Ethel Merman certainly proved her comedic gifts in this 1953 gem of a musical.Loosely based on Pearl Mesta, "Call Me Madam" deals with a female ambassador to an imaginary kingdom.Merman pulls out all the stops in blasting away such nostalgic music. She certainly was the hostess with the most.What makes the film so good is that she is ably supported by a great cast including Donald O'Connor, who played her bad boy son in "There's No Business Like Show Business." In this film he portrays a reporter who finds romance while assigned to her. He is with the wonderful, charming Vera-Ellen.George Sanders, with a thick European accent, shines here as a count. He gets away from the usual cads that he played in films.Billy de Woolf is his usual irritating but wonderful self here.

Once upon a time there was a society hostess named Perle Mesta who became US ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. And soon afterwards there was a society hostess in an Irving Berlin musical who became ambassador to the Grand Duchy of 'Lichtenburg', made some gaffes and matches, and hoofed and bawled her way through diplomatic receptions in ball gowns.Ethel Merman notoriously 'projected' too much to sit comfortably on a movie screen; but Berlin, who had much say over picturisations of his Broadway hits, insisted on her repeating her Broadway show-stopping turn in Fox's stodgy adaptation-- directed by Walter Lang with the resolute anonymity that was his non-trademark. Scene after scene plays as just that: a procession of Broadway tableaux, designed for Ruritanian artificiality with no cinematic flow or heightening by camera or cutting. The book is light on hits, and 'You're Just In Love' is worked too hard.Ethel is adequately restrained, but neither of the juvenile leads-- Donald O'Connor as a gawky junior American diplomat, Vera-Ellen as the reluctant princess he woos-- are full-blooded enough.O'Connor lacks the furious energy he showed as Gene Kelly's partner in the previous year's 'Singin' in the Rain', which probably got him this part. He is not trusted with many funny lines either. Vera-Ellen, whose previous director had called her a piece of putty, is an efficient if anorexic hoofer and mouther of dubbed songs. She lacks something extra: the neurotic streak of Garland, the dynamism of Ann Miller or the steeliness of Doris Day that makes an ingénue stand out. George Sanders, as the Lichtenburg bigwig who tickles Ethel's fancy, warbles a little, breaks into a shuffling dance sometimes and remembers not to be a cad.Camp keeps breaking in. Billy De Wolfe, Merman's disapproving chief of staff, made his name as a nightclub comedian impersonating a woman in the bath, and there are intimations of that in his remonstrances. A big number at the annual Lichtenburg fair, with Princess Vera-Ellen hymning the joys of the ocarina amid a troupe of Hollywood chorus boys dressed as mittel-European peasants in tight shorts, is one of several moments which remind one of Freedonia in 'Duck Soup' (as does the finale back in Washington).Romance is on low temperature given the four principals, and the laughs are limply drawn from the idea that the Grand Duchy, uniquely in Marshall Plan Europe, would be too proud to take Uncle Sam's largess. Ethel has several one-sided telephone talks with a president named Harry whose daughter gets mixed reviews for her piano-playing. Gangs of local and US politicians splutter in mutual misunderstanding.This was Berlin's last hit musical, though he lived another 36 years, and it was something of a career-finisher for the stars as well-- although Berlin's 'There's No Business Like Show Business' was shot back-to-back with it with Lang, Merman and O'Connor and rushed out the next year.Vera-Ellen married and retired to a life of misery and seclusion; Merman never had a big film role after 1954 ('Gypsy' went to Rosalind Russell); O'Connor was soon stooging for Francis the talking mule; and Sanders dwindled into supporting parts, bankruptcy and suicide. 'Singin' in the Rain' had been the summit and the beginning of the end.

Movie audiences got a treat in Call Me Madam because they got to see Ethel Merman repeat one of two of her Broadway roles for the screen, the other being in the first Anything Goes.For some reason, movie audiences never really took to Ethel. She did some parts during the Thirties, but in the Forties worked exclusively on Broadway. Mary Martin suffered a similar fate and we never got to see any of her Broadway starring roles with the exception of the famous telecast of Peter Pan.Irving Berlin wrote the score for Call Me Madam and the book is based on the colorful life of Perle Mesta, famous Washington socialite who Harry Truman made ambassador to Luxembourg.That's the way of things in Washington. Both parties with a new administration give ambassadorships out to wealthy contributors and Perle Mesta, an oil widow was one of the wealthiest.Ethel is appointed by President Truman as Ambassador to the mythical duchy of Lichtenburg. Her rather informal style sets some professional State Department teeth rattling and during the course of the film both causes and solves a diplomatic crisis. Her personal assistant, Donald O'Connor is in her corner, but the chief of Protocol Billy DeWolfe is at his wit's end.Both Ethel and Donald find romance in Lichtenburg, she with Count George Sanders and he with Vera-Ellen. When things aren't looking so good, they console each other with the hit song of Call Me Madam, You're Just In Love. This is what you call a contrapuntal melody with both members of the duet singing different melodies at the same time. At the same time this one was hitting the jukeboxes, another contrapuntal by Berlin, Play A Simple Melody was revived by Bing Crosby and his son Gary. To my knowledge no other major composer has ever had a hit with one of those.George Sanders surprised quite a few folks with his singing voice. They needn't have been, he in fact had appeared in some musicals on the London stage before going into film. And he drops the sneer that usually accompanies most of us film characters and makes a most dashing and romantic count.Dropped from the film version was Irving Berlin's tribute to Dwight D. Eisenhower which became his campaign theme song, I Like Ike. I guess it was considered redundant since the American people already had him. There are many references to Harry in the book and how Ethel was going to not let him down in the position he placed her in.Billy DeWolfe steals every scene he's in as the fussy officious career foreign service employee, Pemberton Maxwell. If there ever was a name for a stuffy career WASP diplomat, that's it. They were a ripe target back then, certain politicians made a living on accusing a whole flock of them as traitors. One of them was Truman's Secretary of State, Dean Acheson. There manner didn't play well in what we would now call red state America.Call Me Madam is bright and funny with a great score and some fabulous performances. Can't do better than that.

I had no idea who anyone was in this film, but I was giving it a chance purely because of the critics opinions, and the fact that I like musicals. But it turned out I do know one person, the main star, Golden Globe winning Ethel Merman, who sings the great "There's No Business Like Show Business". She is a terrific actress that dominates the film with her foghorn voice, whirlwind energy and larger-than-life personality. Basically she is a Washington hostess that becomes a Truman-era US ambassador to a European grand duchy. Along the way, there is an element of a love story with Sally having feelings for Prince Hugo (Helmut Dantine). This is memorable not just for Merman, but some great songs and dance routines. Also starring Donald O'Connor as Kenneth, Vera-Ellen as Princess Maria, George Sanders as Cosmo Constantine, Billy De Wolfe as Pemberton Maxwell, Walter Slezak as August Tantinnin, Steven Geray as Sebastian, Ludwig Stössel as Grand Duke and Lilia Skala as Grand Duchess, from director Walter Lang (The King and I). It won the Oscar for Best Music, and it was nominated for Best Costume, and it was nominated the Cannes Film Festival Award for Grand Prize of the Festival for Walter Lang. Very good!