12 Songs from Call Me Madam - Ethel Merman | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic 12 Songs from Call Me Madam AllMusic Rating google+ AllMusic Review by William Ruhlmann Call Me Madam, a fictionalized account of the life of Washington hostess and ambassador to Luxembourg Pearl Mesta, was Irving Berlin 's final hit Broadway musical. It was also his second collaboration with Ethel Merman , who had starred in his most successful show, Annie Get Your Gun. Opening October 12, 1950, Call Me Madam settled in for a run that eventually totaled 644 performances, making the commercial prospects of a cast album bright. Unfortunately, there was a glitch. The show had been financed by RCA Victor Records, who claimed the cast album. But Merman was an exclusive recording artist for Decca, one of RCA's major rivals. The result was two albums: RCA replaced Merman with Dinah Shore , while Decca replaced the rest of the original cast with Dick Haymes , Eileen Wilson , and a chorus.

The Decca album got out of the gate first and, featuring the show's star, was bound to be the more successful anyway; it just missed topping the charts. Merman is, of course, the recording's chief asset, as she belts out seven of the album's 12 songs (the original EP and 10" LP versions had only eight tracks, but they were quickly superseded by a 12-track 12" LP), including "The Hostess With the Mostes' on the Ball" and "The Best Thing for You." Her duet with Haymes , "You're Just in Love," was the hit of the show, reaching the Top 40. Haymes was in typically good voice on his solo, "Once Upon a Time Today." The best of the choral numbers was the prophetic "They Like Ike," which featured an unidentified soloist.

When MCA reissued the album for the CD era, it added the four songs Merman recorded in 1940 for the Cole Porter show Panama Hattie, among them the attractive duet with Joan Carroll, "Let's Be Buddies." Track Listing Annie Get Your Gun :: Rodgers & Hammerstein :: Show Details Like this page on facebook. Annie Get Your Gun Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin | Book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields Annie Oakley is the best shot around, and she manages to support her little brother and sisters by selling the game she hunts. When she's discovered by Col. Buffalo Bill, he persuades this novel sharpshooter to join his Wild West Show. It only takes one glance for her to fall head over heels for dashing shooting ace Frank Butler, who headlines the show. She soon eclipses Butler as the main attraction which, while good for business, is bad for romance. Butler hightails it off to join a rival show, his bruised male ego leading the way, but is ultimately pitted against Annie in a final shoot-out. The rousing, sure-fire finale hits the mark every time in a testament to the power of female ingenuity.

Biography: Annie Oakley Annie Oakley Biography Phoebe Ann Mosey (often misspelled as Mozee or Moses) was born in a log cabin in Darke County, Ohio, in 1860. She fired her first shot at the age of 8 and by age 12 was the chief provider for her large and hungry family. Thanks to her mastery of the rifle and shotgun, she paid off the mortgage on the Mosey homestead through the sale of surplus wild game to a Cincinnati hotel owner. The fame of this amazing little shooter exploded throughout Ohio and the mid-west when she defeated Frank Butler, vaudeville’s champion marksman and trick shot. Butler not only lost the match, he lost his heart to this shy little shooter. One year later, Frank and Annie were married. Frank felt certain husband and wife teams would face difficulty being booked by agents, and he and Annie decided that she should have a professional name. Annie chose "Oakley," after a kind and generous man who had befriended her in an earlier time of crisis. As Annie Oakley's fame grew, Frank realized his bride was attracting far more attention than he as she stunned audiences with her phenomenal accuracy.

He soon brought her to the attention of Nate Salsbury, the genius manager of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Frank withdrew from competition to concentrate on managing Annie’s career. Touring Europe with the Wild West Show in 1887, Annie twice gave private demonstrations for Queen Victoria, defeated Grand Duke Michael of Russia in a match arranged by the Prince of Wales, and in Berlin shot a cigarette from the lips of Kaiser Wilhelm. After a tragic train accident, Annie retired from the Wild West Show in 1901. She starred in a Broadway play, THE WESTERN GIRL, in 1902 and ’03. She also continued to perform at Charity events—Annie Oakley never refused a Charity request if the beneficiaries were either orphaned girls, deserving young women, or actors. Annie Oakley’s feats as a sharpshooter are legendary. At thirty paces she shot a dime from between her husband's thumb and forefinger with a .22 rifle and with this weapon could hit two-inch flying balls by sighting them in the shiny surface of a bowie knife.

Once she hit 943 out of 1000 flying balls in a rapid fire demonstration and, at the age of 56, using three double-barreled guns, punctured in midair six balls sprung from as many traps. Her prowess was immortalized in the lingo of Broadway when, in the pre-computerized days of hard tickets, complimentary tickets identified by the holes punched in them were called "Annie Oaklies" since they duplicated the holes Annie shot in flying playing cards. Annie Oakley died in Greenville, Ohio on November 3, 1926. Frank Butler died eighteen days later. They are buried side-by-side in Brock Cemetery, just a few miles from her birthplace. Bulls Eye: The Story of Annie Get Your Gun The musical that celebrates "doin’ what comes natur’lly" began with an idea that was an absolute natural: Ethel Merman as Annie Oakley. Bulls eye. The idea of doing a musical based on the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley originated with Dorothy Fields in the mid 1940s, who never considered anyone but her friend Ethel Merman for the lead.

(By this time Herbert and Dorothy Fields had co-authored four musicals for Merman, the most recent being SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS in 1943). Merman instantly agreed to take on the show, but when the Fields’ longtime producer Mike Todd turned the project down, they took it to a team of producers who, though novices in the field of producing, knew a thing or two about musicals nevertheless—Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Having scored with two folk American musicals of their own (OKLAHOMA! and CAROUSEL), Rodgers & Hammerstein were all too happy to sign on as producers of what was originally called ANNIE OAKLEY. Hammerstein's longtime partner Jerome Kern was to write the music, Dorothy Fields the lyrics, and Dorothy and Herbert were to co-author the book. Jerome Kern's sudden death in November of 1945 changed everything. Rather than scuttle plans for ANNIE OAKLEY, Rodgers, Hammerstein and the Fields turned instead towards finding the right team or person to take on the job of writing the score.

All four felt unanimously that there was one person absolutely right for the job, but since he wrote words as well as music, Dorothy Fields would have to relinquish her role as lyricist. She had no trouble making her decision—if Irving Berlin would write the score for ANNIE OAKLEY, Dorothy Fields would happily step aside. Irving Berlin had not written for Broadway since LOUISIANA PURCHASE in 1940, and, fresh from a patriotic three year stint with his revue THIS IS THE ARMY, he was at first skeptical that his unique style was still in fashion. The musical revolution that Rodgers & Hammerstein had fomented with OKLAHOMA! changed the rules, and Berlin wasn’t sure he wanted to play by them. Still, it made sense when Rodgers & Hammerstein suggested that Berlin borrow the script, look at it over the weekend and see if he couldn't come up with a tune or two. Berlin took their advice and the following Monday morning he came bounding into their office with three completed songs under his arms: "You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun," "Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly," and "There’s No Business Like Show Business." Bulls eye again.

Directed by Joshua Logan, with sets by Jo Mielziner and costumes by Lucinda Ballard, starring Ethel Merman as Annie Oakley and Ray Middleton as Frank Butler, and with a rousing new title, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN opened at the Imperial Theatre, New York, on May 16, 1946. It was a smash success and the critics cheered. "For verve and buoyancy, unslackening, there has seldom if ever been a show like it," said William Hawkins in the World Telegram. In the Post Vernon Rice declared "Irving Berlin has outdone himself this time. No use trying to pick a hit tune, for all the tunes are hits." Lewis Nichols of the New York Times modestly maintained that "it takes little gift of prophecy to add that [ANNIE GET YOUR GUN and Ethel Merman] will chant their saga of sharp-shooting for many months to come." In fact, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN ran on Broadway for an astounding 1,147 performances. (The first musical after OKLAHOMA!

to go over the 1000+ performance plateau, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN was, along with Rodgers & Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA!, SOUTH PACIFIC and THE KING AND I, part of the elite quartet of longest running musicals in Broadway's golden era.) Dolores Gray starred in the 1947 London production, which ran at the Coliseum for 1,304 performances. Mary Martin headed the U.S. national tour, which began in October of 1947 and travelled for nineteen months; she subsequently played Annie to John Raitt's Ray Butler in a 1957 NBC telecast. MGM released the movie version of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN in 1956; Betty Hutton starred (in a role originally slated for Judy Garland), and Howard Keel played Butler. In 1966 Ethel Merman re-created her role in a Music Theater of Lincoln Center production, presented by Richard Rodgers.

Irving Berlin wrote a new song for this production, "An Old Fashioned Wedding." In the years since, hundreds of actresses have played Annie Oakley, from Paris (ANNIE DU FAR-WEST) to Berlin (SCHIESS LOS, ANNIE!), from Evi Hayes in Melbourne, Australia to Chiemi Eri in Tokyo, Japan. ANNIE GET YOUR GUN has been seen in Kuala Lumpur, Zimbabewe, Venezuela and throughout Europe. The R&H Theatre Library, which licenses productions of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, estimates that 450 productions are given in the United States every year. In the 1990s ANNIE GET YOUR GUN kept "doin’ what comes natur’lly" with a sumptuous studio recording from EMI Records, featuring Kim Criswell and Thomas Hampson under the musical direction of John McGlinn; a U.S. national tour starring Cathy Rigby, directed by Susan Schulman, which originated at the Houston Grand Opera in July 1992 and toured throughout the following year; and a U.K. national tour and West End production starring Kim Criswell and John Dierdrich.

At the end of the 20th century Annie Oakley aimed her bullets over Broadway once more, with a Tony winning revival starring Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat. Opening in April 1999, it ran on Broadway for over two and a half years, and spawned a successful national tour. In its second year, country music star Reba McEntire made her Broadway debut in the title role, and took the town by storm. "Berlin’s greatest achievement in the theater," wrote New York Post critic Clive Barnes about the ’99 revival, "should carry ANNIE GET YOUR GUN happily into the next century and a bit beyond. It will always be a musical for the ages, one of the Broadway theater’s enduring triumphs." Barrett, Mary Eillin. Irving Berlin: A Daughter’s Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994; (Paperback) Limelight Editions, 1996. Bordman, Gerald. American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle, expanded. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980. Green, Stanley. The World of Musical Comedy. Rev. Ed. Cranbury, New Jersey: A.S.

Barnes, 1968. Logan, Joshua. Josh: An Autobiography. New York: Delacorte Press, 1976. Merman, Ethel with George Eells. Merman: An Autobiography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1978. Riley, Glenda. The Life and Legend of Annie Oakley. University of Oklahoma Press, 1994. Rodgers, Richard. Musical Stages: An Autobiography. New York: Da Capo Press, 1995. Barrett, Mary Eillin. Irving Berlin: A Daughter’s Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994; (Paperback) Limelight Editions, 1996. Bordman, Gerald. American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle, expanded. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980. Green, Stanley. The World of Musical Comedy. Rev. Ed. Cranbury, New Jersey: A.S. Barnes, 1968. Logan, Joshua. Josh: An Autobiography.

New York: Delacorte Press, 1976. Merman, Ethel with George Eells. Merman: An Autobiography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1978. Riley, Glenda. The Life and Legend of Annie Oakley. University of Oklahoma Press, 1994. Rodgers, Richard. Musical Stages: An Autobiography. New York: Da Capo Press, 1995. Donaldson Awards Call Me Madam - The Guide to Musical Theatre Call Me Madam Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, book by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse Imperial Theatre, Broadway - Oct. 12, 1950 644 (perfs) London Coliseum, 15 March, 1952 One of the great musicals of all time - the story of Sally Adams, "The hostess with the mostest", who becomes US Ambassador to the tiny duchy of Lichtenburg, captivating the handsome Prime Minister and encouraging the romance of her aide with an enchanting young Princess.

Of course, the 'stuffed shirts' in Washington conspire to get her recalled, but all ends happily, helped along by songs such as "You're Just in Love", "It's A Lovely Day Today" and "Marrying For Love". Synopsis The action of this play, according to the authors, is laid in the two mythical countries of Lichtenburg and the United States of America, and tells the story of Sally Adams, an exuberant, wealthy widow appointed Madam Ambassador to the Grand Duchy. Her outrageous lack of knowledge of etiquette and tradition makes most amusing entertainment. Sally Adams has such songs as "The Hostest With the Mostest", Washington Square Dance", Can You Use Any Money Today?", "The Best Thing For You Is Me" and "You're Just In Love". All of these, though undemanding in range, need punching delivery by a full-voiced mezzo. Other numbers are "The Ocarina", "Once Upon a Time Today" and the famous "It's A Lovely Day Today" shared by the juvenile girl and boy, both of whom should be competent singers and move well.

The role of Cosmo Constantine, who becomes Prime Minister of the Duchy calls for an actor with baritone voice. There are many small, non-singing roles including an excellent opportunity for two elderly performers in the roles of the Grand Duke and Duchess who make their first appearance just before the end of the play to prove that Madam Ambassador, despite her unorthodox behaviour is, after all, a very great diplomat. The dignified playing of this little episode provides great contrast to the brashness that has preceded it and makes a delightful climax. The master craftsman who created Annie Get Your Gun serves not only his principals as well in Call Me Madam but is equally kind to his chorus. He gives them some excellent ensembles on their own, demanding nothing in return except good signing from medium range voices, fine diction and a sense of modern rhythm. Story: Sally Adams, Washington's "hostess with the mostes'," is named Ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Lichtenburg - a tiny kingdom steeped in royal custom and rapidly changing coalition governments. Kenneth Gibson, an eager young diplomat, is assigned to be her aide. True to her almost total disrespect for protocol, Sally arrives late in Lichtenburg.

There she encounters foreign minister Cosmo Constantine, not, however, to the degree her romantic nature would like. Worse yet, Cosmo refuses American foreign aid. Sally gets talked into a scheme to get Cosmo elevated to Prime Minister to make way for a new foreign minister eager to accept American money to "save" the country. When the loan is all but consummated, Cosmo finds out about it and resigns. This ruins all possibilities for another coalition, and the country must hold its first general election in twenty years. Sally openly campaigns for Cosmo, forcing her recall to Washington for becoming involved in another government's internal affairs. Kenneth, too, commits a grave diplomatic error by falling in love with the Princess Maria and arranging secret meetings with her. However, a spirit of democracy is over Lichtenburg. The princess is granted permission to ask Kenneth to marry her. Elected Prime Minister, Cosmo visits Sally in Washington to grant her the royal order of Dame and revive their "acquaintance." Cast: 6 men, 3 women, (20 speaking parts, 8 principals), chorus Sally Adams, carries the show with good acting and powerful voice. Kenneth, strong, handsome singer.

OPENING CHORUS AND DANCE "Mrs. Sally Adams" SONG (Sally) "The Hostess with the Mostes' on the Ball " ENCORE (Sally) "The Hostess with the Mostes' on the Ball " SONG AND DANCE (Sally and Chorus) "The Washington Square Dance" MUSIC TO CHANGE SCENE. SONG (Cosmo and Chorus) "Lichtenburg" SONG (Sally) "Can you use any money today " DUET (Cosmo and Sally) "Marrying for love " FANFARE-OPENING SCENE 6 .

SONG and DANCE (Princess Maria and Chorus) "The Ocarina" DUET (Kenneth and Princess Mama) "It's a lovely day today" ENCORE-SONG AND DANCE (Kenneth and Chorus) "It's a lovely day today" CORRIDOR SCENE REPRISE (Kenneth and Princess Maria) "It's a lovely day today" SONG (Sally) "The best thing for you " FINALE-ACT I (Sally) "Can you use any money today?" ENTR'ACTE SONG AND DANCE (Sally and Chorus) "Something to dance about" REPRISE "Something to dance about" SONG (Kenneth) "Once upon a time, today " TRIO (Wilkins, Brockbank and Gallagher) "They like Ike " REPRISE-DUET (Kenneth and Princess Maria) "It's a lovely day today" DUET (Kenneth and Sally) "(I wonder why) You're just in love " ENCORES (ad lib) "(I wonder why) You're just in love " REPRISE (Sally) "The best thing for you " REPRISE "The best thing for you "

 REPRISE-DUET (Kenneth and Princess Maria) "It's a lovely day today " REPRISE (Chorus) "Mrs.

Sally Adams" FINALE (Sally and Chorus) "You're just in love " CURTAIN MUSIC Instrumentation: Reed I (flute, piccolo, clarinet, alto sax), Reed II (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax), Reed III (clarinet, oboe, cor anglais, tenor sax), Reed IV (flute, clarinet, tenor sax), Reed V (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax, bassoon), horn, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, piano, guitar, percussion, strings. Scenes and settings: 2 acts, 13 scenes, 5 full stage sets, 3 drop sets, which are a series of painted cloth panels rather than 1-piece drops, and 1 partial stage set (Sally's sitting room in Lichtenburg). ACT I Scene 1: Office of the Secretary of State. Scene 2: Sally's Living Room in Washington. Scene 3: Public Square in Lichtenburg. Scene 4: Reception Room in the American Embassy. Scene 5: Public Square in Lichtenburg. Scene 6: The Lichtenburg Fair.

Scene 7: A Corridor in the Palace. Scene 8: Sally's Sitting Room in the Embassy. ACT II Scene 1: The Public Square. Scene 2: The Embassy Garden. Scene 3: The Public Square. Scene 4: Sally's Sitting Room. Scene 5: Sally's Living Room in Washington. Period and costumes: The mid-1950's in two mythical countries; one is called Lichtenburg, the other the United States of America: Washington party gowns and formal wear, Bright folk costumes, Ethel Merman | The Official Masterworks Broadway Site Ethel Merman Search Ethel Merman (b. Queens, NY, January 16, 1908; d. New York City, February 15, 1984) was probably the most successful musical comedy performer of the twentieth century.

Admired for her brassy, dauntless mezzo-soprano, precision pitch, and crystal-clear diction, she was a favorite of songwriters George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter, who wrote some of their best songs specifically for her: “I Got Rhythm,” “You’re the Top,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” and her signature “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Between 1930 and 1959 she created thirteen roles on Broadway, among them Reno Sweeney, Annie Oakley, Sally Adams, and Mama Rose. Although when these roles migrated to the big screen Merman was usually not called upon to play them, she did make about twenty movies and, in later years, appeared frequently on television. Ethel Agnes Zimmermann was born in her maternal grandmother’s house in Astoria, Queens. Her father, a Lutheran, was an accountant and amateur keyboard player, and her mother, a Scottish Presbyterian, taught school. Ethel was brought up Episcopalian. Although she never had music lessons, she began performing while still a child: during World War I she would sing for soldiers at local military installations.

She attended public schools, and after graduating from high school became a secretary (for the B-K Booster Vacuum Brake Company) – but moonlighted in nightclubs as a singer. Removing some letters from her last name, she went into vaudeville, playing the Palace Theatre in New York, and made her debut on the legitimate stage in 1930, in George and Ira Gershwin’s Girl Crazy. While the show was in its 272-performance run, Merman began to make short films at Paramount’s cartoon studio, then located in Astoria. At the end of 1930, her first feature-length movie, Follow the Leader, was released. By 1933 she had appeared in three successful Broadway shows and had scored two hit records (“How Deep Is the Ocean,” “Eadie Was a Lady”). She was ready for Hollywood. She starred with Bing Crosby in We’re Not Dressing (1934) and with Eddie Cantor in Kid Millions (1934), which gave her another hit song.

Back on Broadway she had her greatest success to date in Cole Porter’s Anything Goes (1934), introducing “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Blow Gabriel Blow,” and the title song. Ethel Merman would star in four more Cole Porter shows, Red, Hot and Blue (with Bob Hope and Jimmy Durante, 1936), DuBarry Was a Lady (1939), Panama Hattie (1940), and Something for the Boys (1943). Commuting between the coasts until the end of 1938, Merman made another film with Eddie Cantor, a movie version of Anything Goes with Bing Crosby, and three films for 20th-Century Fox, including Irving Berlin’s anthology Alexander’s Ragtime Band. Then turning her back on the film industry, she returned to Broadway; successes like Panama Hattie were followed by ever greater triumphs, Annie Get Your Gun (1946–49) and Call Me Madam, for which she won the 1951 Tony Award® for Best Actress.

The songs for the latter two shows, as well as those for another Merman film vehicle, There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954), were by the great and long-lived Irving Berlin, who always contributed a show-stopping duet for his stars, like “Anything You Can Do” in Annie Get Your Gun (as well as “An Old-Fashioned Wedding” for its 1966 revival), or “You’re Just in Love” in Call Me Madam. Clearly, although Merman was notorious for upstaging her fellow actors, she was dynamite as a duettist. Merman first appeared on television in 1953 in The Ford 50th Anniversary Show, singing a duet with her friend and rival Mary Martin. Many years later Merman and Martin starred together in a one-night-only concert in New York, Ethel Merman and Mary Martin, Together on Broadway.

Merman’s 1960 performance as Mama Rose in Gypsy (“Everything’s Coming Up Roses”), both on Broadway in 1960 and on a subsequent national tour, is rated by some as her greatest triumph, but she lost the Tony® that year to Martin, who was playing Maria in The Sound of Music. In the ’60s she returned to nightclub performing, playing Las Vegas in 1962, had two small roles in films, appeared many times on television, led the revival of Annie Get Your Gun, and toured in Call Me Madam. In 1976 she appeared in Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood and in 1980, Airplane! – both of these were small parody roles. Merman married William Jacob Smith, a theatrical agent, in 1940, but the marriage lasted hardly a year. Newspaperman Robert Levitt was her second husband, and the father of her two children, Ethel (1942) and Robert, Jr. (1945). She and Levitt were divorced in 1952, whereupon she married Continental Airlines president Robert F. Six.

This marriage lasted nearly eight years; her fourth and last, to actor Ernest Borgnine in 1964, lasted only thirty-eight days. In 1970 as the eighth and last Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!, a show that had been written with her in mind, Merman said farewell to Broadway: “Broadway has been very good to me. But then, I’ve been very good to Broadway.” She was honored in 1972 with a Special Tony® Award. She continued to make television appearances, released the infamous and unexpectedly popular Ethel Merman Disco Album in 1979, and sang at Carnegie Hall in 1982. She died in 1984 of a brain tumor. Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun & Call Me Madam - Microsoft Store Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun & Call Me Madam 1959 Marathon Media International Ltd. Format MP3 MP3 download When you buy an album or a song, you can also download it on Android, Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows Phone 8.

Portions of content provided by - © 2017 Rovi Corporation Call Me Madam by Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor & George Sanders on Apple Music 11 Songs Album Review Call Me Madam, a fictionalized account of the life of Washington hostess and ambassador to Luxembourg Pearl Mesta, was Irving Berlin's final hit Broadway musical. It was also his second collaboration with Ethel Merman, who had starred in his most successful show, Annie Get Your Gun. Opening October 12, 1950, Call Me Madam settled in for a run that eventually totaled 644 performances, making the commercial prospects of a cast album bright. Unfortunately, there was a glitch. The show had been financed by RCA Victor Records, who claimed the cast album. But Merman was an exclusive recording artist for Decca, one of RCA's major rivals. The result was two albums: RCA replaced Merman with Dinah Shore, while Decca replaced the rest of the original cast with Dick Haymes, Eileen Wilson, and a chorus. The Decca album got out of the gate first and, featuring the show's star, was bound to be the more successful anyway; it just missed topping the charts.

Merman is, of course, the recording's chief asset, as she belts out half of the album's songs (the original EP and 10" LP versions had only eight tracks, but they were quickly superseded by a 12-track 12" LP), including "Marrying for Love" and "The Best Thing for You." Her duet with Haymes, "You're Just in Love," was the hit of the show, reaching the Top 40. Haymes was in typically good voice on his solo, "Once Upon a Time Today." Biography Born: January 16, 1908 in New York, NY [Astoria] Genre: Vocal Years Active: '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s Ethel Merman was the leading American musical theater performer of her generation, creating roles in 13 Broadway musicals between 1930 and 1959, and continuing to appear in shows occasionally through 1970.

Her clarion voice and exact enunciation were perfect for an era when a stage performer was required to sing loud enough to be heard at the back of the theater without amplification. That made her a favorite of the leading songwriters of the day, and she introduced some of the most memorable songs... Top Albums and Songs by Ethel Merman 1. Call Me Madam :: Rodgers & Hammerstein :: Show Details Like this page on facebook. Call Me Madam Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin | Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse Once President Harry S. Truman appointed Washington hostess Perle Mesta as Ambassador to Luxembourg, the foundation was laid for a musical comedy that would kid politics-foreign and domestic alike. Ambassador Sally Adams, with slim credentials, is sent off to administer in the tiny duchy of Lichtenburg. It's not long before her down-to-earth, typically undiplomatic manner has surprised and charmed the local gentry, especially the handsome Prime Minister. A second romance is blossoming between her young Ivy League aid and Lichtenburg's enchanting young Princess.

The course of love is threatened by the stuffy opposition, who eventually succeed in wrangling Sally's recall, but not before all has resolved happily for both pairs of lovers. About CALL ME MADAM By Robert Kimball October 12, 1950. War was raging in Korea. The US Army had advanced north of the 38th parallel. Harry S. Truman was flying to Wake Island in the Pacific for the first-ever meeting with General Douglas MacArthur. Back home, rainfall was dampening New York’s Columbus Day parade. Americans were listening to "Goodnight, Irene" and Bing and Gary Crosby's interpretation of a 1914 song by Irving Berlin, "Play a Simple Melody." And Berlin's new musical, CALL ME MADAM, was opening at New York's Imperial Theater with an advance of over one million dollars, by far the largest in Broadway history. CALL ME MADAM was the summer-of-1949 brainchild of writers Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a presidential election, STATE OF THE UNION, was a triumph of the 1945-46 theatrical season.

It was President Truman’s appointment of noted party-giver Perle Mesta as Ambassador of Luxembourg that gave them the idea for MADAM. Ethel Merman was a natural choice for the starring role, having been the leading lady of Lindsay & Crouse’s first Broadway collaboration, ANYTHING GOES (1934), and Berlin’s most recent hit ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1946). Leland Hayward, who presented STATE OF THE UNION, MR. ROBERTS and SOUTH PACIFIC, was the producer. George Abbott directed. Jerome Robbins staged the musical numbers.

While CALL ME MADAM was not really in big trouble during its mid-September 1950 New Haven break-in, it needed work and received what Variety’s Hobe Morrison, an ardent cheerleader, described as "a heroic job of tryout doctoring." One important change occurred when the 26-year-old juvenile lead, Russell Nype, scored a sensational success singing "It's a Lovely Day Today." Merman, noting the cheers for Nype, whose crew cut made him look as if he’d just stepped off a college campus, said to Berlin, "I want a duet with the kid!" She got it—the show-stopping double song "You’re Just in Love" was fashioned in a hotel room in less than two days. A month later Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times, "When Miss Merman and Mr. Nype sing "You’re Just in Love," which is Mr. Berlin’s top achievement for the evening, CALL ME MADAM throws a little stardust around the theatre and sets the audience roaring." Both Merman and Nype went on to win Tony Awards for their performances.

Another change occurred a few days later in Boston when Robbins told Berlin that the second act needed "something to dance about." Berlin took Robbins at his word and promptly gave him a song with that very title. Years later Berlin told me, "One of the many reasons I love Jerome Robbins is that he always seems to know what to fix and how to fix it, but just as important he knows what to leave alone." RCA was MADAM's sole investor, putting up the entire $225,000 plus $30,000 needed for union bonds in order to secure all radio, television and cast album rights. The top ticket price, $7.20, was the highest on Broadway at that time CALL ME MADAM received generally splendid reviews and notched up 644 performances. A national tour followed featuring Elaine Stritch and Kent Smith. Two London productions were mounted, one with an American, Billie Worth, and another with England’s own Dora Bryan. 20th Century Fox released the film version starring Ethel Merman, George Sanders, Donald O’Connor and Vera-Ellen in 1953.

In 1995, Tyne Daly lead a glorious concert revival at New York City Center's ENCORES! series, leading to a cast recording from DRG Records, and sparkling numerous revivals, including a Papermill Playhouse (Millburn, N.J) production in 1996 starring Leslie Uggams. Tony Awards Dear Ed: Following is the story behind I Like Ike. In 1948 when the talk of Eisenhower for President started, I wrote a chorus of a song called I Like Ike as a campaign number. The first version was a straight campaign song. I thought then that the traditional fear of a military man in the White House would be a big issue, so one of the couplets in that original version was -- 'With so many treasures in our back yard/It's good to have a soldier standing guard' Talk about Eisenhower for President died down and I forgot about the song. When CALL ME MADAM came along I saw a spot in Lindsay and Crouse's script where we could use the Ike number as a comedy song. I then rewrote it and switched I to They. The rest of the story you know. Ike came to the opening night and he seemed to enjoy it.

I never dreamed it would be embarrassing to him. In any event, the number started going better with each performance and I realized after a while that it was based on the warm feeling we all had for General Eisenhower. After the convention, I had to change the lyrics and kept on changing them from then on to fit every change in the political situation. If you do this Sunday night, I suggest having Pat Harrington, Ralph Chambers and Jay Velie do the version that they did the opening night at the Imperial Theater. Good Luck and many thanks. Playbill VIP : MAKE YOUR OWN PLAYBILL! Playbill VIP allows you to create your very own Playbill Program. We have provided Playbill with all of the credits, song listings, musical numbers and more so that most of the work is already done for you. Just add your productions details, photos of the cast and share it with all of your friends. Learn more: STANDARD Call Me Madam Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 21 out of 22 people found the following review useful: Broadway's greatest musical legend repeats her classic stage role!

from United States 16 July 2004 In her 60 year career, Ethel Merman only made two appearances in musical versions of her Broadway hits. The first was a much altered version of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" in 1936, and the second was this striking and colorful musical, "Call Me Madam", by the legendary Irving Berlin. Ann Sothern and Lucille Ball were cast by MGM in two of her other Cole Porter hits, "Panama Hattie" and "DuBarry Was a Lady", while Betty Hutton was a second choice after Judy Garland to play Annie Oakley in "Annie Get Your Gun!". Over a decade later, Rosalind Russell was given her role of Mama Rose in "Gypsy". Fortunately, 20th Century Fox saw fit to cast Merman in the film version of "Call Me Madam", giving her a rare leading film role after they had cast her in supporting roles in movie musicals of the late 1930's.

The Broadway hit had co-starred Oscar Winner Paul Lukas and Russell Nype, and for the film version, Oscar Winner George Sanders took over for Lukas, and Donald O'Connor, after his triumph in "Singin' in the Rain" and the "Francis the Talking Mule" films, replaced Nype. For the role of the Princess, originated on Broadway by Tamara Geva, Fox cast the pretty Vera-Ellen. However, the film is all Merman's as she sings, clowns, and bounces all over the fictional duchy of Lichtenberg. For the record, two small duchys of the time, Luxemborg and Lichtenstein, were combined into one to fictionalize the setting. The spoof of Pearl Mesta, American ambassador to Luxemborg, seemed appropriate for a musical, and Merman, after her triumph as Annie Oakley, was the perfect choice to spoof someone she actually knew. As Mrs. Sally Adams, Washington Hostess turned Ambassador, Merman turns the duchy upside down, and gets a charming lover in the process.

George Sanders, usually cast as despicable villains (films such "Rebecca" and "All About Eve"), is cast against type, but is perfect with his suave charm. His villains also had charm in spite of their calculating manner. He also displays a fine singing voice, and does a remarkable job in spite of the fact that this is Merman's show all the way. As the younger lovers, Donald O'Connor and Vera-Ellen have some nice dance numbers, most notably "Something to Dance About", but the musical highlight is O'Connor and Merman's duet, "You're Just in Love". Merman shines in "The Hostess With the Mostess" and the interpolated "International Rag" (which replaced "Washington Square Dance" from the original show), while O'Connor almost tops his "Make Em' Laugh" number with "What Chance of I With Love?", an Irving Berlin song originally heard in the 1941 musical "Lousiana Purchase". The very charming and colorful "Ocarina" number gives Vera-Ellen her chance to shine, and is well staged in the confines of a movie camera.

Berlin's lyrics are just as good as his "Annie Get Your Gun" score, and the book by Russell Crouse and Leland Hayward delightfully spoofed America's constant gifts of money to poorer countries. In fact, Merman has several comical phone conversations with President Harry S. Truman (who actually had left office by the time this film was released), and while the comments about Margaret Truman's acting career may seem dated, they become funnier with each passing phone conversation. In supporting roles are Billy DeWolfe as Merman's stuffy assistant, Walter Slezak as the Minister of Finance, Ludwig Stossel as the Grand Duke, and Lila Skala (later the head nun of "Lillies of the Field") who says not a word as his wife. Director Walter Lang did an outstanding job bringing the film to the big screen, and the dances by Robert Alton are outstanding as well. Every aspect of the film is done with care; costumes and scenery give the viewer a feeling of a more peaceful time in the world (even though it was less than a decade after World War II had ended), and some viewers might be reminded of the classic operettas being done on Broadway just a decade before.

However, once Merman's vibrant personality takes over, there is no question that we are not in Sigmund Romberg territory; This is the Americana of Irving Berlin with brassy Merman, suave Sanders, rubber-legged O'Connor, and sweet Vera-Ellen. I first saw "Call Me Madam" back in 1982 at a summer classic movie retrospective where the audience applauded as if they were seeing a live performance. It turned up a decade later on cable with tons of commercials, but until the introduction of the Fox Movie Channel, it seemed to be one of those rare movies unavailable for viewing. Now it has also made its way onto DVD. Merman deservedly won a Golden Globe for her performance, but was sadly overlooked for an Oscar Nomination. Perhaps, like Carol Channing, she is too big for the big screen, and comes across better on stage. Still, she was neglected in films, and "Call Me Madam" will remain a vibrant and colorful record of what this great lady did best-to entertain and make the world forget its troubles. In some scenes, she can even tear your heart out.

While her follow-up Fox film, "There's No Business Like Show Business", is enjoyable for what it is, it is "Call Me Madam" that gives her the biggest chance to shine on screen. Was the above review useful to you? 16 out of 18 people found the following review useful: O'Connor and Merman Shine from Washington, DC 11 May 2004 Both Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor suffered from the same misfortune -- lack of quality movie roles to showcase their extraordinary gifts. In O'Connor's case, it was because from childhood up into his middle twenties he was contracted by Universal Studios which, up 'til that time, produced "B" movies, suitable for coming into an air-cooled movie theater on a hot summer's day, but not much else. He always shone brightly, however, even in those early films, but not 'til Singin' In The Rain -- and Call Me Madam -- did he get the chance to glitter in great "A" material. Ethel Merman, the greatest of the Broadway greats had expansive mannerisms, stereophonic lungs, and irrepressable exhuberance, and was not considered cinema material by the powers that be.

See how wrong the powers can be? O'Connor and Merman together in this film make it great -- his dancing, her voice, their personalities blending in just the right way. Great movie with two great leads -- don't miss "Call Me Madam"! Was the above review useful to you? 17 out of 20 people found the following review useful: Madame Ambassador from New York 2 August 2004 Thanks to the Fox Movie Channel one can rediscover forgotten things that don't show on television these days. It was a royal treat to have this film play the other night. We had seen the film years ago, but one forgets how much fun it was and how it still can delight anyone at all. It helps a great deal this musical score was written by Irving Berlin, perhaps one of the most talented American composers of all times. The music of "Call Me Madam" can't be considered his best, but it pleases the viewer when it plays on the screen. The direction by Walter Lang also was an asset; even though it's filmed musical theater, it doesn't feel claustrophobic. Ethel Merman was a magnificent star of the New York Broadway stage.

She was a legend in the way she could sing a song and she could be heard in the whole theater; no mikes for Ms. Merman!. She was an original who was a consumed entertainer; she graced many musicals during her lifetime. It shows how foolish Hollywood was in not letting Ms. Merman repeat some of the same roles she created for the theater. It's sad, but it's a great loss. Donald O'Connor does some of his best work in films in the movie. He plays well against Ms. Merman, as well as against Vera Ellen, his love interest in the film. Mr. O'Connor and Ms. Ellen are charming in their roles. A great surprise was to see George Sanders, a man who played heavies, or cynical characters on the screen, singing and acting with enough suavity to charm Ms. Merman. Also in the cast, Walter Slezak, Billy DeWolfe, who are also effective in their supporting roles. This is a film that will delight anyone looking for a pleasant time watching a delightful musical. Was the above review useful to you?

13 out of 14 people found the following review useful: Ethel's Finest Moment from United States 24 August 2004 Carol Channing, Mary Martin, Ethel Merman - the three biggest stars of Broadway between 1940 and 1970, and none made as big an imprint in movies. This seems to be a running sore in cinematic history - so few stage stars were great film figures. Some, like George M. Cohan, did not like the restrictive effects of movie making, and made few stabs at film (though, fortunately, Cohan made THE PHANTOM PRESIDENT in 1932). Others just seemed to weak on film. The great Pauline Lord made one movie, the pathetic MISS WIGGS OF CABBAGE PATCH, which (if recalled at all) is remembered as a film "starring" (he was actually in a supporting role) W.C.Fields. Channing, star of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDS watched while that role went to Marilyn Monroe, and star of HELLO DOLLY watched as that role went to Barbara Streisand.

Martin, star of SOUTH PACIFIC saw Mitzi Gaynor play Nellie Forbush, and star of THE SOUND OF MUSIC saw the role of Maria Von Trapp become identified with Julie Andrews. Merman with credits like ANYTHING GOES, PANAMA HATTIE, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, and GYPSY, only was able to keep the role of Reno Sweeny in ANYTHING GOES, when it was first made into a film in the 1930s. She was fortunate to also have the role of Sally the ambassador in CALL ME MADAM on film. It was a rarity, because she knew the part and was able to shine in a film adaptation. It's success probably enabled her to get another lead in the musical THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS. But the latter film, despite her good work in it (and Dan Dailey's, Mitzi Gaynor, and Donald O'Connor's)is recalled because Marilyn Monroe sang "We're Having a Heat Wave". Merman never led in another musical film again, and would be overlooked for GYPSY (when Rosalind Russell got the part).

At least here and in the first ANYTHING GOES we see how she handled stage roles in her career. Mary Martin was less successful, her film record of her stagecraft limited to the scene in the first Cole Porter biopic NIGHT AND DAY, when she sings the song MY HEART BELONGS TO DADDY as she did on stage (unfortunately two of her chorus, Gene Kelly and Van Johnson, were not asked to repeat their chorus boy parts). There is the television version of PETER PAN, which is on video. It's fortunate that exists (there is also some songs from SOUTH PACIFIC that were sung with Ezio Pinza on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW). The rest is silence. As for Channing, the only time she appeared in a movie musical, it was as the wacky aunt of Mary Tyler Moore in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE (a movie not based on any stage musical). Channing had little singing to do in it. So Merman was able to do one great performance on film. CALL ME MADAM, a musical spoof on the career of political hostess Pearl Mesta, was a charming little musical (no ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, though).

It's best musical moment is the duet with Donald O'Connor (I HEAR MUSIC BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE), and it is a romantic piece of fluff. Nice also to see George Sanders playing a decent chap for a change. But watching Merman at her best, makes one regret what was not captured on film of her other performances. Ironically, that great singing voice is best recalled as a "loud-mouth broad" voice from Merman's best remembered role: the obnoxious mother-in-law of Milton Berle in IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD. Was the above review useful to you? 10 out of 10 people found the following review useful: The Ultimate Ethel Merman Performance in a Movie from Cincinnati, Ohio 25 February 2004 I remember seeing Call Me Madam as a teenager when it first came out as a movie in 1953. There was the great Ethel Merman on the screen. I had never heard of her before as to who she was, but I saw the movie so many times that it is still very vivid in my mind.

Always yelling "Hello Harry" every time the phone rang, when Billy De Wolfe tried to tell her that one of his jobs was to tell her how to dress, and she looked at him in his outfit with striped pants and quipped, "You're going to tell me how to dress? Your coat and pants don't even match!" But, the surprise of the movie was George Sanders singing especially his song "Marrying for Love". Who would have known that he had such a rich baritone voice. This was probably Vera Ellen's best movie including "Three Little Words" with Fred Astaire. She and Donald O'Connor were perfect in their dance numbers together. Ethel Merman's rendition of "The International Rag" was brassy and sassy the way only Ethel Merman could deliver it with the end of the song singing, "Oh, oh! Wiggle your personality!" and someone in the audience said, "She sure can wiggle it; can't she?" It was if as soon as you sat down to watch this wonderful musical, it was time to leave the theater. I understand that the film is finally going to be released on Video. It's about time.

I'll buy one copy to look at and another to keep just in case. Wonderful entertainment. One of the best! Was the above review useful to you? 13 out of 16 people found the following review useful: That Hostess With The Mostess from Buffalo, New York 28 October 2006 Movie audiences got a treat in Call Me Madam because they got to see Ethel Merman repeat one of two of her Broadway roles for the screen, the other being in the first Anything Goes. For some reason, movie audiences never really took to Ethel. She did some parts during the Thirties, but in the Forties worked exclusively on Broadway. Mary Martin suffered a similar fate and we never got to see any of her Broadway starring roles with the exception of the famous telecast of Peter Pan. Irving Berlin wrote the score for Call Me Madam and the book is based on the colorful life of Perle Mesta, famous Washington socialite who Harry Truman made ambassador to Luxembourg. That's the way of things in Washington. Both parties with a new administration give ambassadorships out to wealthy contributors and Perle Mesta, an oil widow was one of the wealthiest.

Ethel is appointed by President Truman as Ambassador to the mythical duchy of Lichtenburg. Her rather informal style sets some professional State Department teeth rattling and during the course of the film both causes and solves a diplomatic crisis. Her personal assistant, Donald O'Connor is in her corner, but the chief of Protocol Billy DeWolfe is at his wit's end. Both Ethel and Donald find romance in Lichtenburg, she with Count George Sanders and he with Vera-Ellen. When things aren't looking so good, they console each other with the hit song of Call Me Madam, You're Just In Love. This is what you call a contrapuntal melody with both members of the duet singing different melodies at the same time. At the same time this one was hitting the jukeboxes, another contrapuntal by Berlin, Play A Simple Melody was revived by Bing Crosby and his son Gary. To my knowledge no other major composer has ever had a hit with one of those. George Sanders surprised quite a few folks with his singing voice. They needn't have been, he in fact had appeared in some musicals on the London stage before going into film.

And he drops the sneer that usually accompanies most of us film characters and makes a most dashing and romantic count. Dropped from the film version was Irving Berlin's tribute to Dwight D. Eisenhower which became his campaign theme song, I Like Ike. I guess it was considered redundant since the American people already had him. There are many references to Harry in the book and how Ethel was going to not let him down in the position he placed her in. Billy DeWolfe steals every scene he's in as the fussy officious career foreign service employee, Pemberton Maxwell. If there ever was a name for a stuffy career WASP diplomat, that's it. They were a ripe target back then, certain politicians made a living on accusing a whole flock of them as traitors. One of them was Truman's Secretary of State, Dean Acheson. There manner didn't play well in what we would now call red state America. Call Me Madam is bright and funny with a great score and some fabulous performances. Can't do better than that. Was the above review useful to you?

14 out of 18 people found the following review useful: Merriment, Grace and Pleasure Author: sharlyfarley 2 May 2004 It's easy to forget how many great musicals 20th Century Fox has put out, and how varied - from "My Fair Lady" to "the Commitments." One of their very best has just been re-released on DVD: "Call Me Madam"... Once upon a time, boys and girls, they used to make movies that you were supposed to enjoy. They didn't thrill you, or scare you, or wow you with effects and disasters. They simply gave pleasure by having people sing amusing songs and dance with grace and lightness and ease. Here you have a chance to see the kind of singer - the incomparable Ethel Merman - who could fill a theater without using a microphone, and you could understand every word she sang. And you have a chance to see some of the greatest dancers Hollywood ever knew - Donald O'Connor and Vera Ellen - who advance the love story simply by dancing together.

I gotta admit, O'Connor's got a gleam in his eye Astaire never had, and that dance in the wine cellar did more for my imagination than thrashing naked bodies ever did. And I roared every time Merman said "Hello, Harry!" And who knew George Sanders could sing? This is not life-changing cinema...It's simply wonderful entertainment. And the more I see of today's offerings, the rarer that looks. Was the above review useful to you? 12 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Call Her MERMAN! from United States 15 September 2004 Ethel Merman was unique in the annals of the American Musical Theater -she was responsible for the success of more shows, and introduced more songs that became Broadway standards (and by the best composers) than any other performer - even Mary Martin and Gwen Verdon never quite de-throned the First Lady of Musical Theater. But Merman is one of those whose talent didn't quite transcend the big screen, despite several attempts.

Anyone seeing her on the screen today may well wonder what all the fuss was about, but take it from an eyewitness: Merman was a force of nature who had to be seen live to be appreciated - when she set foot on a stage, she OWNED that stage, the scenery, and every seat, patron, and brick of that theater. Although it came along too late to make her a real movie star (she was in her mid-40s already and, unfortunately, wasn't aging gracefully), CALL ME MADAM is her best movie, and gives us the closest approximation of how the Merman magic lit up the stage (and the box-office). MADAM was very much a star vehicle, the kind they don't have today (let's face it: because they don't have such stars), and there wouldn't have been any point in filming it with anyone else - every situation, line, lyric and note of music was tailored to her style, personality, and, of course, voice (aside from the fact that the show is very dated politically, that's the other reason it was seldom revived without her.

GYPSY, though a much better show, was considered a sacred Merman vehicle until Angela Lansbury tackled it in 1973 - it's been revived regularly ever since). Merman was known for 'freezing' a performance, seldom varying it by a syllable throughout a show's long run, and often claimed to be thinking about her grocery list while she was belting out a song. Though she probably 'tweaked' her performance for the screen, what we see here is very likely the way she played Sally Adams hundreds of times before and after the movie. Although she certainly dominates the proceedings, Merman surprisingly doesn't hog the show (she even gave one of her songs over to Donald O'Connor, "Something To Dance About") - everyone gets their chance to shine, from George Sanders (not playing a cad for once, and displaying an excellent singing voice) to the wonderful Donald O'Connor and Vera-Ellen.

O'Connor was riding the crest of his success in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, and he's almost as good here - his performance is a joy, whether dancing with Vera-Ellen, by himself, or teaming up with Merman for the legendary duet of "You're Just In Love" that stopped the show cold on-stage (he was fond of saying that one of the Merm's high notes bent his eardrum!). So pop this one in, sit back and have a wonderful time watching several seasoned troupers doing what they did best - entertaining! Was the above review useful to you? 8 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Merman, Like Olives . . . from Cleveland, Ohio 4 July 2004 is an acquired taste. Apparently enough folks developed it enough to keep Ethel's shows running for a couple of decades. One of the "Queens of Broadway" (with Mary Martin) Ethel Merman's brassy voice belted through many a record-breaking run, thrilling thousands. What a rare treat to see her in a role she made her own! "Call Me Madam" is a dandy musical, rich with a great Irving Berlin score and lively performances.

Equally rare is the excellent singing performance of George Sanders. His beautiful baritone is heard in "It's an Old-fashioned Idea" and other lovely ballads. As he played Gen. Constantine, I couldn't help but wonder how his reported troubled private life might have gone had he done more light, musical fare. Sanders' whole demeanor is different: he's warm, relaxed, sincere and fun-filled--what a departure from the cynical cads he was almost always engaged to portray! [N. B. History shows he was signed to star in a stage production of "South Pacific," and his recording of solo ballads, "The Sanders Touch: Songs to the Lovely Lady"--released five years after this film--has become one of the hottest collectors' items around.] All I can say is, his singing is gorgeous in "Call Me Madam." If this Fox musical has the somewhat look and feel of an MGM production, there's Donald O'Conner and Vera-Ellen lending their aura from the latter studio. Director Walter Lang, an old-hand at Fox musicals and light comedies, keeps things on track, while Bob Alton's dances really hit-the-mark.

"Call Me Madam" is a most delightful diversion, and a lasting testament to the gifted Merman--the "hostest with the mostest." Was the above review useful to you? 6 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Now available on DVD - AT LAST!!! from Portland, Oregon 3 April 2003 There's been a long wait to revisit the delights of this brassy film recreation of a big Broadway hit, but now we can once again enjoy it, fairly bursting from the screen, with its several lively production numbers, John DeCuir's classy production design, Irene Sharaff's flattering costumes, plus Robert Alton's absolutely first-rate choreography. Check out Vera-Ellen and an ultra-well-rehearsed chorus of dancers in "The Orcarina" number, as well as her amazing dance duets with Donald O'Connor, who smoothly displays his exceptional terpsichorean ability, so well showcased two years earlier in MGM's "Singin' in the Rain." George Sanders's singing is a wonderful surprise, holding his own with leather-lunged Madame Merman, who had triumphed on Broadway with this votive offering to her stardom, so cleverly crafted by Irving Berlin.

Alfred Newman's Oscar for his endlessly inventive musical direction was more than well-deserved. For anyone who thinks that M-G-M was the only studio to adequately mount a film musical, this one might convince fans of this genre otherwise. (The DVD, by the way, is a very nice transfer, and boasts a quite informative commentary by "Musical Film Scholar" Miles Kreuger.) Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 5: Ethel Merman | The Stars | Broadway: The American Musical | PBS Performers Ethel Merman Merman was the most successful musical comedy performer of her generation.

Known for her loud, clear voice and excellent enunciation, she was a favorite of such songwriters as George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin, and she introduced some of their most popular songs, including “I Got Rhythm,” “You’re the Top,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Merman reached her zenith as Rose, the overbearing mother of Gypsy Rose Lee in Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim’s “Gypsy,” singing such songs as “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.” She appeared in vaudeville and in nightclubs, gave concerts, made records, and performed on radio, on television, and in films. Her primary achievement was in the 13 roles she created on Broadway between 1930 and 1959. Merman was the daughter of Edward Zimmermann, a bookkeeper and amateur keyboard player, and Agnes Gardner Zimmermann. She began singing in public as a child. During World War I she entertained at local military camps. After graduating from high school she became a secretary but moonlighted as a nightclub singer.

Shortening her name to Merman, she became successful in vaudeville, performing at the Palace Theatre in N.Y. in September 1930 before turning to the legitimate stage in the Gershwins’ musical “Girl Crazy” (N.Y., Oct. 14, 1930). It played 272 performances, and during its run she also appeared at the Central Park Casino and began making films at the Paramount studio, then located in N.Y. Many of these films were shorts or cartoons; her first appearance in a feature film came with FOLLOW THE LEADER, released in December 1930. Ethel Merman with chorus girls from her debut musical "Girl Crazy." Merman’s second Broadway show was the 11th edition of the revue “George White’s Scandals” (N.Y., Sept. 14, 1931), which ran 202 performances. She had her first record hit with “How Deep Is the Ocean?” (music and lyrics by Irving Berlin) in November 1932. The same month, she opened in her third Broadway show, “Take a Chance” (N.Y., Nov.

26, 1932), with songs by composers Richard Whiting and Nacio Herb Brown and lyricist B. G. DeSylva. Chance ran 243 performances, and Merman scored a hit with “Eadie Was a Lady” from the score in January 1933. Merman went to Hollywood in September 1933 and costarred with Bing Crosby in the film WE’RE NOT DRESSING, released in April 1934, and with Eddie Cantor in KID MILLIONS, released in November 1934. (Her cameo in BIG BROADCAST OF 1936, released in September 1935, was actually an outtake from WE’RE NOT DRESSING.) She scored a hit in November 1934 with “An Earful of Music” (music by Walter Donaldson, lyrics by Gus Kahn) from KID MILLIONS. She returned to Broadway-and to her greatest success yet-in Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” (N.Y., Nov.

21, 1934), which ran 420 performances with a score that included “You’re the Top” and “I Get a Kick Out of You,” both of which she recorded for hits. Merman left the show to return to Hollywood and make a second film with Eddie Cantor, STRIKE ME PINK, released in January 1936, and a movie adaptation of ANYTHING GOES with Bing Crosby, released in February 1936. She returned to N.Y. for Cole Porter’s next show, “Red, Hot and Blue!” (N.Y., Oct. 29, 1936), which ran only 183 performances, then signed a new movie contract with 20th Century-Fox and appeared in three films released in 1938: HAPPY LANDING IN JANUARY, the Irving Berlin anthology ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND in August, and STRAIGHT, PLACE AND SHOW in October. This marked the end of her full-time film career, though she continued to make movies occasionally. Her primary achievement was in the 13 roles she created on Broadway.

Merman returned to Broadway with the Arthur Schwartz-Dorothy Fields musical “Stars in Your Eyes” (N.Y., Feb. 9, 1939), which ran only 127 performances. She moved on to Cole Porter’s “Du Barry Was a Lady” (N.Y., Dec. 6, 1939), which became her biggest hit since “Anything Goes” with a run of 408 performances. Her fourth Porter show, “Panama Hattie” (N.Y., Oct. 30, 1940), did even better, running 501 performances. On Nov. 15, 1940, Merman married William Jacob Smith, a theatrical agent, but the couple divorced the following year. She then married newspaperman Robert Daniels Levitt, and they had two children: Ethel, b. July 20, 1942; and Robert Jr., b. Aug. 11, 1945. In between she starred in her fifth Cole Porter musical, “Something for the Boys” (N.Y., Jan.

7, 1943), which ran 422 performances, and she made a cameo appearance in the all-star film STAGE DOOR CANTEEN, released in June 1943. Merman enjoyed her longest-running musical with Irving Berlin’s “Annie Get Your Gun” (N.Y., May 16, 1946), which played 1,147 performances; she stayed in it until it closed on Feb. 19, 1949. The cast album became a Top Ten hit. During 1949 she had her own network radio series, THE ETHEL MERMAN SHOW. She returned to Broadway in Berlin’s “Call Me Madam” (N.Y., Oct. 12, 1950), which ran 644 performances; she won a Tony Award for her role. Since RCA Victor had rights to the cast album and Merman was contracted exclusively to Decca, she recorded the show’s songs with Dick Haymes, and their “Call Me Madam” LP hit the Top Ten while “You’re Just in Love” made the singles charts. Merman and her second husband were divorced in June 1952.

On March 9, 1953, she married Continental Airlines president Robert F. Six. That same month she starred in a film adaptation of CALL ME MADAM, her first major movie role in 15 years. From this point on she divided her time between the theater, television, and film. She appeared in a series of TV specials: THE FORD 50TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW (June 15, 1953), on which she duetted with Broadway’s other leading female star, Mary Martin, and small-screen adaptations of ANYTHING GOES (Feb. 28, 1954), with Frank Sinatra, and PANAMA HATTIE (Nov. 10, 1954). In December 1954 she starred in another Irving Berlin anthology film, THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS; the soundtrack album made the Top Ten. Ethel Merman "Annie Get Your Gun" "Anything Goes" "Call Me Madam" "Du Barry Was a Lady" "Hello, Dolly!" Jule Styne George White Merman returned to Broadway with “Happy Hunting” (N.Y., Dec.

6, 1956), which ran 412 performances. Her next Broadway show was “Gypsy” (N.Y., May 21, 1959), which ran 702 performances in N.Y. She also starred in a nine-month national tour, staying with the show until the end of 1961. The cast album was a Top Ten hit that stayed in the charts more than two years, and it won a Grammy Award for Best Show Album. Merman divorced her third husband in December 1960. She married actor Ernest Borgnine on June 26, 1964, but they separated after 38 days and divorced in November 1965. During the 1960s she returned to nightclub performing (making her Las Vegas debut in October 1962), appeared on television, and had small roles in the films IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (1963) and THE ART OF LOVE (1965).

She also starred in a Broadway revival of “Annie Get Your Gun” (N.Y., May 31, 1966) that led to a chart album and a television adaptation (March 19, 1967), and she toured in “Call Me Madam” in the latter part of the decade. On March 28, 1970, Merman became the eighth person to play the title role in the long-running musical “Hello, Dolly!” on Broadway, and she stayed with the show until it closed. During the 1970s and early 1980s she continued to appear on television and had a few minor movie roles (JOURNEY BACK TO OZ [voice only; 1974], WON TON TON, THE DOG WHO SAVED HOLLYWOOD [1976], AIRPLANE! [1980]). She also gave concerts, notably one at Carnegie Hall on May 10, 1982. She died of a brain tumor in 1984. Source: Excerpted from the BAKER’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MUSICIANS®, Centennial Edition.

Nicolas Slonimsky, Editor Emeritus. Schirmer, 2001. Photo credits: Photofest and the New York Public Library

Question: Who wrote the musicals "Annie get your Gun" and "Call Me Madam"?
Answer: IRVING BERLIN