $3.7 million production costs. [ [http://www.jgdb.com/agyg.htm Background information from the Judy Garland Database] ] In 1973 it was withdrawn from distribution due to a dispute between Irving Berlin and MGM over music rights, which robbed the public of enjoying this film for almost 30 years. It was not until the film's 50th Anniversary in 2000 that it was finally seen again in its entirety.

Cast

*Annie Oakley -- Betty Hutton
*Frank Butler -- Howard Keel
*Foster Wilson -- Clinton Sundberg
*Chief Sitting Bull -- J. Carrol Naish
*Col. Wm. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) -- Louis Calhern
*Charlie Davenport -- Keenan Wynn
*Dolly Tate -- Benay Venuta
*Pawnee Bill -- Edward Arnold
*Nellie (Annie's Sister) -- Diane Dick
*Jessie (Annie's Sister) -- Susan Odin
*Little Jake (Annie's Brother) -- Brad Morrow
*Minnie (Annie's Sister) -- Eleanor Brown
*Indian Man -- Shooting Star

ong list

*Colonel Buffalo Bill -- Charlie, Dolly, Ensemble
*Doin' What Comes Natur'lly -- Annie, Siblings
*The Girl That I Marry -- Frank
*You Can't Get a Man With a Gun -- Annie
*There's No Business Like Show Business -- Frank, Buffalo Bill, Charlie Davenport, and Annie with ensemble
*They Say It's Wonderful -- Annie and Frank
*Moonshine Lullaby -- Annie, Porters, Siblings
*Show Business Reprise -- Annie
*My Defenses Are Down -- Frank and Ensemble
*I'm An Indian, Too -- Annie
*I Got Lost In His Arms -- Annie
*I Got the Sun in the Morning -- Annie
*An Old Fashioned Wedding -- Annie, Frank
*Anything You Can Do -- Annie and Frank

The film adaptation cut the following numbers from the original score; "Moonshine Lullaby", "I Got Lost in His Arms", "An Old Fashioned Wedding". The 2000 compact disc release of the soundtrack includes all of the film's numbers and, "Let's Go West Again" (a Hutton number deleted before the film's release), an alternate take of Wynn's "Colonel Buffalo Bill," and Garland's renditions of Annie's pieces.

Awards and nominations

*Academy Award for Best Music Scoring of a Musical Picture (winner)
*Academy Award for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color (nominee)
*Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color (nominee)
*Academy Award for Best Film Editing (nominee)
*Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy (Hutton, nominee)
*"Photoplay" Award for Most Popular Female Star (Hutton, winner)
*Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Musical (Sidney Sheldon, winner)

References

External links

*
* [http://www.tcmdb.com/title/title.jsp?stid=1200 Synopsis and information on Turner Classic Movies]
* [http://www.thejudyroom.com/discography/soundtracks/annie.html The Judy Garland Online Discography "Annie Get Your Gun" pages.]
* [http://www.rnh.com/theatricals/show.php?show_id=3 information from the R&H Theatricals site]