Calamity Jane (Doris Day) and Wild Bill Hickok (Howard Keel) at the Deadwood saloon
In the Dakota Territory during the 1870s tough-talking, hard-riding, straight-shooting Calamity Jane rides into town on top of the Deadwood stage, wielding a rifle, and boasts, not always honestly, of her Indian-fighting exploits at a saloon where she has a "sassparilly". She has a crush on Lieutenant Gilmartin, and when survivors of an Indian attack stumble into the saloon and say he was wounded, she even risks life and limb and single-handedly saves him from an Indian war party.
Meanwhile, Deadwood's saloon owner, who sends for beautiful women entertainers to sing on stage, mistakenly hires a male, Francis (not "Frances") Fryer. Fearing a riot, the owner persuades the reluctant actor to perform in drag. Though he is initially convincing, his wig falls off, and the angry audience threatens to tear the saloon down. But Calamity calms the situation, vowing to go to Chicago and bring the renowned singer Adelaid Adams back to Deadwood. However, her friend Wild Bill Hickok expresses doubt, even scoffing at the idea, just as he scoffs at "Calam"'s relatively masculine appearance.
Calamity arrives in Chicago, where Adams is giving her farewell performance before launching a European tour. After the show ends, Adelaid gives her old costumes to her maid, Katie Brown, who dreams of becoming a singer, though Adelaid belittles her ambitions. Later, when Calamity walks in, she mistakes Katie for Adelaid. Katie, posing as Adelaid, agrees to return west with Calamity, seeing it as a chance to perform on stage.
But back in Deadwood, during Katie's premiere performance, stage fright gets the best of her. She bursts into tears, admitting she is not Adelaid Adams. With the stunned crowd on the verge of rioting, Calamity fires a shot in the air and defends Katie. She is allowed to carry on, and ultimately wins the crowd over. Meanwhile, Bill is in the audience, dressed as a "squaw" with a papoose, having lost a bet if Calamity couldn't bring Adelaid to Deadwood. When Katie reveals she is not Adelaid, Bill gets his revenge by roping Calamity and hanging her by the waist from the saloon ceiling.
Katie moves into Calamity's ramshackle cabin, which they fix up together. To attract Gilmartin, Calamity, with Katie's help, dresses and behaves "ladylike". But Gilmartin and Hickok both admire Katie. At one point, they draw straws to see who will take her to the upcoming ball. Gilmartin wins, and Bill agrees to complement the double date by escorting Calamity.
At the ball, everyone is awed by Calamity's transformation. She's beautiful. But she becomes increasingly jealous watching Katie and Gilmartin together. The ball ends when Calamity angrily confronts Katie, shooting a punch glass from her hand.
A day later, though, Katie returns the favor at the saloon, albeit with the help of Bill who is the true shooter of Calamity's glass. Calamity, feeling humiliated, exits with Bill and they drive off in his wagon. A heartbroken Calamity reveals her crush on Gilmartin, while Bill admits his love for Katie. In spite of this, they passionately embrace and kiss. Calamity then realizes she loved Bill all along.
The next day, Katie takes the stagecoach to Chicago, feeling guilty over betraying her best friend. After the stage leaves, a furious Gilmartin confronts Calamity, blaming her for Katie's sudden departure. She responds by mounting her horse and riding out to overtake the stagecoach. There, she tells Katie she loves Bill, and the two women are reunited.
The story ends with a double wedding; as the stagecoach is about to leave town with the foursome, Bill asks why Calamity still has a gun. She says it's in case any more actresses come to town; all laugh, and Bill gives her gun to Fryer, before the foursome ride off, a "JUST HITCHED" sign on the back of the stagecoach.[3]
The music was included in the album of the same name, though some of the songs from the album were re-recorded rather than taken from the soundtrack.
Reception
In its opening week, it finished ninth at the US box office with grosses of $55,000 at the Paramount Theatre in New York City, $18,000 in Philadelphia, $12,000 in Cleveland and $7,500 in Minneapolis.[4][5]
The film has been popular with some lesbian audiences for its depiction of a character which can be read as lesbian, and was screened at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in 2006.[10] Film critic Jamie Stuart points to the film's lesbian overtones in Jane being played as a strong, independent woman who shares a house with a woman, the two of them painting "Calam and Katie" on its door.[10]Armond White sees the film as approaching sexuality in a way that Hollywood was not openly able to do, describing the empathy and envy (despite this resulting from conflict over a man) between Jane and Katie's characters as "a landmark display of girl-on-girl attraction."[11]Out magazine described the film's award-winning song, "Secret Love," as "the first gay anthem."[11] When asked about her award winning song being embraced by the gay community during a 2011 interview with The Advocate (magazine), Doris Day replied, "I was not aware of that, but that's wonderful."[12]
Accuracy
Though the film portrays Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok as lovers, historians have found no proof that they were more than acquaintances. Jane claimed after Hickok's death that she had not only been his lover but also his wife and the mother of his child, but she offered no substantiation of her claims. Many of her contemporaries considered her a teller of tall tales (as portrayed in the film to humorous effect) who exaggerated her links to more famous frontier figures, and some insisted Hickok did not even particularly like her. But when she died decades after Hickok, friends buried her beside him at her request; four of the men on the self-appointed committee who planned Calamity's funeral (Albert Malter, Frank Ankeney, Jim Carson, and Anson Higby) later stated that, since Hickok had "absolutely no use" for Jane in this life, they decided to play a posthumous joke on him by laying her to rest by his side.[13]
Related Research Articles
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James Butler Hickok, better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, cattle rustler, gunslinger, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement in many famous gunfights. He earned a great deal of notoriety in his own time, much of it bolstered by the many outlandish and often fabricated tales he told about himself. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation.
Deadwood is an American Western television series that aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three seasons and 36 episodes. The series is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before and after the area's annexation by the Dakota Territory, and charts Deadwood's growth from camp to town. The show was created, produced, and largely written by David Milch. Deadwood features a large ensemble cast headed by Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane, playing the real-life Deadwood residents Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen, respectively. Many other historical figures appear as characters, including George Crook, Wyatt Earp, E. B. Farnum, George Hearst, Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Sol Star, A. W. Merrick, Jack McCall, and Charlie Utter. The plot lines involving these characters include historical truths as well as substantial fictional elements. Milch used actual diaries and newspapers from 1870s Deadwood residents as reference points for characters, events, and the look and feel of the show.
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Martha Jane Canary, better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller. In addition to many exploits, she was known for being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok. Late in her life, she appeared in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show and at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. She is said to have exhibited compassion to others, especially to the sick and needy. This facet of her character contrasted with her daredevil ways and helped to make her a noted frontier figure. She was also known for her habit of wearing men's attire.
"The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away!)" is a song in the 1953 film Calamity Jane, written by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, and performed by Doris Day. It was also used in the London stage show Calamity Jane in 2003 and the musical based on Doris Day's greatest hits, A Sentimental Journey.
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References
↑ 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1954', Variety Weekly, January 5, 1955
↑ For music, lyrics and libretto of subsequent stage play and musical adapted after the Warner Bros Film, also see: Vocal score- "Calamity Jane (Operetta in Two Acts)" Amateur Operatic Version Warner Chappell Music Ltd copyright 2006 by Faber Music Ltd ( ISBN0-57152792-2). Libretto- "Calamity Jane A Musical Western" adapted by Ronald Hanmer & Phil Park from the stage play by Charles K. Freeman after the Warner Bros Film written by James O'Hanlon. Licensed to Josef Weinberger Ltd, London by arrangement with Tams-Witmark Music Library NYC. (Copyright 1962 by Tams-Witmark Music Library, New York. ISMN979-0-57005-498-5)
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