Annie, la reine du cirque

Despite the fact that Ethel Merman wasn't even considered by MGM to repeat her Broadway triumph and Judy Garland fell by the way side, Annie Get Your Gun is still as alive and as fresh as the day it debuted on Broadway and for 1147 performances starting in 1946. It was Irving Berlin's biggest stage success both quantitatively and qualitatively. It sure had the most hit songs coming out of it, maybe the most for any Broadway show.

Because they had Garland, so they thought at MGM, for box office, producer Arthur Freed felt they could go with an unknown for Frank Butler. Both John Raitt and Howard Keel tested for the role and Keel won the toss. Then Keel broke his ankle falling off a horse on the set and they shot closeups and around him, putting pressure on Judy Garland's fragile psyche. On top of that Frank Morgan who was playing Buffalo Bill died suddenly in the middle of the film. Most of it had to be reshot when Betty Hutton was borrowed from Paramount.

Annie Get Your Gun was the perfect musical to appeal to the Rosie the Riveter crowd who competed and won in a man's world during World War II. Those women who became feminist icons certainly identified with another feminist icon in Annie Oakley.

The real Annie Oakley was not as brassy as her character in Annie Get Your Gun. By all accounts Phoebe Annie Mosee, aka Annie Oakley was a quiet retiring woman when away from the spotlight. She let her skill with weaponry do her talking.

Irving Berlin wrote so many hits out of this film it's staggering. Ballads like They Say It's Wonderful and The Girl That I Marry were recorded by many artists down to the present. My Defenses are Down also sold quite a few platters back in the day.

But of course the theatrical profession got its anthem when Irving Berlin wrote There's No Business Like Show Business. There's a really fine recording of it that Bing Crosby, Dick Haymes and the Andrews Sisters did of it with the flipside being Anything You Can Do also another gem from this show.

Some songs didn't make the cut. A good one that Ethel Merman did called I Got Lost in His Arms is absent from this film, a pity. And Berlin wrote a song called Let's Go West Again which was to be done on the cattle boat by Hutton and the ensemble was cut. Al Jolson made a recording of it for Decca though.

Louis Calhern and Edward Arnold as Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill play a fine pair of frontier rogues. Calhern captured the character of the real later Cody quite well.

With feminist issues by now means settled, Annie Get Your Gun is maybe more relevant now than when it first came out.

I disagree with those who feel Judy Garland would have been better than Betty Hutton. As a youngster, I saw the released version, and I've also seen a take with Garland singing "I'm an Indian too." I know Judy had a great voice, but Hutton was dynamite. She gave the role everything she had. No, I'm afraid this time, I think destiny gave us the best.

... many of them fans of Judy Garland, some of them fans of the actual characters in the film, insulted by how Annie Oakley is portrayed as a backwoods hick, how Frank Butler (Howard Keel) is turned into a jerk that the real Annie would have shot full of buckshot, and how Irving Berlin's music may be as toe-tapping as ever, yet his lyrics strip every bit of dignity, and intelligence from these two fascinating people and gives us whining stereotypes in their stead. Their feelings not mine.

Yes, the film is a bit over-produced in typical MGM fashion, but is generally very good. Too bad a few lovely tunes from the Broadway show were cut, as well as Betty Hutton's touching "Let's Go West Again" number. As much as I adore Judy Garland, Betty Hutton is fabulous as Annie and far more similar in temperament to original creator Ethel Merman than Judy could ever have been and especially by 1949-50. Annie was tailor made for Betty and her energy and talents. The film was a tremendous box office hit and MGM attempted but failed to buy Hutton's contract from Paramount, despite how she was treated on the set.

1950's ANNIE GET YOUR GUN was originally planned to star Judy Garland in the title role; however Garland had just finished a stint in rehab and doctors recommended a year off. Instead she was given two weeks off and was assigned to report to wardrobe tests for the film. She even filmed a few scenes and a couple of musical numbers (which are included on the DVD), but Garland looks worn and haggard and she clearly was in no shape, physically or emotionally to work, so she was replaced by that bundle of bombastic( an adjective which I think the actress has the patent on)energy, Betty Hutton, who makes the most of this role and the classic Irving Berlin score (not Rodgers and Hammerstein as a previous poster stated). I have to admit I wouldn't have minded hearing Garland's interpretation of "I've Got the Sun in the Morning" or "They Say that Falling in Love" (Hutton's weakest moment) but for the most part Hutton shines as Annie and gets solid support from handsome Howard Keel as Frank Butler. Their duet "Anything you can do" is another highlight. A first rate stage musical gets first rate screen treatment from the MGM dream factory.

I disagree with the previous reviewer who said Garland would have been better in this role. Betty Hutton was great. She may not have been the singer that Garland was, but she did a excellent job of looking really unpolished in the beginning and cleaning up to be a very attractive woman. Her portrayal of Annie has a lot personality and humor. If you rent or buy the anniversary tape or DVD for this movie, they've included some scenes that had been already shot with Judy before they decided to recast her role. There is no comparison. Judy was not up to the role at that point in her life and it really shows. I'm glad Betty was cast. I think it's a great movie/musical due to her performance.