Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

JohnHowardReid After a promising start, this film nosedives into a ridiculous plot that not only seems to run forever, but even succeeds in smothering some of the music-and-song interludes. With a super-perky performer like Betty Hutton in the lead, you would think that a hard task, but somehow – maybe due to slack direction by Hal Walker (he earned his wings as an assistant director 1932-1942) – the movie manages to out-stay its welcome. Another problem is that the scenario makes little sense. This would not be so bad in itself if it were not pushed into our faces all the time. A wise director would soft- peddle the stupid story and not keep thrusting it into the foreground. In fact, thanks to Mr. Walker, the dopey plot is played out with such vehemence that it even succeeds in smothering some of the musical highlights. One-note Betty Hutton, as we all well-know, doesn't know how to practice restraint, but we expect an actor who lacks charisma – like Don DeFore – to stay in the background and not keep thrusting himself forward. But, I agree, an actor can only obey directions from his director, and if a director doesn't ask him to tone down his performance, he's not going to do it. Fortunately, Barry Fitzgerald not only does his best to even the score but even does his own stuntwork! He's a brave man, that's for sure! I wouldn't do it in a million years, let alone repeat the stunt as Barry does here. Alas, even Fitz is ultimately defeated by the ridiculous, over-wordy and over-plotted script. No, I'm wrong! The script is both over-plotted and under-plotted. It even invades some of the musical numbers. In all, at 98 minutes, the movie runs far too long. Its stupid plot and totally unbelievable characters don't help. At 90 minutes, you might just get away with it, but saddled with over-bouncy Betty, pushy Don and slow-talking Barry – especially scene-hogging Don – no way! Available on a very good 50- Movie-Mega-Pack Comedy Classics DVD.

weezeralfalfa Too often, Betty Hutton had to carry her, mostly B, films by herself(If anyone could, she could!). This film is a prime example. She should have often been teamed with a major comedic and/or musical film performer, as part of a team such as MGM's Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, or Universal's Don O'Connor and Peggy Ryan. Bob Hope, who was also contracted with Paramount, would seem the perfect partner for her. They only did one earlier film together. I realize that Bob was spending much time on tour with troops during this time. Why didn't Betty replace Dorothy Lamour in some of 'The Road Series'? Barry Fitzgerald may have been a recognizable supporting dramatic actor, but he's deadly dull, for the most part, in his leading role in this film. Perhaps "Cuddles" Sakal, as an older gentleman benefactor for Betty, could have breathed some life into this role.Latino Andy Russel is supposed to provide a little musical diversion and support for Betty in his first(of only a few) Hollywood film appearance. I suppose he was chosen because of his recent hit "Besame Mucho" and presumably cheap price. He only had a little screen time, mostly devoted to the ballad "Love Me" and backing up Betty in the weepy ballad "If I Had a Dozen Hearts". Unfortunately, he had no charisma and no chemistry with Betty. The former ballad is actually a decent, if not very imaginative, love song, and his crooning-style performance was OK, if not overpowering. The latter ballad didn't come off well. But, Betty's encore, as she and boyfriend Danny (Don Defore) are making up in the finale, sounds much better.Think I can see why this B&W film did well at the box office(especially for women) at the time. Courtesy of Barry's character: "Pop" Bates, Betty and her fellow impoverished hatchecking girlfriend(Gwen) get to buy all sorts of expensive things, a luxury apartment, and even get to order a chauffeur around. To a war-weary public, denied new consumer goods for some years, this was a fantasy come true. Betty, however, has to pay the price that her marine boyfriend, Danny, shows up and, naturally, assumes that she must be sponging off some sugar daddy, and wonders why she is living with 'Pop', thus wants to dump her. Meanwhile, Betty thinks her benefactor probably is her employer, Mr. Billingsley, while 'Pop' pretends he is a dirt poor panhandler. Eventually, Betty learns that 'Pop' is her true benefactor, while Danny finally gets confirmation that 'Pop' is rewarding Betty for saving his life. But Danny doesn't tell Betty right away that he has changed his attitude. So, she concocts a complicated nonsensical story about her grandfather and 'Pop's father and a gold mine(hilarious), which he pretends to fall for. Meanwhile, Betty is at work trying to arrange a reconciliation of "Pop" and his estranged wife. The finale, with Betty singing at the Stork Club, while Danny, as the orchestra conductor, is whispering sarcastic comments in her ear about her concocted story, is quite amusing!Actually, Don Defore(as Danny) is quite adequate, if lacking charisma, for what he is asked to do. Ditto for cute Iris Adrian, as Betty's girl friend. Iris rather looked like a shorter brunette version of Betty, and plays an Eve Arden-like woman, with a sharp tongue. Although she didn't look it, she was a decade older than Betty, and would appear in many more films than Betty, beginning at the dawn of talkies, usually as a chlorine, low class gold digger or gangster moll, later as a friend of the lead, mostly in B films.Betty has a couple more songs, none being an elaborate production. At 'Pop's request, she does a soulful rendition of the old chestnut "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree": a top hit in 1905, when 'Pop' was courting his future wife. It reemerges near the finale when Betty is trying to reconcile Pop and his wife. Her spirited novelty song "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief", with male quartette backup, was the hit of the film and enjoyed a life as a top pop single, although it's not my favorite in this film. Actually, she seems more like typically Betty Grable in this performance than the classic inimitable zany frenetic Betty Hutton showcased in the lively number "I'm a Square in the Social Circle". Her number "Daddy O" was cut from the film, but later recorded by Dinah Shore.For Betty Hutton fans(which includes me), this is a worthwhile film to check out, despite the major problem of the casting of Barry. The story is mostly fun, if implausible. The songs are decent,and a variety of types, if not obvious 'keepers'. Betty is cute and winsome. There are currently a surprising variety of DVD releases of this film available. I got the one that includes "The Perils of Pauline": one of Betty's best regarded films. It's not the greatest quality B&W, but adequate to get the gist of the film.

ptb-8 This astonishingly lame Betty Hutton musical brawl was an astoundingly profitable musical for Paramount in 1945 recouping TEN times its production costs in rentals from around the world. However, it must have been one of those 'it seemed funny at the time' events because today it is underwhelming indeed. I can only imagine that everyone was so delighted at the end of WW2 that they all went to the movies in 1945 and laughed uproariously at almost anything.... because that is what this weak comedy musical is...almost anything. A baffling and silly story sees Betty in the Stork Club where she yells and sings. That's it. I had been keen for years to see this no-film because of it's reputation in profit, but within ten minutes I became confused and thought I must have the wrong film. By the time we actually got to the Stork Club I realised the film was a dud and it made sense that the film was so long unseen. It really had no energy and interest and therefore no relevance to anything after 1946. I know a lot of other films do not either but at least they might not be boring and have some entertainment value. The nonsense in the no plot with Barry Fitzgerald made it seem all the more plausible that he fled to Republic Pictures and took the trip to Ireland in 1950 to make THE QUIET MAN.

hotfriend1 Although I don't consider The Stork Club a classic, it's the kind of escapist fluff the Hollywood studio "system" cranked out like an assembly line. The millionaire referred to in the other user's comments was Barry Fitzgerald, a fine Irish character actor. He is best remembered for roles in memorable films such as "How Green was My Valley," and "The Naked City," as well as "Going My Way," for which he was nominated for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor (win) for the same role, the only actor ever so recognized. He is also part of an exclusive group nominated for both lead and supporting Oscars in the same year(although for different films). But he is best remembered as the delightful Michaleen, the matchmaker with the mischievous leprechaun-like charm in "The Quiet Man." Although not a conventional beauty, star Betty Hutton wasn't a major talent but she had an infectiously vivacious quality and innocence that made her appealing. "The Stork Club" is worth viewing if only for Hutton's all-stops-out rendition of Hoagy Carmichael's "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief," which she belts out with irresistible enthusiasm.That aside, the film is historically memorable for supposedly using a set that was an exact replica of the long-defunct Stork Club, a notoriously exclusive New York institution for decades. The so-called "sanctum sanctorum" of the real Stork Club was the Cub Room, which only admitted celebrities and other big names, and their guests. In the great "All About Eve," the Cub Room is the celebrity watering hole that Bette Davis refers to as the place where "the elite meet." A harmless confection and curio from a bygone age that is worth a look for the nostalgic value of a now-unimaginably innocent time.