I love movie musicals - especially when they're done by the Freed unit at MGM. With ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, MGM stayed a lot closer to the source Broadway musical than they usually did. Due to Irving Berlin's sagacious business acumen, there are no major song excisions or substitutions by lesser song writers (Roger Edens, anyone?).
As most people know, the role of Annie Oakley was originally assigned to Judy Garland, but when she called out sick, she was unceremoniously fired. Replacing her is Betty Hutton on loan from Paramount Studios. Unfortunately, Hutton mugs and poses and emotes with a frantic, manic energy that I find exhausting to watch. Her Annie Oakley would have fit right in to her film "The Perils of Pauline" portrayal of Pearl White.
The rest of the cast is exemplary, with Howard Keel as a handsome, virile Frank Butler. But Betty's shenanigans make her scenes almost painful to watch. The only reason I rate the film as highly as I do is that it's a reasonably faithful rendition of a classic Broadway musical.
As most people know, the role of Annie Oakley was originally assigned to Judy Garland, but when she called out sick, she was unceremoniously fired. Replacing her is Betty Hutton on loan from Paramount Studios. Unfortunately, Hutton mugs and poses and emotes with a frantic, manic energy that I find exhausting to watch. Her Annie Oakley would have fit right in to her film "The Perils of Pauline" portrayal of Pearl White.
The rest of the cast is exemplary, with Howard Keel as a handsome, virile Frank Butler. But Betty's shenanigans make her scenes almost painful to watch. The only reason I rate the film as highly as I do is that it's a reasonably faithful rendition of a classic Broadway musical.