Call Me Mister is a 1951 American Technicolor musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Betty Grable, Dan Dailey, Danny Thomas, Dale Robertson, Benay Venuta and Richard Boone. The film is based on the 1946 Broadway stage play by Albert E. Lewin and Burt Styler. with music by Harold Rome that featured cast members from the American armed forces. However, only three of Rome's numbers are heard in the film.
Contents
Plot
In the aftermath of World War II, American soldiers stationed in occupied Japan desire entertainment. They are treated to a show organized by Sergeant Shep Dooley and his former wife, the talented entertainer Kay Hudson. The show is filled with music, dance and comedy, providing a much-needed respite from the challenges of postwar life. As the soldiers enjoy the show, Kay and Shep's on-stage chemistry begins to rekindle old feelings.
Cast
Betty Grable as Kay Hudson
Dan Dailey as Sergeant Shep Dooley
Danny Thomas as P.F.C. Stanley Poppoplis
Dale Robertson as Captain Johnny Comstock
Benay Venuta as Billie Barton
Richard Boone as Mess Sergeant
Jeffrey Hunter as the Kid
Frank Fontaine as First Sergeant
The Dunhill Trio as Dancers
Production
The film marks Betty Grable's final pairing with Dan Dailey, with whom she had costarred in several films. It also includes the first credited role for future film star Jeffrey Hunter.
Soundtrack
Call Me Mister
Written by Harold Rome
Performed by chorus during credits
Reprised by Betty Grable and Dan Dailey
Japanese Girl Like 'Merican Boy
Written by Sammy Fain
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Sung and danced by Betty Grable and chorus
I'm Gonna Love That Guy Like He's Never Been Loved Before
Written by Frances Ash
Performed by Betty Grable and male chorus
Lament to the Pots and Pans
Written by Earl K. Brent
Lyrics by Jerry Seelen
Performed by Danny Thomas
Goin' Home Train
Written by Harold Rome
Performed by Bobby Short and male chorus
I Just Can't Do Enough for You, Baby
Written by Sammy Fain
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Performed by Betty Grable and Dan Dailey
Military Life
Reception
In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther called Call Me Mister "a ragtag-and-bobtail show" and wrote: "[T]he simple fact is that 'Call Me Mister' as presented on the screen in a plush Technicolor production by Twentieth Century-Fox is but a faint reminder of .the original stage revue and is mainly a very frank reminder of the sexiness of Miss G. As an Army-employed entertainer in Japan right after the war, engaged—as it seems, incidentally—in putting on a soldier revue, she is flung in your face on most occasions in a variety of revealing costumes via a plot which has her backing and filling with rather elemental urges toward an estranged spouse.