| Call Me Madam | |
|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:CallMeMadam2.JPG) Original film poster | |
| Directed by | Walter Lang |
| Screenplay by | Arthur Sheekman |
| Based on | Call Me Madam 1950 musical by Howard Lindsay Russel Crouse |
| Produced by | Sol C. Siegel |
| Starring | Ethel Merman Donald O'Connor Vera-Ellen George Sanders |
| Cinematography | Leon Shamroy |
| Edited by | Robert L. Simpson |
| Music by | Irving Berlin (music and lyrics) Alfred Newman (music score) |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 114 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.46 million[2] |
| Box office | $2.85 million (US rental)[3] |
Call Me Madam is a 1953 American Technicolor musical film directed by Walter Lang, with songs by Irving Berlin, based on the 1950 stage musical of the same name.
The film, with a screenplay by Arthur Sheekman, starred Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Vera-Ellen, Billy DeWolfe, George Sanders, and Walter Slezak. The film replaced "Washington Square Dance" with the older "International Rag", and interpolated "What Chance Have I With Love?" from Berlin's Louisiana Purchase (sung and danced by Donald O'Connor). A soundtrack album was released by Decca both as a 10-inch LP and as a set of three 7-inch EPs, and was released on CD in 2004 by Hallmark. The numbers "The Hostess with the Mostest'" and "You're Just in Love" are included on the Rhino Records CD set Irving Berlin in Hollywood. The film was out of circulation for many years but was issued on DVD in 2004.
Merman won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. Alfred Newman won the Oscar for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, and Irene Sharaff was nominated for her costume design. Lang was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures by the Directors Guild of America and the Grand Prize at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival,[4] and Sheekman's screenplay was nominated Best Written American Musical by the Writers Guild of America.
- ^ "Call Me Madam". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
- ^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p248
- ^ "The Top Box Office Hits of 1953", Variety, January 13, 1954
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Call Me Madam". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved January 17, 2009.