Call Me Madam
Directed by Walter Lang
Written by Arthur Sheekman from the musical comedy by Russell Crouse and Howard Lindsay
1953/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] There is nothing you can take/ To relieve that pleasant ache/ You’re not sick, you’re just in love. — “You’re Just in Love”, lyrics by Irving Berlin[/box]
This movie gives viewers the unique opportunity to see Ethel Merman in a role she created on Broadway and to appreciate George Sanders’s very pleasant baritone singing voice.
The story is a very topical send-up of Perle Mesta, a fundraiser and society hostess, who was Harry Truman’s Ambassador to Lichtenstein. In the musical, Truman names Sally Adams (Merman), an outspoken woman who has been unchanged by her wealth, as Ambassador to the fictional country of Lichtenberg. There she is a constant embarrassment to her snooty Charge d’Affaires (Billy De Wolfe) but well accepted by the Lichtenbergian’s who are broke and anxious for some U.S. government aid. All, that is, but General Cosmo Constantine (Sanders) who believes his country should pull itself up by its bootstraps.
Adams and Constantine fall in love early on as do Adams’s press attache Kenneth Gibson (Donald O’Connor) and the Princess Maria (Vera-Ellen). The usual misunderstandings ensue. With Walter Slezak as the Minister of Finance.
The film is firmly rooted in its time period with much mirth supplied by Merman’s frequent telephone conversations with “Harry” about his daughter Margaret’s progress as a concert pianist. I don’t think it has aged particularly well. There are some nice numbers though and Sanders is a revelation. He has an excellent singing voice and here portrays the romantic lead without the slightest trace of irony. Merman is a force of nature and should be seen at least once.
Call Me Madam won the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture. It was nominated for Best Costume Design, Color.
Clip – Ethel Merman and Donald O’Connor sing “You’re Just in Love”
