The Betty Hutton Story- Page 3

Posted: 3/2/06 at 12:20am

I just found this on e-bay. I did not know Betty Hutton had a TV show.
hutton's TV show.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/2/06 at 12:21am

I have seen the Old Man Bose Ain't Dead number but not the entire short. What I remember is the "Dead Bose" looks alarmingly like Death in Seventh Seal. Do you think Bergman was a Hutton fan?

Master, did anyone mention anything about these shorts being released on DVD?

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/2/06 at 2:56am

Chita, I have a few of those episodes and they are pretty awful. There is one scene with Betty on the phone. She is the only one in the scene and she is so lit she is slurring her words but trying so hard not to seem drunk that she over annunciates every word and her facial expressions are way over the top, even for her! It is quite obvious this was done at the end of a very long day and they needed to get this shot to wrap.

By the way, the series was produced by Desilu.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 3/2/06 at 7:25am

Suleen, Ron Hutchinson of the Vitaphone project said that Warners is planning an all-shorts (and rare footage, including the two surviving reels of GOLD DIGGERS OF BROADWAY) DVD for 2007. I would love to see "Public Jitterbig #1"

The sad thing about Betty is that by the time of her TV show and SATINS & SPURS , she had really lost it. I find S&S totally unwatchable...she is SO unmodulated and hard (and the songs are lousy). It's interesting to see why Lucille Ball was such a hit on TV while Betty was not. Lucy could rein herself in and still appear friskily feminine (even while she was a hard-as-nails beeyitch off camera).

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 3/2/06 at 9:25am

I predict that there will be a Betty Hutton Renaissance soon. My god, she's one of the few real "movie stars" left!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/2/06 at 11:10am

Master that is so exciting! I have never seen Satin and Spurs only heard the recording which is fun in a historical context but not something that I listen to on a regular basis. Unless of course I get Wildcat Smathers stuck in my head. Then I just can't fight it.

[Glebb]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 2:33pm

Sueleen - I was not bashing Betty.
What's not to love?
I just wish Judy had done Annie.
I started this thread because I love Betty and because I think Chloe should play her.
Tiara is staying on my head, thank you!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 4:21pm

I'm not saying I like Betty Hutton's acting (especially in Annie Get Your Gun) but in her day she had a pretty face that resembled Chloe now.

Dear Betty Basher,

how do you expain this comment?

I rest my case.


CotD status officially revoked.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 5:09pm

I love Betty Hutton. She was such an incredible, unique talent and a HUGE star in her day... one of the highest paid of her era.

Considering her sad course in life, it's so hard for me to picture one actress/performer that would be able to pull it off. You almost need a "young Betty" and an "old Betty."

I cringe at the thought of some peppy ingenue slathering on a pound of rubber makeup ala Bette Midler in "For the Boys." She ended up looking like she was melting, not aging.

There is a slight resemblance with Chloe, but there is a HUGE lack of energy in her personality for Betty Hutton. I would almost be more concerned with capturing her frenetic, joyful style of performing, rather than her looks. I could see someone like Kristin Chenoweth pulling it off, or even Reese Witherspoon. Someone that is capable of taking it to an over-the-top level, but respectfully so.

I also think the "Betty Hutton" story would be a terrific one. She rose to such incredible heights and then fell just as far into poverty and oblivion. Many great moments in her life, and many huge mistakes. I think there is a lot of drama there.

Not to thread-jack here, but I've always thought both Hutton and also Veronica Lake's "life stories" should be made into films. Lake is another one who rose to great heights then fell extremely hard.

EDIT: I saw Hutton's TCM interview with Robert Osborne and it broke my heart.

Updated On: 3/4/06 at 05:09 PM

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 7:42pm

Best,

You are so right. Veronica Lake did have a terrible time. I completely forgot until you mentioned her.

Casting Betty would be tough. It really requires a lot of thought. (Reese might be good...she was so over-the-top in Election.)

Maybe Patricia Arquette could play Veronica.

Did anyone else besides me think it was sacrelige that they let Jennifer Love Hewitt play Audrey Hepnurn??? UGH. The thought of that made me ill.

Sherie Rene Scott could possibly be the "stage Betty." I mean, you need a belter for the role. (Is Kringas available?)

[justme2]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 8:41pm

yes..that was sacrilage of the highest order. Just seeing the commericals for the movie was sickening.

Out of all the star biograpies I've read...and there are hundreds...less than 5% have happy endings. Just about everyone in the "golden era" suffered from unstable beginnings to lightening hot stardowm to the "who are you, again?" status. With all the abuses, marriages, and addictions you can imagine. Most would make great movies.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 9:04pm

Maybe the real challenge, then, is to come up with "movie stars" who had HAPPY lives. Can anyone think of one? (Not meaning to threadjack here.)

[justme2]

Posted: 3/4/06 at 9:27pm

Frances Dee and Joel MCrea had a great life together. Married early in their careers, ran a ranch outside of the movie business and died old and happy.

Sybil Jason...child star of Warner Brothers...had a great biography.
Shirley Temples life is a good read, with a happy author.
Mary Pickford's many books make it seem like she was happy once she made it, but I don't think she was a happy person. She wrote a weird little book in the 40's called "Why not Try God?" which explained many things about her behaviours.
Kay Francis had many marriages, many movies, many stories, but was a relatively happy women with her life. And what a life!
Katherine Hepburn's book "Me" is an excellent read, with her leading a well cared for life at the end.

But, countless others depressed the crap out of me...Paulette Goddard, Garbo, Dietriech, Oscar Levants, The early Barrymores and Drews, Mary Astor, Clara Bow, MOST of the silent stars...and so on!!

[Glebb]

Posted: 3/5/06 at 5:21pm

Dear Take it Back:
Do I have to like her acting to love Betty Hutton?
I think not!
Tiara firmly pinned in and still there after an evening of pirouettes.

Posted: 3/5/06 at 5:31pm

Glebb! you're back. Welcome back. I hope you enjoyed your vacation. Thanks for starting this thread, I love Betty Hutton.

[Glebb]

Posted: 3/5/06 at 5:32pm

Thank you Chita33. :)

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/5/06 at 6:07pm

I will rip that tiara right off your head like Neely did to Helen's wig and flush it down the toilet.


By the way, did you know that Neely was based more on Betty than on Judy as everyone seems to think? (She was in Panama Hattie on Broadway with Merman and the Merm insisted that Betty's big song be cut (or given to Merm, I forget) But Buddy DeSylva promised to take Betty to Hollywood and make her a star, just like in Valley of the Dolls!

[Glebb]

Posted: 3/5/06 at 6:38pm

Cool news - Betty/Neely - I did not know that.
Crown stays on.

[Glebb]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 9:09pm

Chloe is very pretty in BIG LOVE.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 3/13/06 at 11:00pm

Mary Astor, meet your master!

[Glebb]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 9:11pm

Chloe could totally do it!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 1:03am

Okay, having now watched Big Love I see a bit of resemblance physically. But nothing in Chloe's work that I have seen has that spark of goofiness that would be required to play Betty. I would rather see someone capture her spirit than her looks. Perhaps Chloe has it and just hasn't shown it yet. But she just comes across as dour and sad.

[Glebb]

Posted: 3/25/06 at 7:47am

And very mischievous.

[Glebb]

Posted: 4/9/06 at 10:27pm

Chloe's looking good.

[Glebb]

Posted: 4/22/06 at 7:14pm

LOL - SueleenGay!