Doris Day’s Calamity Jane tells the story of love between men and women and women and women during a time when this love was innocent, and people did not fear that it might be viewed sexually. The women could hug and hold hands to support each other in times of happiness and grief.
Calamity Jane is a 1953 musical film directed by David Butler and starring Doris Day and Howard Keel. This film explores an alleged romance between Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok based on the life of Wild West heroine Calamity Jane. The film won an Oscar for Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Secret Love.” It was also Oscar-nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture, and Best Sound, Recording.
The film was popular with some lesbian audiences for its depiction of a lesbian character and was shown at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in 2006. Film critic Jamie Stuart notes that the film carries lesbian overtones because Jane is portrayed as an independent, strong woman who lives with a woman. The two of them paint the word “Calam and Katie” on the house door.
