Rating: 
Summary: Fun movie, shoddy transfer. Very disappointed in Fox!
Review: I love CALL ME MADAM, and I love Ethel Merman's performance in it. The lack of home video availability for this title drove fans nuts for years, and finally Fox has released it on DVD, and the results are...welll..underwhelming.Don't get me wrong. The film holds up very well. It's one of the better Fox musicals, buoyed by terrific performances, a sprightly script, and great Irving Berlin songs. However, the treatment the film has been given for DVD leaves a great deal to be desired. The image is OK, but not great. Compare this to Warner's stellar ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (which was also not available for years) and you'll see the difference. Even worse is the sound. It sounds scratchy, tinny and distorted. Both the supposed "stereo" track and mono track are very poor in quality. These technical aspects really detract from the viewing experience. Last, but not least is the dull and pompous commentary by musical theater "expert" Miles Krueger. It's like listening to a boring college professor, and would be an ideal substitute for Ambien as a sleeping aid. Maybe Fox will decide to revisit this title someday and give it a full-blown restoration. Until then, hard-core fans will have to be content with this sorry excuse for a DVD release.
Rating: 
Summary: La Merman Shines in a Text-Book Example of Movie Musicals
Review: I wish that more movie musicals were done like this... Okay, okay... I'll be the first to admit: the show is DATED. (In fact, had it not been for Miles Kreuger's commentary, I would NEVER have understood the phonecalls from Harry Truman.) I am also not a huge fan of the stage score or of Irving Berlin's score (with the exception of a handful of songs). BUT--I bought this DVD for basically one reason: the presence of the incomparable La Merman. She is wonderful, and one can only wish after watching this that she had done the film version of GYPSY. Any way, the film is very faithful to the original, which is admirable for a film musical, ESPECIALLY in that time period. (CHICAGO was particularly good about this, as well.) Pratically all of the songs from the stage score are kept intact -- even the inane "Dance to the Music of the Ocarina," whish is, however, staged as a lovely dance routine. Insanely, the film cuts "They Like Ike," which was one of the biggest show-stoppers (after "You're Just in Love") in the original stage incarnation. Merman gives a spectacular performance: those big eyes and that BIG voice. Amazing. Donald O'Connor is utterly charming, as usual, and finds the perfect foil in Vera-Ellen. (Kreuger makes a fine point when he discusses why they dance so well together: her ballet-trained movements nicely compliment his vaudevillian-hoofer training. Just watch and see.) O'Connor and Merman are great in "You're Just in Love." George Sanders plays a very striking Cosmo, and it is easy to see Merman's attraction to him. Incidentally, Merman's figure looks GREAT in this film (when you can stand next to super-petite Vera-Ellen and not look huge, that's always a testament to something) and she is always costumed exquisitely by Irene Sharaff. Kreuger's commentary will not be for everyone, but I myself enjoyed it. Be forewarned, a good deal of it is focused on the bit players, and is generally a variation on the following: "The actor in grey on the right is Bilbo Baggins, who appeared in over 500 films with the studio, usually playing a Nazi sergeant or drunken cowboy. He's most remembered for his cameo in CASABLANCA where he steps on Humphrey Bogart's foot without saying 'excuse me,' etc." While this got tedious at times, I appreciated that he was recognizing these vetran actors, who did indeed have a large body of work: however, most just won't care. He also gives some helpful set up into the story of Perle Mesta and her trip to Luxembourg for President Truman. Anyway, not a great musical, but watch it for Ethel perfoming the hell out of great songs with a wonderful supporting cast, in a film that should be mimiced closely by those attempting to mave film musicals today.
Rating:
Summary: Madame Take A Bow
Review: I've been trying to get this film for a long time and I'm so glad it's out on DVD now. Merman plays the same part of the ambassador that she played in the broadway stage version. She's sent to some small operarettic european county. Merman was never the greatest of actresses so her performance is stagey and should be because that's where all of her experience was. She meets George Sanders who stands tall and handsome and together they're attracted to each other and sing a few songs. Sanders used his own voice and it was quite good. Vera Ellen, who I was never that crazy about, plays a very prim princess betrothed to a prince who'd rather marry someone else. So the princess meets Merman's press agent, Donald O'Connor, and romance blossoms. Ellen never used her own voice as she couldn't sing, but O'Connor could dance circles around some of the best and he could sing too. There's one scene where Ellen and O'Connor dance through an underground wine cellar and it's just as good if not better than you've ever seen with Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly? (How come all the best dancers were always Irish?:)) Merman knocks out a few songs and belts them across the Atlantic. Altogether, a fun film with great music and terrific dancing.
Rating: 
Summary: Made just before CinemaScope was introduced!
Review: It would indeed have been a nice bonus had this film been produced in CinemaScope, but the studio that first brought that process before the public, Twentieth-Century Fox, hadn't quite readied its first releases in that widescreen process and so "Call Me Madam" was given everything but a forty-foot wide screen to dazzle its audiences. It's a pretty eye-filling spectacle, nevertheless, and the Technicolor used seems to be the original three-strip process which fairly leaps off the screen. Wider might have been nicer but the film could hardly be better for all of us diehard musical fans!
Rating:
Summary: A musical treasure
Review: Sure, this is not the best musical ever, but it deserves to be a classic. Ethel Merman gave a loud and stagey performance that works oddly well in this film, perhaps due to Walter Lang's direction. Her Golden Globe win for this film is more than deserving. "The King and I" may be Lang's most acclaimed film, but I think "Call Me Madam" is his best work.
This may not be Irvin Berlin's best work, but the score is constantly listenable and the songs are delightful. The witty script alone is enough reason to recommend this film. Adding to the film is the great dancing duets by Vera-Ellen and Donald O'Connor.
Many people rates "You are just in Love" as the highlight of the film, but my favourite musical number is "The Ocarina", featuring Vera-Ellen in her only dance solo here and an energetic ensemble. Though it is a small-scale performance, the choreography is lovely and the cinematography makes it spectacular to watch.
Another musical number to take note is Donald O'Connor's solo "What chance Have I". Though best known for his show-stopping solo "Make Them Laugh" in "Singin' in the Rain", this number is equally(If not, more) impressive. Wrecking havoc in wine cellar in such an elegant manner, and not to mention his wonderful dancing. I also felt that his best performance was in "There's No Business Like Show Business". With that, O'Connor(along with Ethel Merman) is probably one of the most under-rated actors ever to work in Hollywood.
This film also give George Sanders a rare opportunity to play a Mr. Nice Guy, and he is surprisingly just as charming as the boyish O'Connor. I am not too sure if he did is own singing, but either way, it is still good. I highly recommend this musical to any musical lover.
Rating:
Summary: Great to See The Merm Captured on Film!
Review: Thank God Hollywood didn't fool with the casting on this one and was wise enough to keep Merman in the role she created. It is often said she was "too big" for film, but she certainly is perfect in this role and her bigger than life persona works perfectly. Great score, Donald O'Connor is great and the whole production is just plain good old fashioned fun!
Rating:
Summary: great film with less than great transfer to DVD
Review: The four stars are for the movie, which it's great to have on DVD - Merman given a chance to recreate one of her Broadway triumphs, a witty script, good songs and terrific dancing by Donald O'Connor and Vera-Ellen. However...as other customers have pointed out, the colour and sound restoration could have been better, plus there is a strange glitch that no-one seems to have noticed - Fox have missed the first two notes of the credit title music! I compared it to my old VHS to make sure I wasn't imagining things. All in all, though it is definitely worth buying for the pleasures of the film overall, one hopes that Fox will do it properly at a later date.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful Musical!
Review: This is a thoroughly delightful Hollywood Musical in the very best tradition. Great Irving Berlin score, definitive, iconic performances, zippy dialog and screenplay, gorgeous Technicolor, glorious singing and dancing!
Rating:
Summary: Donald O'Connor and Ethel Merman...Great Chemistry!
Review: This is the kind of quality film I'd kept hoping to see Donald O'Connor in after his bravura performance in "Singin' In The Rain." In whatever vehicle Donald appeared, whether it was his movies as a child or teenager, or as an adult, he always shone brightly ("A glittering, glowing star in the cinema firmament," to quote Lina Lamont!), even if the material was not top notch -- and unfortunately, much of his material was beneath his great skill. In "Singin' in the Rain" he proved he was worthy of great "A" material -- and he proves it again here. At the risk of gushing too much, a documentary on O'Connor says that his name spelled backwards was Talent! Amen to that. Here, he proves it. One is tempted to irreverantly murmer, "Fred and Ginger WHO?" when he and Vera-Ellen dance together. And O'Connor and Ethel Merman are absolutely wonderful together, too. The duet they perform, "You're Just In Love" is already being worn thin on my DVD from repeated viewing! Ethel Merman is an acquired taste, usually, but in this film she's just plain fun from beginning to end. Funny note: Donald O'Connor had to wear ear plugs during this scene and others with Merman because of her sterophonic lungs! Great movie, well worth the long wait for its release...don't miss it!
Rating:
Summary: Donald O'Connor and Ethel Merman...Great Chemistry!
Review: This is the kind of quality film I'd kept hoping to see Donald O'Connor in after his bravura performance in "Singin' In The Rain." In whatever vehicle Donald appeared, whether it was his movies as a child or teenager, or as an adult, he always shone brightly ("A glittering, glowing star in the cinema firmament," to quote Lina Lamont!), even if the material was not top notch -- and unfortunately, much of his material was beneath his great skill. In "Singin' in the Rain" he proved he was worthy of great "A" material -- and he proves it again here. At the risk of gushing too much, a documentary on O'Connor says that his name spelled backwards was Talent! Amen to that. Here, he proves it. One is tempted to irreverantly murmer, "Fred and Ginger WHO?" when he and Vera-Ellen dance together. And O'Connor and Ethel Merman are absolutely wonderful together, too. The duet they perform, "You're Just In Love" is already being worn thin on my DVD from repeated viewing! Ethel Merman is an acquired taste, usually, but in this film she's just plain fun from beginning to end. Funny note: Donald O'Connor had to wear ear plugs during this scene and others with Merman because of her sterophonic lungs! Great movie, well worth the long wait for its release...don't miss it!
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