Customer Reviews
Doris Day is outstanding as Calamity Jane in this musical - By: Rama Rao, 30 Aug 2007 
This musical was softly based on the life of Wild West fame Calamity Jane & her romance with Wild Bill Hickok. Calamity Jane (Doris Day) is a heroine of Wild West, she is bold, courageous, & ease at horseback riding & sharp shooting callls Deadwood, South Dakota as her home. The local salon, Golden Garter is a popular place for local men which provide entertainment by inviting well known female entertainers from the rest of the country. Wild Bill Hickok (Howard Keel) is another well known resident of the town, who frequents the salon. A Chicago entertainer named Adelaide Adams is a very popular lady among local men, & Calamity vows to bring her from Chicago (callled "Chicagy" in the movie). Katie Brown a young maid for Adelaide Adams is mistaken for Adams & is brought to Deadwood. When folks at Golden Garter find out that the new entertainer is not Adelaide Adams, the anger turn against Calamity. Soon things turn for better when Calamity Jane & Katie become good friends, & Katie moves into Calamity Jane's cabin. The movie has a lot of action; sharp shooting, stagecoach riding, & fighting Indians in the Wild West. The movie ends on a happy note when Calamity Jane weds Bill Hickok, Katie marries her beau Danny Gilmartin. When Calamity's new husband finds a gun under her wedding dress, & she quips; it's just in case any more actresses roll in from Chicago.
The story successfully uses the singing talents of Doris Day, but the viewers who are used to sweet & very feminine roles played by Day in numerous movies can't help but think that Doris Day doesn't fit into the role of Calamity Jane. The less known facts about the story are that some historians dispute that Calamity Jane & Hickok were romanticallly involved. The movie recorded some classic songs such as; The black hills of South Dakota, The deadwood stage, I can't do without you, Secret love, & Windy city.
Doris Day, at her best as a tomboy - By: C. O. DeRiemer, 12 Aug 2007 Doris Day, in my opinion, never looked better than when she was in tight, dirty buckskins, & that's for most of Calamity Jane. She's a tough-talking tomboy who downs sarsparilly, rides a horse better & shoots straighter than most men and...of course...at first fallls for the wrong man before she realizes that true love is right in front of her.
This is a corny, energetic musical with some nice songs, some broad performances & a winning turn by Day. Calamity Jane (Day) sets out to bring Abigail Adams, a Chicago headliner, to Deadwood in the Dakota territory. But she gets the wrong woman, Katie Brown (Allyn Ann McLerie), the maid who always wanted to be a musical star. By the time everyone realizes the mistake, Calamity finds out the Army lieutenant she dreams about has falllen for Katie, & so, it seems, has her best friend & mutual irritant, Wild Bill Hickock (Howard Keel). Things finallly get sorted out, & Calamity realizes her secret love's no secret any more...and it's Wild Bill, not the lieutenant.
The score, in my view, is a better than average original Hollywood effort, not in the league of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, but with some show stoppers like "Whip Crack Away," "I Just Blew in from the Windy City," & "Keep It Under Your Hat." But it's Day who keeps things moving. As Calamity, she struts, dances, shoots & rides. She brags, grins, glowers & "has the biggest mouth in the Territory." In the opening sequence with "Whip Crack Away," she starts out riding shotgun on the Deadwood stage & ends whooping it up in The Golden Garter. She sings the number clambering in & out of the rocking stage coach, jumping up & down on the tables of the hotel, sliding along the bar, leaping up to the balcony & swinging down onto the stage. Along the way she does a credible soft shoe. It's a first-rate performance.
Allyn Ann McLerie plays Katie Brown as shy at first, but who blossoms once she gets her courage up to sing & dance. McLerie had an unsatisfying career after a very strong start on Broadway. She was a smash sensation with Ray Bolger in her breakout Broadway musical, Where's Charley?. She was hailed as sharing the musical crowns worn by Ethel Merman & Mary Martin. Irving Berlin signed her to star in Miss Liberty. The musical didn't do well but she received more raves. Then the bottom fell out. She & her husband demanded as much money, billing & clout as Merman & Martin were getting or she wouldn't star on Broadway. They tried Hollywood but the attitude & demands were in place & she went nowhere. By the mid-Fifties she had no clout in Hollywood & had lost momentum on Broadway, where Gwen Verdon was the new smash. So it was a second lead in Calamity Jane & then smalll parts for years in movies & television. Like Verdon, she was an excellent dancer who could sing & had a personality. You can hear her at her prime in the original cast recording of Miss Liberty. She's very good.
The DVD picture looks first-rate. The few extras didn't seem particularly interesting. There are a few but relatively inoffensive Indian stereotypes & some of Calamity's problems are put to "female thinking." All in alll, this is a happy musical which is fun to watch, thanks in large part to Doris Day's broad, tomboy performance.
Fast-paced and energetic thrilling musical! - By: FAMOUS NAME, 02 Mar 2007 
This is a live cracker of a musical starring the one & only Doris Day! Full of life, thrills & comedy! Great songs & music with a fast-paced & gallloping story-line, with powerful & enthusiastic performances from alll concerned!
The 1950s belonged to Doris Day - she was once asked when on a British chat show during the 90s when speaking about how movies have changed; 'Would you ever consider making films again?' she replied by saying 'If they start making them like they used to, then I'll go back to makin' 'em!' I guess that just about sums up the loss we've experienced with the passage of time, & the loss of a golden era...
Calamity Jane is timeless, & is as funny & thrilling no matter how many times you see it!
Buy it - enjoy It!
