ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (Mary Martin, John Raitt) (Blu-ray)

Annie Get Your Gun starring Mary Martin and John Raitt. “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better,” “They Say that Falling in Love is Wonderful,” and “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun” are among the timeless standards in this beloved Broadway musical by Irving Berlin. Reta Shaw (the housemaid in “Mary Poppins” and “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”) and Luke Halpin (Sandy on “Flipper”) round out the exceptional cast. The New York Herald Tribune called this live 1957 telecast “a joyous event.... From beginning to end, the TV screen abounded in charm and warmth and, best of all, Irving Berlin’s beguiling melodies.” B&W, Mono, 105 minutes.

Blu-ray edition includes these bonus extras:

1) CLOSING COMMERCIAL (2:01)
Although no video elements of the commercials for the 1957 ANNIE GET YOUR GUN telecast are known to exist, VAI is including the unedited audio of the closing commercial. Hosted by Mary Martin, it includes a message wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. VAI has added creative video images to supplement the audio track.

2) MARY MARTIN 1985 (3:53)
Excerpt from a live concert of Mary Martin with Louis Magor, piano. Mary talks about the role of Annie, performs “Anything You Can Do” with Magor (who sings from the keyboard), and also recalls fondly her collaboration with Ethel Merman on the Ford 50^th Anniversary Show in 1953. The original video footage has been supplemented with images illustrating Mary’s comments.

3) PHOTO GALLERY (4:26)
VAI was fortunate to have access to a large number of photos, posters, program covers, etc., related to Mary Martin and ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. The Photo Gallery is presented as a video segment that includes juxtapositions of scenes from the black & white telecast with color production shots from the same scenes.

Annie Get Your Gun
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields

Mary Martin (Annie Oakley)
John Raitt (Frank Butler)
Reta Shaw (Dolly Tate)
William O’Neal (Buffalo Bill Cody)
Donald Burr (Charlie Davenport)
Luke Halpin (Little Jake Oakley)

Live telecast, November 27, 1957