Annie Get Your Gun (1950) {Warner Archive Review}

Reviewed By Jason Lockard

Musicals! I was brought up on them. Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, and other amazing composers. Being entranced by such actors as Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and one of my dad's favorite Howard Keel! I can't count how many times we sat through Seven Brides for Seven Brothers because of my dad.

Howard Keel and Betty Hutton joined forces in 1950 for a film version of the 1946 musical "Annie Get Your Gun" which featured music by Irving Berlin. Now the good folks at Warner Archive have giving the classic musical a Blu-ray release this epic truly deserves.

The story follows Ohio backwoods-woman Annie Oakley (Betty Hutton) who realizes that she can outdo any man with a rifle. And that includes sharpshooter Frank Butler (Howard Keel), who just happens to be the star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Seeing how good she is Buffalo Bill (Louis Calhern) sees dollar signs and talks her into joining the show.

Annie and Frank have instant chemistry, but when Annie begins to gain notoriety Frank becomes jealous. While the Buffalo Bill show leaves for a European tour, Frank joins the rival show Pawnee Bill. These leave the Frank and Annie separated by a vast ocean and miserable without one another. Will they ever find themselves together again? You'll have to watch the film to find out!

Irving Berlin is at his best with such songs as "There's No Business Like Show Business", "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly", "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun", "They Say It's Wonderful", and "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)."

George Sidney and Busby Berkeley share the director's chair and together they produce and stunningly fun fast paced musical production. Howard Keel and Betty Hutton are spectacular in the roles of Frank and Annie. It is hard for me to imagine anyone else in these roles, they are that good.

The film has been transferred from a new 4K scan of an original nitrate negative! It is in 1080p in it's original full screen format aspect ratio in 1.37:1 with the audio is English 2.0 DTS-HDMA. The picture is a very nice upgrade from the previous DVD release. The picture is as crisp as a brand new 100 dollar bill and the colors are bright and pop off the screen. Than the audio is clear as a bell! There is no signs of pop or hiss, it sounds great with the music heavy sound track! 

Warner Archive did such an amazing job with the transfer of this classic musical. But that is not where they stopped with this release.. Oh No. They loaded up this Blu-ray with very cool bonus features. Let's take a look.

* 2000 DVD Introduction by Susan Lucci: This nearly five-minute introduction features her talking about the history of Annie Oakley on and off screen. This is a very nice bonus from an actress who played the part on Broadway herself.

* Outtake Musical Numbers: Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly,  I’m An Indian Too, Colonel Buffalo Bill and Let’s Go West Again

* Audio Only Outtakes: Colonel Buffalo Bill, Let’s Go West Again, There’s No Business Like Show Business

* Theatrical Trailer

A very cool point of these bonus features is that some of these songs features Judy Garland before she let go from the production because she clashed with the director and repeatedly showed up late or not at all.

In the final analysis Annie Get Your Gun is a rootin' tootin' shootin' good time for the whole family. Fans of classic musicals will love this release. And I have no doubt this Blu-ray is going to make new classic musical fans. 

If you love musicals as much as me you are going to want to pick up a copy of this amazing Blu-ray release of Annie Get Your Gun. Head over to Amazon.com and order your copy today.

Out of 4 Film Reels (4 Being the Best) Warner Archive's Blu-ray of Annie Get Your Gun receives...