7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The story of the great sharpshooter, Annie Oakley, who rises to fame while dealing with her love/professional rival, Frank Butler.
Starring: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern, J. Carrol Naish, Edward ArnoldMusical | 100% |
Romance | 82% |
Western | 27% |
Comedy | 24% |
Biography | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
George Sidney's Annie Get Your Gun is a big-screen adaptation of Irving Berlin's popular 1946 stage musical, a rowdy account of the life and times of famed sharpshooter Annie Oakley. Its early months of production were fraught with problems: original star Judy Garland was fired due to personal issues and friction with original director Busby Berkeley, actor Howard Keel suffered a broken foot in a riding accident, and actor Frank Morgan -- who was set to portray Colonel William "Buffalo Bill" Cody -- tragically died of a heart attack. Despite these setbacks, production eventually resumed: George Sidney took over directing duties, Howard Keel's foot healed, and actor Betty Hutton was brought in to lead. Unfortunately, she was ostracized by most of her co-stars and described the filming experience as as "one of the unhappiest of her career" in her own autobiography. But you wouldn't know it by watching: source material aside, Hutton's the best thing about Annie Get Your Gun and delivers a terrific, truly memorable performance.
All told, it's a fine film that eclipses most expectations, especially considering those early production setbacks. Annie Get Your Gun could have been a disaster for the studio... but upon inspection of Garland's early footage (first seen by the public as part of MGM's 1994 documentary That's Entertainment III, and included on most home video releases including this one), it's easy to see that Hutton was the right choice for the title role. She brings an immensely likable spark to the title character and, even with less polished singing chops than Garland, can obviously carry a tune and does so with much more charming enthusiasm. While all of Annie Get Your Gun isn't quite as great as Annie herself, it has more than enough meat to earn a spot in the upper tier of that era's big-screen musical outings.
Continuing their near-perfect string of catalog cuts (which in the last
year or so have included plenty of musicals), Warner Archive
does right by Annie Get Your Gun with a well-rounded release
that combines another stunning A/V restoration with a nice
little collection of DVD-era bonus features. It's this kind of no-
nonsense work that has made the boutique label a reliable source of
quality discs
that, pound for pound, are some of the best on the market.
Not surprisingly, the beautifully-rendered Technicolor hues of Annie Get Your Gun prove to be a perfect match for Warner Archive's careful restoration process which, if history is any indication, comes from a very recent scan of either the original negative or an interpositive treated with manual cleanup. No matter the source material, these results are stunning and very film-like with outstanding fine detail and texture, from the colorful costume designs to close-ups and neat little background items. Skin tones -- including face paint, of course -- appear accurate and suitably vivid, and this largely bright and well-lit production also showcases excellent contrast and shadow details. (Black levels, obviously limited as they are, also run nice and deep with no obvious signs of crush.) But as usual, one constant highlight is the picture's organic-looking film grain structure, which holds steady from start to finish and helps contribute to its overall pleasing appearance. It's just a very healthy-looking picture, all things considered, and every bit as good as Warner Archive's other recent musical releases including Show Boat, The Pajama Game, and Good News.
The original one-channel audio is replicated perfectly on this DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix, which features very crisp dialogue and vocals that sound suitably bright. The music is a mixture of original songs by Irving Berlin with additional cues by Roger Edens and direction by Adolph Deutsch, whose collective credits include work on Oklahoma!, Show Boat, The Maltese Falcon, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers , and White Christmas. The dynamic range sounds quite good with very little strain on the high end and no obvious source defects including hiss, pops, or drop-outs, although some of the lip sync is a little dodgy at times. Overall, it's just more great work that will probably go unnoticed.
Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature, but sadly none of the extras. It's especially annoying since Warner Bros.' original DVD release, which the bonus features were sourced from, had them.
This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with fun one-sheet poster artwork and no inserts. The on-board bonus features are limited to DVD-era carryovers but are still worth watching (again).
MGM's rough and rowdy musical Annie Get Your Gun was practically doomed to failure with early production troubles that almost sank the ship, but it climbed back to success on a modest budget and ended up being a box office success. Betty Hutton (replacing Judy Garland) pretty much steals the show and, in this reviewer's opinion, made for a much more memorable and perfectly-matched lead. The show runs a bit long even at just 107 minutes, but there's enough great material here to make it worth (re)watching for even the most casual fans of classic musicals. As usual, Warner Archive's Blu-ray presentation is outstanding: the top-tier A/V presentation pairs perfectly with several great carryover DVD bonus features, some of which dip lightly into those behind-the-scenes woes. Highly Recommended.
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