The Stork Club (1945).

The Stork Club (1945). Directed by Hal Walker. Cast: Betty Hutton , Barry Fitzgerald and Don DeFore.

A hat check girl at New York's famous Stork Club nightclub, Judy Peabody, saves an elderly man from drowning. He turns out to be Jerry Bates, who Judy, believes to be poor man.

Pop tells his lawyer to give Judy any thing her heart desires, anonymously. Judy's, dream is for her bandleader boyfriend Danny, to return home from the Marines, so she can sing with his band.

Before long she finds herself in a beautiful apartment, free of charge and a line of credit at a up scale department store. She buys dresses and furs, without knowing who is supporting her.

Judy finds "Pop" a job as a busboy, but that turns out to be a disaster, so she invites Pop to stay at her apartment. Danny comes home, looking forward to seeing her until he sees the apartment, the clothes and the older man. Believing her to be a "kept" woman, he decides to move on .

Billingsley is invited by Judy to hear the band. Impressed, he gives them a job at the club.

Will Judy ever find out that "Pop" is responsible for giving her all these wonderful things and will she win back Danny?



If you are fan of Betty Hutton and movies during the WWII era,  with a fun story and a couple of good musical numbers. This movie is for you.

Fun Fact:

The movie, included as a character Sherman Billingsley the owner of the real stork club. During the movie, he talks to Danny, Judy's fiancee telling him that his wife and two daughters were the only women in his life. This is contradictory to the real life Sherman, who had a longtime affair with Ethel Merman.

Barry Fitzgerald (10 March 1888 – 14 January 1961), is the older brother of Irish actor Arthur Shields. By 1929, he turned to acting full-time. He was a roommate of playwright, Sean O'Casey, for a short time.

Fitzgerald went to Hollywood to star in the film, The Plough and the Stars (1936), directed by John Ford. His other performances: The Long Voyage Home (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), And Then There Were None (1945), The Naked City (1948), and The Quiet Man (1952). Fitzgerald achieved a feat unmatched in the history of the Academy Awards: he was nominated for both the Best Actor Oscar and the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the same performance, as "Father Fitzgibbon" in the film, Going My Way (1944). (Academy Award rules have since been changed to prevent this.) He won the Best Supporting Actor Award;  he  broke the head off his Oscar statue while practising his golf swing. (During World War II, Oscar statues were made of plaster instead of gold, owing to wartime metal shortages.)

Barry Fitzgerald movies I have seen:

Bringing Up Baby (1938)
The Sea Wolf (1941)
Going My Way (1944)
The Stork Club (1945)
Easy Come, Easy Go (1947)
The Naked City (1948)
The Story of Seabiscuit (1949)
The Quiet Man (1952)
The Catered Affair (1956)

Happy Birthday: Betty Hutton!

Betty Hutton (February 26, 1921 – March 12, 2007) was an stage, film, and television actress, comedienne and singer. Please click here to read more about Betty Hutton.

Personal Quote:

I am not a great singer and I am not a great dancer, but I am a great actress, and nobody ever let me act except director, Preston Sturges. He believed in me.

Preston Sturges, directed Betty Hutton in the film, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek(1944). Comedy. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, was nominated for a 1945 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

The story begins when, Trudy Kockenlocker, a small-town girl, wakes up one morning after a wild farewell party with a group of soldiers to find herself married to a soldier named "Ratzkiwatzki" and it is not long afterward she learns that she is pregnant. Not really knowing who "Ratzkiwatzki" is or where he can be found. Trudy does not know what to do. Norval Jones, her friend, who has been in love with Trudy for years, wants to marry her in spite of the fact, she is married to someone else. Trudy's father, not to happy about the idea which complicates matters. Before long, Norval is arrested and finds himself on the run. Will he get back in time for the birth of the babies?

Betty Hutton was perfect playing the part of Trudy, the girl next door type, who finds out how one reckless moment can change her life. Trudy, only.. wanted to do the best for the boys going to a war where some of them wouldn't come back alive.

Fun Fact:
When the film was released, it was such a huge hit, it was literally standing room only for many performances.

Betty Hutton.

ON TCM: Nov. 3, 2010. Betty Hutton Tribute. They are celebrating Betty Hutton, with the films listed below:

Short Film: Vincent Lopez And His Orchestra With Betty Hutton (1939) . Musical short showcasing the talent of Vincent Lopez, his orchestra and Betty Hutton. Instead of playing their usual theme, the band insists on playing new material. Cast: Vincent Lopez, Betty Hutton, Fred Laury.



Stork Club, The (1945). A hat-check girl gets rich when she saves a millionaire's life, which causes problems with her love life.. Cast: Betty Hutton, Barry Fitzgerald, Don DeFore. Dir: Hal Walker. Fun Fact: The movie, included as a character Sherman Billingsley the owner of the real stork club. During the movie, he talks to Danny, Judy's fiance telling him that his wife and two daughters were the only women in his life. This is contradictory to the real life Sherman, who had a longtime affair with Ethel Merman. A very predictable fluffy movie, worth watching if you like Betty Hutton.



Perils Of Pauline, The (1947). The world's worst actress rises to stardom as Pearl White. Cast: Betty Hutton, John Lund, Billy De Wolfe. Dir: George Marshall. This movie, is a wonderful showcase for Betty Hutton's talent.



Red, Hot And Blue (1949). An actress's career is threatened when she finds a dead gangster in her apartment. Cast: Betty Hutton, Victor Mature, William Demarest. If you like Betty Hutton, you will enjoy this film. It isn't as key a film in her career as "Annie Get Your Gun," "The Perils of Pauline," or "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek," but it does showcase her wonderful talent.



Annie Get Your Gun (1950).Musical biography of sharpshooter Annie Oakley. Cast: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Edward Arnold. Dir: George Sidney. Fun Facts: Judy Garland and Frank Morgan, who appeared together in The Wizard of Oz (1939), were scheduled to reappear together in this film. Garland was fired because of health problems, and Frank Morgan died shortly after filming began. As a result of this, Betty Hutton took over Judy Garland's role as Annie Oakley, and Louis Calhern succeeded Frank Morgan as Buffalo Bill.

Howard Keel broke his leg during filming when a horse fell on it.

thought Betty Hutton was wonderful in this film. She may not have been the singer that Garland was, but she did a excellent job with her performance, as Annie with her amazing personality and humor.

The Fleet's In (1942)

The Fleet's In (1942). Directed by Victor Schertzinger. Cast: Dorothy Lamour and William Holden. Although sharing the title of the 1928 film starring Clara Bow and Jack Oakie, it was not a remake. It was the second film version of the 1933 Kenyon Nicholson–Charles Robinson stage play Sailor, Beware!. Songs by Schertzinger and lyricist Johnny Mercer. The score includes: "Tangerine", and "I Remember You".

Jimmy Dorsey and his band are featured in the movie. Supporting cast members: Eddie Bracken, singer Cass Daley, and Betty Hutton in her film debut.

After Diana Golden performs for the sailors, sailor Casey Kirby goes backstage to get her autograph for his sister. Casey is tricked into a publicity kiss with Golden and when his buddy, Barney Waters, shares the news with all their buddies back on the ship, everyone is impressed. Then Jake, bets Barney that Casey will not be able to kiss a dance hall singer, Barney bets his friend Spike's antique watch, and the betting begins. Spike threatens Barney with his life that he wins the bet.

When they dock in San Francisco, Barney takes Casey to the dance hall and has Casey sit next to the singer. The singer only takes interest in Casey when the manager tries to force a customer on her, and Casey ends up walking her home. The singer is charmed by Casey, and she invites him into the apartment she shares with another singer, Bessie Dale. Bessie returns the same night with Barney, and everything is going well until Barney mentions the bet . Bessie comes in just as Casey and singer are just about to kiss and tells the singer about the bet. Both Barney and Casey are thrown out of the apartment, but.. Casey soon realizes that he is in love with the singer and buys an engagement ring. How will he win her heart?

It really is a musical comedy due to the excellent character actors/actresses and it has a couple of great songs. William Holden is so good, you really think he is Casey Kirby. Dorothy Lamour is funny and has some good songs to sing. Betty Hutton and Eddie Bracken are just as funny. I loved the story...

When DeSylva became a producer at Paramount Pictures, Betty Hutton was signed to perform in the film, The Fleet's In (1942) which starred Paramount's number one female star Dorothy Lamour. Hutton made an instant impact, but Paramount did not right away promote her to stardom. They gave her second leads in a film musical, Star Spangled Rhythm (1943), and another Lamour film before casting Hutton as the co-star of Bob Hope in Let's Face It (1943). Following the release of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944), Hutton was now a major star, and with the film, Incendiary Blonde (1945), she was now Paramount's number one female box office attraction.

Hutton made 19 films from 1942 to 1952. The Perils of Pauline(1947). She was billed over Fred Astaire in the 1950 musical Let's Dance. Hutton's greatest screen performance was in the film, Annie Get Your Gun (1950), which hired her to replace Judy Garland in the role of Annie Oakley.

Among her many films was an unbilled cameo in Sailor Beware (1952) with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, in which she portrayed Dean's girlfriend, Hetty Button. Her time as a Hollywood star came to an end with the film, The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) and Somebody Loves Me (1952).

After which Hutton worked in radio, performed in Las Vegas and in nightclubs, then onto an musical TV spectacular written especially for Hutton called, Satin and Spurs (1954).

I posted the first of 8 videos of the film, The Fleets In, to help get you started. Enjoy :)