Customer Reviews

Annie Get Your Gun: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Re-release of 1950 Film)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The long awaited soundtrack to ANNIE GET YOUR GUN has finally appeared on CD courtesy of Rhino/Turner Movie Music. This newly remastered release includes much more material than appeared on the old long out of print LP. The LP was limited to 8 selections while the new CD has 18 selections from the completed Betty Hutton version, as well as 13 selections from the aborted Judy Garland version. This is the first time the Garland recordings have appeared together in one collection. In keeping with Rhino's policy of using materials closest to the original music masters (a policy which I support), the sound quality is bound to disappoint some listeners. Indeed the ANNIE music masters have not survived the years in the best condition. Some selections are in newly remixed stereo; others are from acetate sources, and others lifted directly from the final mixed tracks. Surprisingly the Judy Garland recordings generally sound better than the Hutton recordings. All this leads to a variable listening experience that changes from selection to selection. However, this does not negate the importance of this release or Rhino's decision to finally make this material available. In my opinion, Rhino need not make any apology for their efforts in preparing this release. It is for this reason I recommend this CD to fans of this movie and musicals in general. Some of the various cast albums may represent ANNIE better than the film soundtrack as the movie dropped some songs and altered others to appease censors of the day, but the movie remains a great favorite of many. As is common with Rhino, the CD booklet is comprehensive with great photos and plenty of information. Lets hope Rhino/Turner can keep supplying us with more classic soundtrack releases.

The 1950 film version of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN has been out of circulation for 27 years. It has finally been released on video and DVD. Now you can enjoy the rip-roaring Irving Berlin score on CD. Howard Keel has a strong, clear baritone, and Betty Hutton is appropriately loud, brassy, and energetic in numbers like "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun" and "Doin' What Comes Naturally". And who can forget the entire cast singing "There's No Business Like Show Business"? The extra tracks (including some by Judy Garland, MGM's original choice for "Annie") make this CD a treat for lovers of the American film musical. Highly recommended!

Anyone who says that Judy Garland would have been better than Betty Hutton in the role of Annie Oakley either didn't see the outtakes of Garland (looking wan and in a terrible fright wig) or saw something that wasn't there. At that time in her life Judy Garland would not have brought to the role anything approaching the energy and vitality that Hutton brings to it.

That said, Garland does manage to do a better job on some of the ballads than Hutton ("They Say Its Wonderful", "Let's Go West Again"). What is amazing is that Hutton sounds as good as she does on the soundtrack because she recorded all of the songs in a single day! Overall though Betty Hutton is fantastic and her performance can't be judged on the soundtrack alone, unlike Garland she stayed in character and sang her numbers in the character's voice and that makes a big difference in the film. Hutton's greatness in the role is all on the screen.

Overall the sound quality of the CD is not nearly as good as the DVD. I agree that the sound quality on Garland's numbers is generally clearer than on the Hutton numbers. Particularly Hutton's "You Can't Get A Man With A Gun" which sounds tinny and distant on the CD while in the film it is a showstopper (Robert Osborne on TCM said that when he saw the film in Seattle the audience broke into loud applause in the movie theater after that number).

See the film for evidence of Hutton's wonderful performance.

I was a little nervous ordering this CD because I thought it would be poor quality based on the reviews. I was very pleasantly surprised and enjoy the music. The CD includes Both Betty Hutton and Judy Garland. ( I prefer Betty Hutton) and 2x Howard Keel. If you like the music from Annie get your gun, you will enjoy!

Although considered by some to be the great Broadway musical, the controversy over the film version with Judy Garland being replaced by Betty Hutton and both vocals being available arguably adds a lot to the show's legacy, with two vocals of the same songs with practically the same arrangements and orchestrations. One may take umbrance at the accusations made against Garland in the producer's notes written by George Feltenstein, but the reasons for her replacement are here beside the point. Clearly the Garland vocals were thought to have some value, apart from being part of Garland's catalogue, otherwise they would have ended up being destroyed as were her production stills by MGM, Feltenstein advises. The value of Garland's vocals also goes against the myth that they were supposedly wretched.
What is obvious from the outset is that Garland is a better singer than Hutton, but in spite of Irving Berlin's fondness for Garland, one is still left with a doubt about her as Annie Oakley. It is said that besides her poor health, she was having trouble with characterisation, not helped by giving her Busby Berkelely as director. The shadow of Ethel Merman loomed largely over the role, something which added to Garland's well known insecurities, and in one sense Hutton's casting works better for the part. But as there are echoes of Merman in Hutton, so are there also echoes of Garland in Hutton, and Merman in Garland.
Naturally Hutton cannot compete with Garland on the ballads. Hutton is particularly bad on They Say It's Wonderful, which is left as the film's loveliest song, as Moonshine Lullaby and I Got Lost in his Arms were cut for the film. Garland here conveys a tenderness, with the trademark throb in her voice, which made her untouchable at MGM. Hutton's Let's Go West Again is passable but tellingly an outtake, and her faux breakdown in the reprise of The Girl That I Marry is evidence of the difference between performers - Hutton pushes her "vulnerabilty" whereas Garland waits and breaks on her last note, as if she will leave the camera to see her breakdown in her acting. In the livelier songs, Garland is also surprisingly better than Hutton. In Anything You Can Do, Garland is funnier, and even in I'm an Indian Too, which is thought of as Garland's weakest vocal, Hutton does not do better. There are a few touches that Hutton makes in Doin' What Comes Natur'lly, eg her hillbilly accent, her deliberate staccato phrasing, and her impression of "sister Sal" and her singing "off key" that Garland doesn't attempt, but this again can be attributed to Hutton's obviousness and Garland's reticent tactic. Apart from the Hutton/Garland tracks, it is good to hear Frank Morgan in the original recording of There's No Business Like Show Business, with Garland's counter vocal, and interesting to see how Howard Keel's The Girl That I Marry, the original unused and re-recorded with new arrangment, whilst his original My Defences are Down was kept.
Arthur Freed bought Annie Get Your Gun for Garland, envisioning it to be as landmark to her career as The Wizard of Oz and Meet Me in St Louis. Perhaps in better health and with a director more suited to her sensitivities, he may have been right, but it would have been a different Annie Oakley to Merman's, and certainly to Hutton's. Although Hutton had a success with the film, the legal blockage to it's continued screening, presumably by Berlin over his objections to Garland being replaced, did have an effect on her career. Perhaps one can see what happened to Garland as a kind of theatrical curse, for her removal from the film would ultimately lead to the end of her sustained film career, something which makes her vocals here doubly haunting.

I was very pleased with this CD because it not only had the original movie musical soundtrack, but also included the versoin with Judy Garland that was scrapped when she was replaced by Betty Hutton.

I bought this soundtrack of Annie Get Your Gun a few months back and all I can say is "wow!" It is one of M-G-M's greatest films, despite the fact that the film "suffered" during production (Garland was fired, Frank Morgan died, etc). This splendid soundtrack only adds to its legacy. As it states with the issue of this soundtrack, several sound sources were used to compile this album. A few tracks have been remixed from the "stem" tracks (where available) to create stereo. Some come from monaural mix-down tracks. Others from acetate recording discs, while still others have been lifted from the final print of the film (like the Main Title; you can hear Leo the Lion roar).

Generally, the Garland tracks are superior to those recorded by Hutton. I'll take Judy's singing any day, but I doubt she was right for the part of Annie from the get go. Betty Hutton is just right for the part of Annie. She contrasts nicely with Ethel Merman and Mary Martin (now don't get me started on the Bernadette Peters thing!).

Sound quality is poor in a few places, but this is not one to be missed, especially if you're a fan of the film.

This CD is well worth the money. If you loved the movie and want to relive the thrill and energy of the production while driving or around the house - get this CD you won't be sorry. I want to point out that some other reviews said Betty Hutton was not as good as Judy Garland. Not true. Betty's ability to sing in the accent she spoke in brought the character and performace to life. Judy's great but not great at everything.

Perhaps this review will be a little biased, but I just can't help but love this movie and soundtrack. From the first time I saw the movie, I knew I wanted the music, and so I ordered it right away. There is a wide variety of songs from "There's No Business Like ShowBbusiness" to "They Say it's Wonderful", and my personal favorite, "Anything You Can Do". Also, a very neat feature is that all of the songs that Judy Garland recorded are included in this album--so instead of just Betty Hutton's versions, you have Judy Garland's, as well. So it's sort of a two for one deal! If you love Broadway, classic movies, or (like me) Howard Keel ;), then you'll love this soundtrack!

How anyone cannot give this recording five stars is beyond belief. The DVD is one of the best available and this album is the same. Hutton is as good as Merman and as an extra you get to hear Judy Garland (totally wrong for the role)singing the same songs. Though some songs are missing (fortunately not for political reasons} a great bonus is the lost "Let's Go West Again" beautifully sung twice. Music like this doesn't need superior sound and Hutton - whom I never cared for - gives the performance of a lifetime both on CD and DVD. The best deal is to get this and the "new" Merman album, compare all three singers and make your choice which is the best. You just can't have too many versions of such wonderful music But stay away from the rewritten, reorchestrated "politically correct" version. The three missing songs are all prime Berlin, especially "Colonel Buffalo Bill" and "I'm A Bad, Bad Man." How the Berlin Estate could have sanctioned such a thing is beyond belief.