Starring Mary Martin, John Raitt, Retta Shaw, and Donald Burr
Directed by Vincent J. Donehue
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Three years after Satins and Spurs failed to catch on, NBC tried another musical western, this time a Broadway adaptation with a somewhat more likely performer. Native Texan Mary Martin had been a stage star since the late 30's. She was a huge success in the 1947 national tour of Annie Get Your Gun, winning a special Tony for "bringing Broadway to the masses." After her Peter Pan was a ratings smash in 1955 and 1956, they returned to another role she was associated with. Does her version come off better than the 1950 theatrical release with Betty Hutton? Let's head to Ohio, where Buffalo Bill's (William O'Neal) Wild West Show has just gotten into town, and find out...
The Story: Annie Oakley (Martin) is the best shot in all of Ohio. She's so good, she shoots the stuffed bird off the hat belonging to Frank Butler's assistant Dolly Tate (Shaw). Manager Charlie Davenport (Burr) talks her into a marksmanship competition with their shooting star Frank Butler (Raitt) for them to win rooms at the local hotel.
After Annie beats Frank hands-down, Charlie and Frank convince her to join the show as another assistant. Frank is so delighted with her work, he's smitten with the straightforward young woman, until Charlie gives her an act of her own. She's heartbroken when he takes Dolly and her daughter Winnie (Barbara Luckey) and joins Pawnee Bill's (Robert Nash) rival show. Sitting Bull (Zachary Charles), on the other hand, adopts her into his tribe.
When Buffalo Bill's European tour produces acclaim but no profit, Sitting Bull comes up with the idea of putting the two shows together. Annie and Frank are all for it...until they start arguing about who's the better shot again. The duo finally take part in one last competition to see for once and for all who really is the best sharpshooter in the world.
The Song and Dance: At the very least, we get some songs that didn't make the cut in the film version and more of a sense of what this was originally like onstage. Raitt is a sexy and very manly Frank Butler and sings better than most of them. Reta Shaw makes the most of Dolly Tate's expanded role, including her reaction when Annie shoots that bird off her hat and her trying to sabotage her gun in the finale. Mary Martin sounds wonderful. Her "I Got Lost In His Arms" is especially lovely, and she works great with the kids.
Favorite Number: We open with the crowds cheering "Colonel Buffalo Bill" as Charlie and Dolly tout the delights of the Wild West Show. Frank claims "I'm a Bad, Bad Man" to the ladies as he boasts about being thrown out of half the towns in the Midwest. Annie and her siblings say they're only "Doin' What Comes Naturally" when she brings perfectly shot poultry to the hotel owner. Frank tells her that she's not enough woman for him. "The Girl That I Marry" will be feminine through and through. Annie laments that "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun."
Charlie, Frank, and Buffalo Bill convince Annie to join them with Irving Berlin's show business anthem, "There's No Business Like Show Business." After singing her siblings and two Native children to sleep with "Moonshine Lullaby," Annie's thrilled when Frank says he'll give her billing. They discuss how "They Say It's Wonderful" to be in love. Frank for his part can't believe "My Defenses are Down" and he's fallen for this straight-shooting hillbilly. Annie reprises "Show Business" in the spotlight in front of her image on the poster. Sitting Bull and his tribe literally kidnap her to appear in their big elaborate tribal dance. Annie seems more dazed by their "I'm an Indian Too" than anything.
Annie readily admits she's fallen for Frank, even if he isn't happy about her being a star. "I Got Lost In His Arms," she realizes when they arrive in New York. She sings "I Got the Sun In the Morning" with the crowd at the reception for Pawnee Bill's show after there's talk of merging the two Bills. She and Frank are less thrilled at their competition. Annie points out that "Anything You Can Do," she can do better - including trick shooting.
Trivia: This, too, was broadcast in color for those few who had color TVs in 1957. It was filmed at NBC's new color-equipped studios in Burbank and broadcast to New York. Unlike the Brooklyn studios, the Burbank Studios continue to be used for television filming, though they're no longer owned by NBC.
This would get a TV remake in 1967 based around the 1966 Lincoln Center revival, this time with original stage star Ethel Merman. Alas, that version remains lost at the moment other than one brief clip of her singing "I Got the Sun In the Morning."
What I Don't Like: First of all, the problems inherent in most versions of Annie pertain to this one, too. It still doesn't treat women and especially Natives well. The Native Americans are still played for comic relief, the lyrics on "I'm an Indian Too" are still condescending, and it's obvious even in the black and white kinetoscope currently available that they're all played by white actors in bad red makeup. It's also very far from historically accurate. In real life, Annie was a soft-spoken and gentle woman who did needlepoint, and Frank quickly realized she was the better shot and stepped down to become her manager.
Martin is too dainty and feminine to make a great Annie. She does better after Annie cleans up than in the opening when she's supposed to be a hillbilly. Though this does retain the characters of Winnie Tate and Tommy Keller, it eliminates their songs "I'll Share It All With You" and "Who Do You Love, I Hope?" leaving Barbara Luckey and Norman Edwards with nothing to do. And yeah, this is obviously a TV production, with cardboard sets and minimal movement besides two good dance routines on "I've Got the Sun In the Morning" and "I'm an Indian Too."
The Big Finale: If you love Martin or Annie Get Your Gun, this is worth seeing as a recording of most of the original show prior to that 1966 revamp.
Home Media: It is on DVD and Blu-Ray, but VAI's discs tend to be expensive. Your best bet currently may be YouTube.
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