SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

boblipton Did Ralph Meeker do his own singing in this movie? He had been a music major in college, so it's possible, and rendered more likely to my twisty mind because his singing voice is nothing at all like his speaking voice. Anyway, this movie starts off in 1906, with Betty Hutton as Blossom Seeley about to debut, but the San Francisco Earthquake intervenes. After a brief interlude in which a temperamental star tries to steal "Toddling the Todalo", she becomes a great star herself and in a couple of minutes and one medley, we get to the armistice and Mr. Meeker; another half hour and they get married, but he isn't standing for being "Mr. Seeley", so he has to be a big success on his own, making everyone miserable.Like many another biopic the amount of truth in this picture is debatable. The point is to hear those good old songs, which had fallen out of favor, and they're well performed, with some nice choreography. More than that, this was an attempt to recast Betty Hutton's screen image. She had come into the movies fourteen years earlier as a jitterbug wailing "Dipsy Doodle", but for the past seven years, Paramount had taken notice of the fact that she was over 21. She's definitely an adult in this movie, and quite lovely and talented, but this was the last movie on her Paramount contract.

weezeralfalfa WARNING: This film includes a musical number done in blackface. If that offends you, avoid this film or shut your eyes during this performance.This musical romance is practically the only Hollywood film I know of(aside from "With a Song in my Heart) where the music is virtually non-stop from beginning to end, occasionally interrupted by segments of the drama, which is mainly about the growing relationship between performers Blossom Seeley(Betty Hutton),and Benny Fields(Ralph Meeker). This film was meant as a tribute to these two popular entertainers during their early careers, beginning with the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Betty sings solo or with Ralph for most of the songs, with Ralph getting the occasional solo. According to other reviewers, his singing was dubbed, perhaps also his piano playing?For those put off by Betty's frequent mugging and "overacting" in many of her films, you can be assured that she keeps this to a minimum here, perhaps in deference to the singing style of Blossom. Henry Slate and Sid Tomack represent a couple of performing partners of Benny when Blossom discovers him. They join Blossom's team for a short while, with their comical musical performances. Jack Benny briefly appears, his main function being to announce the marriage of Blossom and Benny Fields. Later, these 2 get a "Good luck" telegram from Jack, sent COD. That's in keeping with Jack's public image of being extraordinarily stingy.When Betty(Blossom) complains about Benny's periodic disappearing act because he wants to show he can make it on his own, confident Billie Bird quips that her problem with her husband was that he wouldn't run away.Many of the songs were only briefly sung. However, the blackface production was rather lengthy...The film ends with Betty and Ralph singing the title song, previously composed by the Gershwins.See it in color at YouTube.

drednm In her last major film, Betty Hutton gives a great performance in the story of Blossom Seeley, a legendary star of the early 20th century.Subduing her usual bop character for the more sedate style of Blossom Seeley, Betty Hutton perfectly captures the mood and pace of the teens and 20s. Singing some great standards and few new songs, Hutton exudes warmth and an era long gone. Blossom Seeley was a major star of the early 20th century, one of the biggest vaudeville stars.Seeley made a few film appearances, her best being a Vitaphone short in 1928 with Benny Fields. This short film is available on DVD.Hutton looks great, sings great, and turns in a boffo performance. Ralph Meeker is dubbed and seems uncomfortable in a musical. Solid support from Robert Keith, Billie Bird, Sid Tomack, and Henry Slate.Sadly, this was the end of Betty Hutton's studio career in Hollywood. She made this film the same year as starring in THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH. She made several TV specials and guest appearances but appeared in only one more film: 1957's SPRING REUNION. One of the biggest stars of the 40s, she was tossed aside by the studio system.Hutton's performance in this films ranks among her best. Worth a look to see one great star impersonating another great star.

George Moffatt This was Betty Hutton's last major film at Paramount and she gave her all playing Blossom Seeley. She looked beautiful and was singing better than ever. Blossom worked with Betty on the songs and movements. If Paramount ever releases this film on DVD, it would be a good idea to track down some of Blossom's early musical shorts and include them. Blossom's partner, Benny Fields, is played by Ralph Meeker and he does a fine job with his numbers. His singing is dubbed by Pat Morgan, but it's a good match. Betty wanted Frank Sinatra. Great idea. Too bad it didn't happen, but everything turned out quite well and it's one of my favorite movies starring my favorite bombshell. There are nearly 20 songs and maybe someday there will be a decent soundtrack released on CD. The 10 inch LP that RCA put out at the time was a very sloppy mix of Paramount studio tracks and RCA studio sessions. You can hear the splices.