Anyone who berates this harmless musical for being way off the mark when it comes to the facts is taking it far too seriously. This is a movie about a woman who appears to have had a genius for inventing, or at the very least embellishing, her many exploits so why shouldn't Hollywood also keep a very loose reign on history? Okay, so chances are, if her path ever crossed with that of Bill Hickock (and it's a big "if"), then it was probably only briefly and extremely doubtful that they were ever romantically involved. I like to think though, that had the real Calam ever seen Doris Day's portrayal of her she'd have been pleased with the way her legend has been captured by the big screen and enhanced every bit as liberally as it was by her. Not to mention being, perhaps, delighted by the fact that, in the movies at least, she actually did get her man.
In these politically correct times, there's also the portrayal of the Native Americans to be taken in to consideration and no doubt the PC brigade would want this film, along with just about every Western ever made, consigned to the nearest incinerator. But the truth of the matter is that, no matter how wrong they were in their outlook and treatment of the Indians, white settlers did fight them, were often terrified of them and terrorised by them, and did get into the sort of "cowboys 'n' injuns" scenarios portrayed in the film. It's only recently that we've come to realise that the American natives had plenty to be agrieved about and I doubt that Fifties Hollywood took this into account, let alone Calamity and her 19th century contemporaries.
Anyway, enough of the politics and onto the film itself. "Calamity Jane" is, to my mind, one of the finest musicals that Hollywood has ever produced. The performances are a delight, the songs and singing simply beautiful, it has a sparkling script, gorgeous costumes and the cinematography is just about faultless. It has action, comedy and romance in equal measure but somehow manages, probably because of the nature of Calam's rowdy character, not to be overly sentimental or slushy (a common problem in many musicals of the same era). In a nutshell, it's simply fabulous.
If you know nothing about the real Calamity Jane just sit back and enjoy this delightful film. If you do know a bit about her, suspend your disbelief, accept it for what it is and it'll probably leave you with a big grin on your face.
In these politically correct times, there's also the portrayal of the Native Americans to be taken in to consideration and no doubt the PC brigade would want this film, along with just about every Western ever made, consigned to the nearest incinerator. But the truth of the matter is that, no matter how wrong they were in their outlook and treatment of the Indians, white settlers did fight them, were often terrified of them and terrorised by them, and did get into the sort of "cowboys 'n' injuns" scenarios portrayed in the film. It's only recently that we've come to realise that the American natives had plenty to be agrieved about and I doubt that Fifties Hollywood took this into account, let alone Calamity and her 19th century contemporaries.
Anyway, enough of the politics and onto the film itself. "Calamity Jane" is, to my mind, one of the finest musicals that Hollywood has ever produced. The performances are a delight, the songs and singing simply beautiful, it has a sparkling script, gorgeous costumes and the cinematography is just about faultless. It has action, comedy and romance in equal measure but somehow manages, probably because of the nature of Calam's rowdy character, not to be overly sentimental or slushy (a common problem in many musicals of the same era). In a nutshell, it's simply fabulous.
If you know nothing about the real Calamity Jane just sit back and enjoy this delightful film. If you do know a bit about her, suspend your disbelief, accept it for what it is and it'll probably leave you with a big grin on your face.