Call Me Mister

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Call Me Mister was a Broadway revue with sketches by Arnold Auerbach and words and music by Harold Rome. The title was a reference to returning soldiers who expected to be addressed as civilians instead of by their military rank.

Dan Dailey and Betty Grable in the film version of Call Me Mister

The show, directed by Robert H. Gordon, opened on April 18, 1946 at the now-defunct National Theatre. It transferred twice, to the Majestic and Plymouth, before it closed on January 10, 1948 after 734 performances, making it the longest-running show in Broadway history at the time. The cast included Betty Garrett, George Irving, Maria Karnilova, Jules Munshin, and Lawrence Winters. A cast recording was released by Decca Records.

In 1951, 20th Century Fox released a Lloyd Bacon-directed film version with a storyline corresponding with current events. Only three songs from the Broadway production were retained. Set in Japan during the transition period between World War II and the Korean War, it starred Betty Grable as American USO entertainer Kay Hudson, who crosses paths with former husband Shep Dooley (Dan Dailey), determined to win her back despite the presence of her current beau, Capt. Johnny Comstock (Dale Robertson). The plot basically served as an excuse for Grable and Dailey to demonstrate their dancing skills in routines choreographed by the legendary Busby Berkeley, who had collaborated with Bacon on the 1933 film classic 42nd Street. Cast as a GI who hates the army, newcomer Danny Thomas performed a truncated version of his own nightclub act, and an unbilled Bobby Short played the piano in several sequences. Richard Boone and Jeffrey Hunter rounded out the cast.