Call Me Madam (1953) - film review

The United States needs to appoint a new ambassador to the European country of Lichtenburg and who better than the oil tycoon and society queen Sally Adams.  She has no political sense and even less knowledge of international affairs, but, boy, can she throw a good party.   An unemployed journalist named Kenneth Gibson persuades Sally to hire him as her press attaché, and off they go, to a country so small that it cannot be seen on the map without the aid of magnifying glass.   The political leaders of Lichtenburg are anxious to secure a loan from the Americans, but they hadn’t reckoned on the obduracy of Miss Adams.  Whilst Kenneth gets himself emotionally entangled with the Princess Maria,  Sally allows herself to fall for the charms of the country’s smooth-talking Foreign Minister, Cosmo Constantine...

The legendary star of the stage musical Ethel Merman doesn’t so much sparkle as erupt, with the vigour of a miniature volcano, in this ebullient screen adaptation of the famous Irving Berlin comedy musical, which ran for 644 performances on Broadway.  It’s a cheeky satire that lampoons America’s habit of lending out money to countries willy-nilly, irrespective of whether it does any good.  Merman’s character – which the performer made her own in the Broadway production – was based on Perle Mesta, a Democrat Party fundraiser who was appointed U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg in 1949.

Whilst the film belongs to Ethel Merman, who belts out dialogue with the same gusto as her songs (which can be lethal for viewers of a nervous disposition), her co-stars are not entirely eclipsed by her larger than life personality.  Donald O’Connor gives a terrific turn as Merman’s cute, lovelorn attaché, excelling in his magnificently choreographed dance routines.  Vera-Ellen makes a delightful fairytale princess who has to make the impossible choice between love and duty, although why she should fall for someone as ordinary looking as O’Connor is baffling.  And George Sanders, who is far better known as a serious actor with a penchant for playing slimy villains, is surprisingly good in this, one of his rare appearances in a film musical.

Call Me Madam was directed by Walter Lang, who worked on several film musicals, of which the best known is The King and I (1956).  The film includes some memorable Irving Berling numbers, such as:  It’s a Lovely Day Today, You’re Just in Love, International Rag and, of course, The Hostess with the Mostes’, each one a joy to see performed with such warmth and boisterous razzamatazz.

Ethel Merman won the Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Musical Comedy in 1954, whilst Alfred Newman picked up the 1954 Academy Award for the Best Scoring of a Musical Picture.  Merman and O’Connor would appear together as mother and son in a subsequent Walter Lang directed film with some great Irving Berlin numbers, There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954).

© James Travers 2008

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