Call Me Mister (film)

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Call Me Mister
CallMeMister.jpg
Betty Grable and Dan Dailey on a Call Me Mister lobby card.
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Written by Albert E. Lewin
Burt Styler
Based on Call Me Mister
1946 musical
by Harold Rome
Arnold M. Auerbach
Produced by Fred Kohlmar
Starring Betty Grable
Dan Dailey
Cinematography Arthur E. Arling
Edited by Louis R. Loeffler
Music by Leigh Harline
Distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox
Release date
  • January 31, 1951 (1951-01-31)(New York) [1]
Running time
96 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2,175,000 (US rentals) [2] [3]

Call Me Mister is a 1951 American Technicolor musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Betty Grable, Dan Dailey, Danny Thomas, Dale Robertson, Benay Venuta and Richard Boone. The film is based on the 1946 Broadway stage play by Albert E. Lewin and Burt Styler. with music by Harold Rome that featured cast members from the American armed forces. However, only three of Rome's numbers are heard in the film. [4]

Contents

Plot

In the aftermath of World War II, American soldiers stationed in occupied Japan desire entertainment. They are treated to a show organized by Sergeant Shep Dooley and his former wife, the talented entertainer Kay Hudson. The show is filled with music, dance and comedy, providing a much-needed respite from the challenges of postwar life. As the soldiers enjoy the show, Kay and Shep's on-stage chemistry begins to rekindle old feelings.

Cast

Production

The film marks Betty Grable's final pairing with Dan Dailey, with whom she had costarred in several films. It also includes the first credited role for future film star Jeffrey Hunter. [5]

Soundtrack

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther called Call Me Mister "a ragtag-and-bobtail show" and wrote: "[T]he simple fact is that 'Call Me Mister' as presented on the screen in a plush Technicolor production by Twentieth Century-Fox is but a faint reminder of .the original stage revue and is mainly a very frank reminder of the sexiness of Miss G. As an Army-employed entertainer in Japan right after the war, engaged—as it seems, incidentally—in putting on a soldier revue, she is flung in your face on most occasions in a variety of revealing costumes via a plot which has her backing and filling with rather elemental urges toward an estranged spouse. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 Crowther, Bosley (1951-02-01). "The Screen in Review". The New York Times . p. 21.
  2. ↑ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952
  3. ↑ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century-Fox: A Corporate and Financial History Rowman & Littlefield, 2002 p 223
  4. ↑ "Call Me Mister - Original Broadway Cast | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
  5. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (12 May 2025). "Not Quite Movie Stars: Jeffrey Hunter". Filmink. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
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