Call Me Madam

Ethel Merman reprised her role as a socialite turned diplomat in this screen adaptation of Irving Berlin's hit Broadway musical. Sally Adams (Merman) has made it her business to know everyone worth knowing in Washington D.C., and her penchant for parties pays off when she's appointed United States ...more

Call Me Madam gave Ethel Merman one of only two chances (the other being Anything Goes) to re-create one of her stage triumphs on film, and Madam is a much more faithful and successful adaptation than Anything Goes. Merman is in top form here, demonstrating why she was a legend on-stage and at the same time why she was rarely used to good advantage in Hollywood. Merman's persona, as outsized as her clarion voice, was too difficult to capture on film. It's not that she overplayed, it's that she ...more