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Annie Get Your Gun

Annie Get Your Gun

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $15.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A wonderful show!
Review: "Annie" is the one MGM musical that I have longed to see for many years. Due to the now legendary problems with the film's release that was not possible - until now. What a masterpiece it is! As a Judy Garland fan, I had heard her sing the score before and had seen the outtakes from the film, and my conclusion is that fate intervened appropriately in the form of Betty Hutton. She is virtually perfect in the role. Her emotions run the gamut in this film, and make it a delight. My favorites have to be "I've got the sun in the morning" (her dance is incredible!) and Howard Keel's "My defenses are down". It is no wonder that Keel went on to become the singing star he did after this role.

What Judy could have done with the role will never be known; what Betty did with it is obvious: she made Annie her own. Get this film NOW and enjoy the wonderfully restored picture and crystal clear sound. You won't be disappointed!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Warners misleads again!
Review: Warners promised "production dailies" as well as a "lobby card reprint" but didn't deliver. We DO get the two cut Garland numbers (and the cut Hutton number), but Judy's version of "I'm An Indian Too" is trimmed so much, and without the production dailies, one never gets a sense of just how difficult it was to piece the number together from all the short takes they had to endure due to her illness. "Colonel Buffalo Bill" is an AUDIO outtake, not visual. And one of the headings in the "special features" section reads that it is an audio outtake of "There's No Business Like Show Business" when actually, and without any explanation, it is really the cut version of "Colonel Buffalo Bill," "Let's Go West Again (Hutton)," and "There's No Business Like Show Business (Garland)." And due to the limitations of the DVD, one cannot "fast forward" through the songs to listen to just one - you must hear all three in that order or not at all.

After all this time, and all the fans out there waiting for this to come out, Warners once again gets cheap at the last minute.

The film itself is fine! Very nice transfer and Betty Hutton does a good job as Annie. She's made to mug a little too much in parts, and at times the film does have a sense of having been rushed (witness the buildup to Annie's first big moment in the spotlight in a cute outfit, then suddenly, her big moment comes in a completely different outfit). But all that aside, there's not denying that this is a fun and breezy musical. It's a perfect example of just how "well oiled" a machine MGM was in 1949/1950 - especially when it came to musicals.

And it's nice to be able to see the Garland and Hutton versions of "Doin What Comes Natur'lly" back to back. One really gets a sense of how different Garland would have been. It's too difficult to say whether she would have been better or not, as Garland fans have argued over the years, since these outtakes show an obviously tired Judy who is missing that special "sparkle" she usually had. However it is aparrant that she would have humanized the character.

Overall the film gets 4 stars out of 5, but the DVD only gets 3.

Warners needs to stop advertising lots of extras on their DVDs then bailing out at the last minute!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ANNIE'S Lovely to Look at!
Review: After waiting a lifetime it seems to see this film and also having heard the Betty and Judy versions of the soundtrack but never seeing the performances. I must say that I am so happy to have finally seen Betty Hutton in the newly restored edition of "Annie Get your Gun" and also put to rest any resentment I or anyone else may have had about her playing Annie. SHE IS BRILLIANT! Her acting and singing is great and her emotional connection with the charater is really there. That first time she is in a scene with Howard Keel and he's singing the song "The Girl that I Marry" whatch Betty's eyes well up when her character Annie realizes she isn't even in the game. It's great acting for such a fluff part. Which proves that clearly Betty was the best person to play Annie at the time. Garland was undoubtedly the greatest film musical star ever committed to film but was unfortunately miscast and I believe knew it and undermined herself to the point of being fired. In her own mind she must have known it wasn't for her. At this point in her career she was far too elegant and refined to pull it off and more interested in dramatic things. Betty on the other hand has that tomboyish quality that was perfect for such a physically demanding role. I really do believe that Betty did suffer on the set from co-workers who wanted Garland, from stories I've heard over the years from people who worked on the film. So when she was interviewed by Robert Osborne recently on TCM and mentioned the controversy I was not surprised at all. I just wish the men involved who are still around today would admit the way they treated her and apologize publicly. No spoilers here. Just watch the film and enjoy. With the film newly restored and sound enhanced you can't help but love every bit of this film. The outtakes are a revelation and further prove MGM made the right decision in casting Betty. And now a new generation can enjoy Betty at her peak and see what made her one of films greatest musical stars!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Look out world ! Here comes the "real" Annie
Review: Annie wannabe's, here is the standard to which you strive for. Unfortunately for all of us, she's been locked away in the MGM vaults for the last 50 years. But, if I know Annie, she's coming back, better than ever ! Musical lovers under 50, are you in for a treat. Forget all that you've heard about Judy Garland, and her sad exit from Metro while working on this picture. About Louis B. Mayer begging Hal Wallis at Paramount to loan MGM his hugely popular star, Betty Hutton. About the cold shoulder Betty recieved from cast and crew on the "Annie" set. None of it affects the stunningly exciting final product. THIS IS A GREAT MUSICAL ! The score is as good (or better) than any you've ever heard. Songs you'll remember, and be singing, for the rest of your life. Hopefully we'll be seeing a totally restored version, which means the glorious Technicolor will dazzle you. The young Howard Keel makes his MGM debut here, and will knock you out. Louis Calhern is perfect as Wm. F.(Buffalo Bill) Cody, certainly larger-than-life ! But , this is Betty Hutton's movie, from start to finish. I've always considered it her crowning achievement. It's big, brash, beautiful, funny, and above all, it's FUN !

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Still wanting more.
Review: Now were getting Annie Get Your Gun. I hope Irving Berlin's motion picture version of CAll Me Madam with Ethel Merman is soon to be followed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: At LONG last!
Review: After many years of waiting, Annie Get Your Gun will now be out in video. I have been waiting for this for years. This is one of my all time favorite movies. I fell in love with Howard Keel when I was 10 years old after seeing this movie. Also, as a child, this was one of the few examples of women doing something as good as, if not better than, men. Great cast adds up to a great movie. And what an ending...talk about a big production number. What a finale!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: FABULOUS MGM MUSICAL WITH HUTTON IN TOP FORM
Review: We are most fortunate to have thirty years of litigation finally resolved with the release to VHS and DVD of MGM's ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. It's a very polished screen translation with ten of the score's original fourteen songs making it to the screen. Colorful and full of energy with Hutton in top form and a deserved Oscar for Scoring. For those wanting to see the Kinescope of the live b&w tv performance (Mary Martin and John Raitt) look for it on Hen's Tooth Video. It may be out of print but you can find a copy in Walpole, N.H.'s REAL TO REEL video store. This is the one I saw as a child and it stayed with me until I saw the MGM in my teens. (Now if only PORGY AND BESS could be released to video, we'd have every major film musical of a Broadway show available in our homes.)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hutton gives Merman a run for her money!
Review: Believe it or not, Betty Hutton was the first Annie Oakley I was introduced to when I saw "Annie Get Your Gun" on TV some 30 years ago. I thought the show was fantastic, the songs were sing-along-ish, and who could ever beat that happy ending? I still enjoy this movie. The Irving Berlin songs are unforgettable, especially the show-stopping "There's No Business Like Show Business". Nothing can top the Broadway Play, but this beautiful movie comes pretty close! Five stars for this one!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I Thought I would Never see it
Review: Wow! My Old frineds and my father have told me about this film. But It has never been availble even on tv. I thought Its one of those films that would never be seen again. I Can't wait to see this film and i'm sure I'll have a big party to have the first showing. If what i am told is true. Its one of the Greatest shows ever seen. And with the Dvd pully packed I'll pinch myself in a min to wake up and see it was only a dream. All we need now is Grease on DVD.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Entertaining and Wonderful Musical
Review: I remember seeing this movie when I very was young, I thought it was great. I think Betty Hutton was perfect as Annie, and I thought Howard Keel was the "cat's meow". And no one could ever sing There's No Business...like Ethel Merman. The songs, Doing What Comes..., The Girl That I Marry and Anything You Can Do are classics. I haven't seen a movie in this catagory to match it. I will say that Singin' in the Rain might run a close second, kind of in reverse, the guy gets girl. Annie Oakley sets out to show what women can do, from being tomboyish to glamorizing ourselves, from being on the bottom to going to the top. And she did it in a lighthearted and comical sense. George Sidney and Busby Berkeley did a great job at putting some pizazz into the true life character of the real Annie Oakely. I think it's just as good today as it was the first time I saw it. I've been looking for this movie everywhere, thanks amazon for ending my search!


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