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Yes, folks, that's right.  Howard Keel.  The only Adam Pontipee to walk the face of this great earth.  Living in a house of singing bamboo out in Deadwood with his brothers and some elephants.  That's the way we'll think of him, right?  Well, I'll always think of him in pictures, which is what I've got right here.  So, sit back and relax.  Howard's about to take over.

• This is a picture from his first major role, Annie Get Your Gun.  Here he's singing to Betty Hutton (I'd rather have seen Judy Garland, but Betty's okay) about the type of girl he wants to marry.
• A publicity shot with Howard, Betty, and Louis Calhern (I love him in High Society!) as their characters.
• A rather special moment with Kathyrn Grayson from Show Boat.
• Doting over Esther Williams in a pretty short musical called Texas Carnival.
• Here's a lobby card from the film Callaway Went Thataway with Fred MacMurray.  The concept seems really goofy, but I really want to see this.  Sad that it's unavailable.
• A truly adorable picture from Lovely to Look At.  With Howard in this picture are Red Skelton, Gower Champion, and Ann Miller.
• Now, we get to one of my favorite Howard movies ever: Calamity Jane.  First we've got Calam (the wonderful Doris Day) telling a skeptical Bill (Howard) about her rescue of her dear Lieutenant (the ever dull Phil Carey).
• Next we've got Bill preparing to answer Calam's thought-provoking question, "What's a adelaid?"
• Bill listens patiently as Calam rhapsodizes about the Black Hills of Dakota.
• Under the hills' full power, Bill and Calam sing, "...I hear the voice of the mystic mountains callin' me back home...."
• Poor Calam getting rejected by the stinky Lieutenant while Bill and Katie (Allyn McLerie) look on.
• Bill's getting annoyed with Calam, who's plum crazy with anger at Katie and the goofy Lieutenant.  Or maybe she spilt some punch on the dress! ;-)
• But, all's well that ends in a musical.  And, here we have Calam declaring her love for a slightly embarrassed looking Bill after their wedding.
• Ah, riding off into the sun...in the middle of the day.  But, they're happy and singing together, which is all that really matters in the end, right?
• I guess this is one of their wedding portraits.  This is the one with Bill looking not at the camera but at Calam.
• A more typical wedding portrait: "Heaven, I'm in heaven...we're were out together...cheek to cheek."
• Finally, the most dramatic of the wedding portraits--Bill and Calam's heads and shoulders almost floating in black.  It's really cool.
• Now we must move on to another great Howard film: Kiss Me Kate.  Here's another teaming with Kathryn Grayson (who fluctuates between being a blonde and a redhead--I think she should stick with brunette).  This teaming, however, seems a little dangerous on Kathryn's part.
• Oooh, a little friendly competition between Kathryn and Ann Miller for our darling Howard.
• One of the great love-hate relationships.  We're at the hate part right now.
• But, the show must go on and "open in Venice" with Tommy Rall (oh, who doesn't love Tommy?), Ann, Kathryn, and Howard.
• Poor Kathryn can't escape from Howard's attempt to pull out the sting.
• Who went too far: Kathryn or Howard?  This picture might push the vote over to Howard's corner.
• This will probably do the same thing.
• Ooops.  Looks like Howard is having a little trouble with James Whitmore and Keenan Wynn.  (Is is just me, or does James Whitmore bear a resmeblance to Spencer Tracy?)
• Howard simply overwhelms Ann when she thanks him for what he's done for Tommy.  Tommy doesn't seem too pleased, nor does Kathryn.
• Now to the best (but momentarily small) section: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.  (Note: I haven't gone through all of my SBSB pictures like I did for CJ.  I promise, though, that I will.)  Here's Howard telling his brothers that they're nothing but nothing but a bunch of no good, lily-livered lickspittles...or something to that effect.
• A really charming portrait of Howard and Jane Powell as Adam and Milly.
• Up next we've got Howard's third teaming with MGM's mermaid Esther Williams: Jupiter's Darling.  Here's is Howard's Hannibal threatening Esther with...something.
• Now Howard and Esther are good friends.  He's given her clothes and jewels; she's loosened him up a bit.
• Okay, so this isn't from a movie, but it's from a movie studio.  I'm not sure about exact details, but apparently something amusing was happening to Arthur Freed, Howard, and Gene Kelly.
• Between takes on the set of Kismet with Howard, Delores Grey, and Vincente Minnelli.
• Again, not a movie, but it is a picture with one of his costars: Jane Powell.  This is the program cover from a 1980 performance of the play I Do, I Do.
• Again, not movies, but here's a cute picture of Howard with Donna Reed.

• Okay, these are in no particular order.  So, first, we've got a picture of a young Howard sportin' a 'stache.
• A young, casual Howard.
• A slightly off looking portrait--but it's in color!
• A portrait on the set of and in costume for Show Boat.
• Nautical Howard.
• Howard in a comfy flannel shirt holding a rope.  I hope he's not mad.
• A pleasant color picture.
• The look of an actor.
• One of the more prolific portraits I've seen.
• Looking like the actor he is.
• This looks to be an early publicity shot.
• A nice black and white one.
• A tiny early one.
• A signed publicity still probably from Kiss Me Kate.
• Program cover for a tour.
• Flashbacks to Pagan Love Song.  This might be rivaling the Pirate shorts.
• A really nice early shot.
• A kinda weird looking one.
• Older, but still handsome.  More rugged looking, too.
• A character portrait from Rose Marie.  What I didn't understand about this movie is why would Ann Blythe pass up Howard for anyone else?  What's so great about Fernando Lamas anyway?
• A serious early portrait.
• Okay, so the picture quality is bad, but how often do you find color pictures of Howard as Adam...with the wrong movie listed underneath?
• A pleasing portrait.
• An, um, interesting picture from Kismet.  This was dubbed keelbaby by the person who sent it to me.
• Howard's Walk of Fame card.
• Finally, the back of a card with pictures of Howard at work, at home, and at play!

Well, that about does it.  Thanks for taking the time to peek at these pictures.  I hope that you've enjoyed yourself half as much as I have.  Before I go, a special thanks (and you know who you are) to those who contributed pictures.  I appreciate it.  Until next time, remember to have a heaping serving of Howard every day!

Any comments, questions, or contributions,
please email nanceoir@crosswinds.net

Last modified January 1, 2000.