Movie Review: Calamity Jane (1953)

After seeing my second Howard Keel film (Kiss Me Kate) I decided to seek out more...more!  I came upon Calamity Jane which is kind of perfect since it's also a musical and happens to be my husband's nickname for me.  Super funny, right?  :[~  Anywho, Calamity Jane was known for telling tall tales about herself.  Add Doris Day singing them, and I knew I was in for some silliness.  I just didn't know we were going 'full silly.'

The film starts off in song and carriage with Doris Day climbing all over it singing her heart out.  The story is about Calamity Jane's quest to find a specific actress to bring back to her middle-of-nowhere home, Deadwood.  It's also about how she's in love with a man who's in love with the actress instead.  It's lighthearted and goofy and sweet.  It's also completely historically inaccurate, but who wants a musical about real life, anyway?  That'd probably be boring and sad.  Ew.

As unlikely as it may be, you want Calamity to win her man.  You want her to accomplish any of the things she tells the boys about in the bar.  And although she's not the brightest star in the sky, you want her to figure things out faster than she probably will.  It's that endearing type of lovable dumbness.  Like a puppy.

At one point, the actress is trying to show her how to be more ladylike and that's a riot.  Except that Doris Day is naturally gorgeous...so you don't know why dudes aren't tripping all over each other.  Oh, wait!  Historically inaccurate.  Never mind.  Howard Keel killed it as Wild Bill Hickok.  If he'd been a mild-mannered love-struck gentlemen, that is.

MEMORABLE SCENE:
Calamity Jane's trip to "Chicag-y."

QUOTE:
[the singer on stage is a man in drag]
Wild Bill Hickok: "She ain't very good lookin'"
Calamity Jane: "That ain't all she ain't."

RATING:
Basically, if you can suspend disbelief, like when you watch stuff with dragons or unicorns, you're good.  As a classic-era musical, I had a blast watching everyone jump all over the screen singing everything.  I'll give it a 7/10.

EXTRAS:
Seriously, though.  Look at how pretty Doris Day is>>.