Calamity Jane (1953)

Doris Day is the whip-wielding, rifle-toting, Indian-fighting Calamity Jane, a shotgun guard who breezes into Deadwood with some new tall tales.

Soon, she has to come to the rescue of good friend and saloon/theater owner Henry Miller, who has a angry crowd on his hands.

He booked an entertainer named Francis Fryer thinking he’d hired a female and advertised the show that way, only to discover Francis is a male.

Calamity quiets the crowd with a bold promise: She’ll convince actress Adelaid Adams — the lovely lass featured in the most sought-after cigarette card — to perform in Deadwood.

So it’s off to Chicago for Calamity, where she meets Adelaid’s maid, dressed in one of Adelaid’s gowns, dancing in Adelaid’s dressing room as she pretends to be a singer.

Katie Brown (Allyn Ann McLerie) agrees to perform in Deadwood, and no one discovers her true identity until she suffers a bad case of stage fright on opening night.

By that time, she’s already smitten Calamity’s good friend Wild Bill Hickok (Howard Keel) and the man Calamity says she loves (Philip Carey as Lt. Danny Gilmartin).

Calamity convinces the crowd to give Katie a second chance. She wins them over, and the two women wind up living together in Calamity’s cabin.

Katie helps spruce up the home, then helps spruce up Calamity, teaching her how to dress like a woman.

Trouble comes when Katie winds up falling for the handsome lieutenant and Calamity catches them in a loving embrace.

Doris Day as Calamity Jane, singing about her Secret Love in Calamity Jane (1952)

Howard Keel as Wild Bill Hickok, making a point with Calamity in Calamity Jane (1953)

Review:

A breezy, entertaining musical comedy that hits all the right notes and features several memorable songs, including “Secret Love,” which won an Academy Award.

Howard Keel is the male lead, having become a star in his first musical, the Western “Annie Get Your Gun.”

But the secret to this film’s success are the performances of the leading ladies, Doris Day and Allyn Ann McLerie.

And the script keeps the laughs coming until the final lines.

Just check out Calamity’s response when Wild Bill finds a pistol tucked in the folds of her wedding dress.

Allyn Ann McLerie as Katie Brown, imagining what it would be like to perform on stage in Calamity Jane (1953)

Philip Carey as Lt. Danny Gilmartin, the man Calamity thinks she loves in Calamity Jane (1953)

Directed by:
David Butler

Cast:
Doris Day … Calamity Jane
Howard Keel … Wild Bill Hickock
Allyn Ann McLerie … Katie Brown
Philip Carey … Lt. Danny Gilmartin
Dick Wessen … Francis Fryer
Paul Harvey … Henry Miller
Chubby Johnson … Rattlesnake
Gale Robbins … Adelaid Adams

Runtime: 97 min.

Songs:
“The Deadwood Stage (Whip Crack Away” by Doris Day and chorus
“Introducing Henry Miller” by Doris Day
“Hive Full of Honey” by Dick Wesson
“I Can Do Without You” by Howard Keel and Doris Day
“It’s Harry, I’m Planning to Marry” Gale Robbins and (later) Allyn Ann McLerie
“Just Blew in from Windy City” by Doris Day
“Keep It Under Your Hat” by Allyn Ann McLerie
“Higher Than a Hawk” by Howard Keel
“A Woman’s Touch” by Doris Day and Allyn Ann McLerie
“The Black Hills of Dakota” by Howard Keel and Doris Day
“Secret Love” by Doris Day

Paul Harvey as Henry Miller, owner of the theater where Adelaid Adams is supposed to perform in Calamity Jane (1953)

Dick Wesson as Francis Fryer, breaking the news that Katie has left Deadwood in Calamity Jane (1953)

Memorable lines:

Townsman, when Calamity returns to Deadwood with the stage: “Any excitement on this trip, Calam?”
Calamity Jane: “Excitement? I got more arrows in the back of that coach than a porcupine’s got stickers.”

Lt. Gilmartin, after Calamity rescues him from an Indian village: “Why do we both have to ride the same horse? We could have grabbed one of those Indian ponies.”
Calamity Jane: “It’s cozier this way.”

Wild Bill, when Calamity stumbles into another problem: “Now you know why they call her Calamity?”

Katie Brown, posing as Adelaid Adams, meeting the men of Deadwood: “Wild Bill Hickok?”
Wild Bill Hickok: “Well, if I am, you can tame me.”

Gale Robbins as Adelaid Adams, questioning Katie’s capability as a singer in Calamity Jane (1953)

Cubby Johnson as Rattlesnake, the stage drive caught contradicting Jane’s tall tales in Calamity Jane (1953)

Wild Bill Hickok, wearing a squaw’s outfit to pay off a bet to Calamity: “The next man that laughs is gonna get his head ventilated!”

Katie Brown: “Do you dislike Wild Bill Hickok as much as you pretend too?”
Calamity Jane: “Dislike Bill? Why me and Bill are thicker than flies in a Pawnee camp. We’re like a seven-year itch to each other. It’s a lot of fun scratchin’.”

Calamity Jane, after spotting Katie and the lieutenant kissing: “I swear, Bill, this town ain’t big enough! Not for me and that frilled-up, flirtin’, man-rustlin’ petticoat, it ain’t!”

Wild Bill, finding a pistol tucked into Calamity’s wedding dress: “What’s this for?”
Calamity Jane: “Just in case any more actresses come in from Chicagy!

Philip Carey as Lt. Dan Gilmartin and Doris Day as Calamity Jane watching Katie’s first performance in Calamity Jane (1953)

Doris Day as Calamity Jane, convincing a crowd at gunpoint to give Katie Brown (Allyn Ann McLerie) a chance in Calamity Jane (1953)

Doris Day as Calamity Janes, studying the cigarette card of Adelaid Adams all the men have been fussing over in Calamity Jane (1953)

Doris Day as Calamity Janes, studying the cigarette card of Adelaid Adams all the men have been fussing over in Calamity Jane (1953)

Allyn Ann McLerie as Katie Brown, shocked by the appearance of the cabin in which Calamity Jane (Doris Day) lives in Calamity Jane (1953)

Doris Day as Calamity Jane and Howard Keel as Wild Bill Hickok in Calamity Jane (1953)