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Diehard fans still remember Betty Hutton
By Chris Hicks
In the Hollywood lexicon, "blonde bombshell" is as overworked a phrase as any.
Leading that pantheon would, of course, be Marilyn Monroe, along with Jean Harlow, Mae West and Jayne Mansfield, followed by such contenders as Lana Turner, Betty Grable, Kim Novak, Carroll Baker ... and many other Hollywood stars who have been similarly described.
But a unique example was Betty Hutton, who died this week at 86.
In Hutton's case, it wasn't beauty or steamy come-hither looks in sexy roles. She was attractive but no remarkable beauty. She wasn't cast as a sex symbol. And she was known more for farce than romantic drama, although she did both.
When applied to Hutton, "blonde bombshell" did not refer to sensuality but rather explosive comedy.
Love her or hate her, Hutton was an unforgettable personality on the screen ... although she is, in fact, largely forgotten today except by a core of fans. Of which I am one.
Aside from a quick, unbilled comic cameo in a Martin & Lewis flick and a musical appearance in "Duffy's Tavern," Hutton made 18 features over her 15-year film career. And aside from bootlegs, only seven of those are on DVD:
• "Annie Get Your Gun" (1950) is a wonderful showpiece for Hutton — funny, romantic and serious, with those great Irving Berlin songs. She's especially delightful with "Doin' What Comes Naturally" and her "Anything You Can Do" duet with Howard Keel.
• "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952) won the best-picture Oscar, though it is generally derided by critics today as a typically overblown Cecil B. De Mille effort. But it's fun, with a real inside look at circus life and a still-thrilling train-crash climax. Hutton co-stars with Charlton Heston.
• "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1944) is by filmmaker Preston Sturges, and his sharp wit is all that kept the censors away from this hysterical wartime satire about Hutton getting pregnant and not knowing who the father is.
• "Here Come the Waves" (1944) has Hutton at her best playing two roles — one of them quite subdued — in this Bing Crosby naval comedy. (In the box set: "Bing Crosby: Screen Legend Collection.")
• "Star Spangled Rhythm" (1942) is a variety show with an array of musical and comedy talent, with Hutton in a lead role. (On a Bob Hope double-bill DVD with "My Favorite Blonde.")
• "The Perils of Pauline" (1947) is a very funny fictionalization of the silent-movie serial queen, and "The Stork Club" (1945), a lesser but enjoyable comedy, features one of Hutton's biggest hit songs, "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief." (Available as a DVD double-bill).
In addition to her films and live nightclub performances, Hutton also had a half-hour sitcom for one season (1959-60), the 1954 TV special "Satins & Spurs" (which bears a strong resemblance to "Annie Get Your Gun," though not nearly as good), and guested on a number of musical-variety shows and a handful of dramatic shows, including "Gunsmoke" (1965).
Most critics feel "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" is her best film, and it may be. But she is a lot of fun in a lot of other movies. And nowhere does she come across better than in her first picture.
Looking at "The Fleet's In" (1942) — a light comedy in which she plays fourth-fiddle to William Holden, Dorothy Lamour and Eddie Bracken — it's easy to see why Hutton became an overnight sensation.
Holden plays a shy sailor trying to woo patrician Lamour, and Bracken is his comical buddy. But Hutton, as Lamour's roommate, is a riot, and she handily runs away with the picture. She also gets to sing one of her biggest hits, the hilarious "Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry." And her great comic chemistry with Eddie Bracken lead to their being teamed in several more films.
Alas, "The Fleet's In" has never been released on home video. Nor have most of Hutton's movies.
She's way overdue for a box set.
Hit songs
Murder, He Says (1943) (performed in the film Happy Go Lucky)
Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief
I Wish I Didn't Love You So
It Had To Be You
Hit the Road to Dreamland
Orange Colored Sky
You Can't Get a Man with a Gun
Can't Stop Talking
Blow A Fuse (Covered by Björk as "It's Oh So Quiet")
A Bushel and a Peck (with Perry Como)
His Rocking Horse Ran Away
Bluebirds In My Belfry
The Fuddy Duddy Watchmaker
Ol' Man Mose
There's a Fellow Waiting in Poughkeepsie
Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry
He Says Murder He Says
www.youtube.com/watch
Betty Hutton and Fred Astaire Cant Stop Talking About Him
www.youtube.com/watch
"I Wake Up In the Morning Feeling Fine"
www.youtube.com/watch
Betty Hutton - Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief
www.youtube.com/watch
I'm Just a Square (In a Social Circle)
www.youtube.com/watch
Betty Hutton - Papa Don't Preach To Me
www.youtube.com/watch
Rumble
www.youtube.com/watch
Last public performance part 1 1983
www.youtube.com/watch
Last public performance part 2 1983
www.youtube.com/watch
Wiki Bio
Betty Hutton (born Elizabeth June Thornburg, February 26, 1921 – March 11, 2007[1]) was an American film actress and singer.
Early life
She began life as Elizabeth June Thornburg, a daughter of railroad foreman Percy E. Thornburg (1896-1939) and his wife, the former Mabel Lum (1901-1967). Her father abandoned the family for another woman and they did not hear from or see him again until they received a telegram, in 1939, informing them of his death from suicide. Hutton was raised by her mother along with her sister, Marion, who later took the surname Hutton and was later billed as the actress Sissy Jones. They started singing in the family's speakeasy when Hutton was 3 years old. Related troubles with the police kept the family on the move, and eventually they moved to Detroit. When interviewed as an established star appearing at the premiere of Let's Dance (1950), her mother — arriving with her, and following a police escort — commented, "This time the police were in front of us." Hutton sang in several local bands as a teenager, and at one point visited New York City hoping to perform on Broadway, where she was rejected.
A few years later, she was scouted by orchestra leader Vincent Lopez, who gave Hutton her entry into entertainment. In 1939 she appeared in several musical shorts for Warner Bros., and appeared on Broadway in Panama Hattie and Two for the Show, both produced by Buddy DeSylva.
Career
When DeSylva became a producer at Paramount Pictures, Hutton was signed to a starring role in The Fleet's In in 1942. She made 14 films in 11 years during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Annie Get Your Gun for MGM, which hired Hutton to replace an exhausted Judy Garland in the role of Annie Oakley. The film and the leading role, retooled for Hutton, was a smash hit, with the biggest critical praise going to Betty (her obituary in The New York Times described her as "a brassy, energetic performer with a voice that could sound like a fire alarm") but Hutton, like Garland, was earning a reputation for being extremely difficult.
In 1942, she signed with Capitol Records, one of the first artists to do so, but was unhappy with their management, and then signed with RCA Victor. Among her many films was a curious, unbilled cameo in Sailor Beware (1952) with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, in which she portrayed Jerry's girlfriend, Hetty Button. Her time as a Hollywood star came to an end due to contract disagreements with Paramount following The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) and Somebody Loves Me (1952), a biopic of singer Blossom Seeley. The New York Times indicated that her film career ended because of her insistence that her husband at the time, Charles O'Curran, direct her next film; when the studio declined, Hutton broke her contract.
Hutton worked in radio, appeared in Las Vegas and in nightclubs, then tried her luck on the new medium of television. An original musical TV "spectacular" written especially for Hutton, Satin 'n Spurs (1954), was an enormous flop with the public and critics, despite being one of the first television programs televised nationally by NBC in compatible color. Desilu Productions took a chance on Hutton and in 1959 gave her a sitcom The Betty Hutton Show, which quickly faded. Her last TV outing was a brief guest appearance in 1975 on Baretta.
In 1967, she was signed to star in two low-budget Westerns for Paramount, but was fired shortly after the projects began. Afterwards, Hutton had trouble with alcohol and substance abuse, eventually attempting suicide after losing her singing voice in 1970 and having a nervous breakdown. She divorced her fourth husband, jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli, and declared herself bankrupt. However, after regaining control of her life through a church, she converted to Roman Catholicism and went on to teach acting and to cook at a rectory in Rhode Island.
She replaced Dorothy Loudon as the evil Miss Hannigan in Annie on Broadway for a limited run in 1980. Her last known performance in any medium was on Jukebox Saturday Night, which aired on PBS in 1983. Robert Osborne interviewed her for TCM's "Private Screenings" in April 2000. (there is a link to the interview at the botton of the page)
Marriages
The actress's first marriage was to camera manufacturer Ted Briskin on September 3 1945; they divorced in 1950. Two daughters were born to the couple, Lindsay Diane Briskin (born 1946) and Candice Elizabeth Briskin (born 1948). Ted Briskin had a brief 21-day marriage to Joan Dixon after this divorce. He died in 1980 in Los Angeles.
Hutton's second marriage was in 1952 to choreographer Charles O'Curran, and they divorced in 1955; he died in 1984.
Her third marriage was in 1955 to Alan W. Livingston, the creator of Bozo the Clown; they divorced five years later, although some accounts refer to this as a nine-month marriage.
Her fourth and final marriage was in 1960 to jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli, who was born in 1923, a brother of Conte Candoli. Hutton and Candoli had one child, Carolyn Candoli (born 1962) and then divorced in 1967 (although some accounts place the year as 1964).
Hutton lived near Palm Springs, California until her death due to complications from colon cancer at 86 years of age. Carl Bruno, executor of her estate and a long-term friend, told the Associated Press that she died on the evening of Sunday, March 11, 2007.
Filmography
The Fleet's In (1942)
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)
Happy Go Lucky (1943)
Let's Face It (1943)
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
And the Angels Sing (1944)
Here Come the Waves (1944)
Incendiary Blonde (1945)
Duffy's Tavern (1945)
The Stork Club (1945)
Cross My Heart (1946)
The Perils of Pauline (1947)
Dream Girl (1948)
Red, Hot and Blue (1949)
Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Let's Dance (1950)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Sailor Beware (1952)
Somebody Loves Me (1952)
Spring Reunion (1957)
IMDB
www.imdb.com/name/nm0002149/
Betty at Turner Classic Movies
tcmdb.com/participant/participant.jsp
You cant listen to 15 songs by Betty here And watch clips From Annie Get Your Gun, Perils of Pauline, Miracles of Morgans Creek and well as the shorts Murders He Says, Old Man Moses Is Dead, One For the Book and the TCM interview with Robert Osbourne from 2000 at this link
www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20...etty2.htm
By Chris Hicks
In the Hollywood lexicon, "blonde bombshell" is as overworked a phrase as any.
Leading that pantheon would, of course, be Marilyn Monroe, along with Jean Harlow, Mae West and Jayne Mansfield, followed by such contenders as Lana Turner, Betty Grable, Kim Novak, Carroll Baker ... and many other Hollywood stars who have been similarly described.
But a unique example was Betty Hutton, who died this week at 86.
In Hutton's case, it wasn't beauty or steamy come-hither looks in sexy roles. She was attractive but no remarkable beauty. She wasn't cast as a sex symbol. And she was known more for farce than romantic drama, although she did both.
When applied to Hutton, "blonde bombshell" did not refer to sensuality but rather explosive comedy.
Love her or hate her, Hutton was an unforgettable personality on the screen ... although she is, in fact, largely forgotten today except by a core of fans. Of which I am one.
Aside from a quick, unbilled comic cameo in a Martin & Lewis flick and a musical appearance in "Duffy's Tavern," Hutton made 18 features over her 15-year film career. And aside from bootlegs, only seven of those are on DVD:
• "Annie Get Your Gun" (1950) is a wonderful showpiece for Hutton — funny, romantic and serious, with those great Irving Berlin songs. She's especially delightful with "Doin' What Comes Naturally" and her "Anything You Can Do" duet with Howard Keel.
• "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952) won the best-picture Oscar, though it is generally derided by critics today as a typically overblown Cecil B. De Mille effort. But it's fun, with a real inside look at circus life and a still-thrilling train-crash climax. Hutton co-stars with Charlton Heston.
• "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1944) is by filmmaker Preston Sturges, and his sharp wit is all that kept the censors away from this hysterical wartime satire about Hutton getting pregnant and not knowing who the father is.
• "Here Come the Waves" (1944) has Hutton at her best playing two roles — one of them quite subdued — in this Bing Crosby naval comedy. (In the box set: "Bing Crosby: Screen Legend Collection.")
• "Star Spangled Rhythm" (1942) is a variety show with an array of musical and comedy talent, with Hutton in a lead role. (On a Bob Hope double-bill DVD with "My Favorite Blonde.")
• "The Perils of Pauline" (1947) is a very funny fictionalization of the silent-movie serial queen, and "The Stork Club" (1945), a lesser but enjoyable comedy, features one of Hutton's biggest hit songs, "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief." (Available as a DVD double-bill).
In addition to her films and live nightclub performances, Hutton also had a half-hour sitcom for one season (1959-60), the 1954 TV special "Satins & Spurs" (which bears a strong resemblance to "Annie Get Your Gun," though not nearly as good), and guested on a number of musical-variety shows and a handful of dramatic shows, including "Gunsmoke" (1965).
Most critics feel "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" is her best film, and it may be. But she is a lot of fun in a lot of other movies. And nowhere does she come across better than in her first picture.
Looking at "The Fleet's In" (1942) — a light comedy in which she plays fourth-fiddle to William Holden, Dorothy Lamour and Eddie Bracken — it's easy to see why Hutton became an overnight sensation.
Holden plays a shy sailor trying to woo patrician Lamour, and Bracken is his comical buddy. But Hutton, as Lamour's roommate, is a riot, and she handily runs away with the picture. She also gets to sing one of her biggest hits, the hilarious "Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry." And her great comic chemistry with Eddie Bracken lead to their being teamed in several more films.
Alas, "The Fleet's In" has never been released on home video. Nor have most of Hutton's movies.
She's way overdue for a box set.
Hit songs
Murder, He Says (1943) (performed in the film Happy Go Lucky)
Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief
I Wish I Didn't Love You So
It Had To Be You
Hit the Road to Dreamland
Orange Colored Sky
You Can't Get a Man with a Gun
Can't Stop Talking
Blow A Fuse (Covered by Björk as "It's Oh So Quiet")
A Bushel and a Peck (with Perry Como)
His Rocking Horse Ran Away
Bluebirds In My Belfry
The Fuddy Duddy Watchmaker
Ol' Man Mose
There's a Fellow Waiting in Poughkeepsie
Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry
He Says Murder He Says
www.youtube.com/watch
Betty Hutton and Fred Astaire Cant Stop Talking About Him
www.youtube.com/watch
"I Wake Up In the Morning Feeling Fine"
www.youtube.com/watch
Betty Hutton - Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief
www.youtube.com/watch
I'm Just a Square (In a Social Circle)
www.youtube.com/watch
Betty Hutton - Papa Don't Preach To Me
www.youtube.com/watch
Rumble
www.youtube.com/watch
Last public performance part 1 1983
www.youtube.com/watch
Last public performance part 2 1983
www.youtube.com/watch
Wiki Bio
Betty Hutton (born Elizabeth June Thornburg, February 26, 1921 – March 11, 2007[1]) was an American film actress and singer.
Early life
She began life as Elizabeth June Thornburg, a daughter of railroad foreman Percy E. Thornburg (1896-1939) and his wife, the former Mabel Lum (1901-1967). Her father abandoned the family for another woman and they did not hear from or see him again until they received a telegram, in 1939, informing them of his death from suicide. Hutton was raised by her mother along with her sister, Marion, who later took the surname Hutton and was later billed as the actress Sissy Jones. They started singing in the family's speakeasy when Hutton was 3 years old. Related troubles with the police kept the family on the move, and eventually they moved to Detroit. When interviewed as an established star appearing at the premiere of Let's Dance (1950), her mother — arriving with her, and following a police escort — commented, "This time the police were in front of us." Hutton sang in several local bands as a teenager, and at one point visited New York City hoping to perform on Broadway, where she was rejected.
A few years later, she was scouted by orchestra leader Vincent Lopez, who gave Hutton her entry into entertainment. In 1939 she appeared in several musical shorts for Warner Bros., and appeared on Broadway in Panama Hattie and Two for the Show, both produced by Buddy DeSylva.
Career
When DeSylva became a producer at Paramount Pictures, Hutton was signed to a starring role in The Fleet's In in 1942. She made 14 films in 11 years during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Annie Get Your Gun for MGM, which hired Hutton to replace an exhausted Judy Garland in the role of Annie Oakley. The film and the leading role, retooled for Hutton, was a smash hit, with the biggest critical praise going to Betty (her obituary in The New York Times described her as "a brassy, energetic performer with a voice that could sound like a fire alarm") but Hutton, like Garland, was earning a reputation for being extremely difficult.
In 1942, she signed with Capitol Records, one of the first artists to do so, but was unhappy with their management, and then signed with RCA Victor. Among her many films was a curious, unbilled cameo in Sailor Beware (1952) with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, in which she portrayed Jerry's girlfriend, Hetty Button. Her time as a Hollywood star came to an end due to contract disagreements with Paramount following The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) and Somebody Loves Me (1952), a biopic of singer Blossom Seeley. The New York Times indicated that her film career ended because of her insistence that her husband at the time, Charles O'Curran, direct her next film; when the studio declined, Hutton broke her contract.
Hutton worked in radio, appeared in Las Vegas and in nightclubs, then tried her luck on the new medium of television. An original musical TV "spectacular" written especially for Hutton, Satin 'n Spurs (1954), was an enormous flop with the public and critics, despite being one of the first television programs televised nationally by NBC in compatible color. Desilu Productions took a chance on Hutton and in 1959 gave her a sitcom The Betty Hutton Show, which quickly faded. Her last TV outing was a brief guest appearance in 1975 on Baretta.
In 1967, she was signed to star in two low-budget Westerns for Paramount, but was fired shortly after the projects began. Afterwards, Hutton had trouble with alcohol and substance abuse, eventually attempting suicide after losing her singing voice in 1970 and having a nervous breakdown. She divorced her fourth husband, jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli, and declared herself bankrupt. However, after regaining control of her life through a church, she converted to Roman Catholicism and went on to teach acting and to cook at a rectory in Rhode Island.
She replaced Dorothy Loudon as the evil Miss Hannigan in Annie on Broadway for a limited run in 1980. Her last known performance in any medium was on Jukebox Saturday Night, which aired on PBS in 1983. Robert Osborne interviewed her for TCM's "Private Screenings" in April 2000. (there is a link to the interview at the botton of the page)
Marriages
The actress's first marriage was to camera manufacturer Ted Briskin on September 3 1945; they divorced in 1950. Two daughters were born to the couple, Lindsay Diane Briskin (born 1946) and Candice Elizabeth Briskin (born 1948). Ted Briskin had a brief 21-day marriage to Joan Dixon after this divorce. He died in 1980 in Los Angeles.
Hutton's second marriage was in 1952 to choreographer Charles O'Curran, and they divorced in 1955; he died in 1984.
Her third marriage was in 1955 to Alan W. Livingston, the creator of Bozo the Clown; they divorced five years later, although some accounts refer to this as a nine-month marriage.
Her fourth and final marriage was in 1960 to jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli, who was born in 1923, a brother of Conte Candoli. Hutton and Candoli had one child, Carolyn Candoli (born 1962) and then divorced in 1967 (although some accounts place the year as 1964).
Hutton lived near Palm Springs, California until her death due to complications from colon cancer at 86 years of age. Carl Bruno, executor of her estate and a long-term friend, told the Associated Press that she died on the evening of Sunday, March 11, 2007.
Filmography
The Fleet's In (1942)
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)
Happy Go Lucky (1943)
Let's Face It (1943)
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
And the Angels Sing (1944)
Here Come the Waves (1944)
Incendiary Blonde (1945)
Duffy's Tavern (1945)
The Stork Club (1945)
Cross My Heart (1946)
The Perils of Pauline (1947)
Dream Girl (1948)
Red, Hot and Blue (1949)
Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
Let's Dance (1950)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Sailor Beware (1952)
Somebody Loves Me (1952)
Spring Reunion (1957)
IMDB
www.imdb.com/name/nm0002149/
Betty at Turner Classic Movies
tcmdb.com/participant/participant.jsp
You cant listen to 15 songs by Betty here And watch clips From Annie Get Your Gun, Perils of Pauline, Miracles of Morgans Creek and well as the shorts Murders He Says, Old Man Moses Is Dead, One For the Book and the TCM interview with Robert Osbourne from 2000 at this link
www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20...etty2.htm
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