Calamity Jane (1984)

Jane Alexander is Martha Jane Canary, aka Calamity Jane, in this story of her life from her meeting with Wild Bill Hickok to her appearance at the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y.

In this telling, she nurses Wild Bill back to health after he’s been wounded in a gunfight and almost immediately falls in love with the famous frontiersman.

They eventually become lovers and even get married in a night of drunken revelry with a pair of preachers traveling on the same stage.

But Wild Bill’s not one for settling down and heads off to join Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show without realizing Jane is pregnant with his child.

She has the baby alone in the wilderness and eventually agrees to turn the child over to a wealthy English couple, Capt. James O’Neill and his wife Helen.

That decision, and Wild Bill’s death in Deadwood, haunt her the rest of her years, and she turns to the bottle for comfort.

To make ends meet, she drives a stagecoach, a freight wagon and even winds up in a whorehouse for a while.

She also tries marriage a second time, to Charlie Burke, before realizing she’s not the type to settle down either.

Jane also gets to meet her daughter twice over the course of the film. But she opts not to tell her the truth about her parentage.

Jane Alexander as Calamity Jane, listening as Wild Bill (Frederic Forrest) explains his plans to join the Wild West Show in Calamity Jane (1984)

David Henmings as Capt. James O’Neill, the Englishman who adopts Calamity’s daughter in Calamity Jane (1984)

Review:

A well-done TV movie that earned Alexander a well-deserved Emmy nomination as best actress in a film or miniseries.

Wild Bill’s death is awkwardly handled, but that’s about the only fault as Jane lives a hard life, all the while becoming world renown as Calamity Jane.

In one delightful scene, she’s driving a stage and spots Indians on the horizon. She promptly stands on her head and lets out a series of war cries, scaring them away.

Once back in town, the passengers proclaim her crazy. Yep, the stage station manager agrees. That’s what the Indians think, and why they give her wide berth.

This TV movie also marked the film debut for Sara Gilbert of Roseanne fame. She has a small role as Jean Irene O’Neill, Jane’s daughter at age 7.

Oh, and the bit about Calamity and Wild Bill being married and having a child together wasn’t a figment of filmmaker’s imagination.

Though there’s a dispute over whether she was telling the truth, a Jean Hickok Burkhardt McCormick surfaced in 1941, claiming to be the daughter of the two and presenting evidence that they had married in 1873.

Frederic Forrest as Wild Bill Hickok, the man who loves Calamity but can’t settle down on her behalf in Calamity Jane (1984)

Walter Scott as Charlie Burke, the man who convinces Calamity to give marriage a second try in Calamity Jane (1984)

Directed by:
James Goldstone

Cast:
Jane Alexander … Calamity Jane, aka Martha Jane Canary
Frederic Forrest … Wild Bill Hickok
Ken Kercheval … Buffalo Bill Cody
Walter Olkewicz … Will Lull
Talia Balsam … Jean Irene O’Neill
Walter Scott … Charlie Burke
David Hemmings … Capt. James O’Neill
Isabell O’Connor … Nell Bandis
Jack Murdock … Rev. Warren
Larry Cedar … Rev. Sipes
Doug Toby … Jackie
Laurie O’Brien … Mami
Sara Gilbert … Jean Irene O’Neill (at age 7)
as Sara Abeles
Gillian Eaton … Mrs. Helen O’Neill

Runtime: 100 min.

Sara Gilbert as Jean Irene O’Neill at age 7, meeting her mother without knowing it in Calamity Jane (1984)

Talia Salsam as Jean Irene O’Neill at a young woman, meeting her mother without knowing it in Calamity Jane (1984)

Memorable lines:

Wild Bill Hickok, on an incident that landed Jane in trouble as an Army scout: “You just gotta stay out of those swimmin’ holes. Didn’t you ever venture a guess somebody might take a peek?”
Calamity Jane: “I wanted them to. They gotta know I’m a female and can do anything a man can do and better.”

Will Bill Hickok, holding up a hat Jane shot two holes in: “You know, we still got an ordinance here? No gunplay within the city limits.”
Calamity Jane: “Gonna put me in jail. Might be kind of convenient.”
Wild Bill, with a twinkle in his eye: “Might at that.”

Wild Bill Hickok: “I feel like I’m in a puddle of sand and it’s all driftin’ away. The last thing you need is me pullin’ you down with me.”

Calamity Jane, about marrying Charlie Burke: “Odds ain’t exactly great. What I know about wife-ing you could stuff in a saddlebag.”

Walter Olkewicz as Will Lull, the man who befriends Calamity and gives her a job driving freight wagons in Calamity Jane (1984)

Jane Alexander as Calamity Jane, watching Wild Bill ride off, knowing she’s pregnant with his child in Calamity Jane (1984)

Jane Alexander as Calamity Jane, giving up her daughter in hopes she’ll have a better life with a well-off English couple in Calamity Jane (1984)

Jane Alexander as Calamity Jane, drunk as an entertainer at the Pan Am Exposition in 1901 in Calamity Jane (1984)