The Stork Club

So, this beautiful blonde saves a rich old man from drowning, see? But she doesn't realize he's rich, see? And she tries to get him a job at the Stork Club, where she works, see? And he decides to secretly make her rich for being so nice to him, see?

A totally predictable feel-good movie, worth watching if you like Betty Hutton and WWII vintage studio potboilers with fun stories and a couple of good musical numbers.

Mistakenly thinking the old man is committing suicide, two-piece bathing-suited Betty Hutton (as Judy Peabody) jumps in and saves eccentrically wealthy Barry Fitzgerald (as Jerry "Pop" Bates) from drowning. He decides to reward Ms. Hutton, who is barely making ends meet as a hat-check girl at "The Stork Club" in New York City. Mr. Fitzgerald becomes Hutton's mysterious benefactor, giving her an all-expenses paid apartment and a luxurious line of credit.

Suddenly rich, Hutton decides to help poor Fitzgerald, unaware he is behind her wealth. Complicating matters, Hutton's boyfriend Don DeFore (as Danny Wilton) thinks she's become Fitzgerald's high-paid mistress.

This is light, sentimental comedy infused by the personalities of its stars. The film really jumps to life when Hutton sings "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" which entered the record charts just before the film's release, and stuck around through the spring of 1946, going to #1 for two weeks. The song, which features a great Hutton vocal and infectious chorus, was her biggest chart hit, beating down competing versions from Les Brown and Hoagy Carmichael (who wrote the music).

***** The Stork Club (12/19/45) Hal Walker ~ Betty Hutton, Barry Fitzgerald, Don DeFore, Robert Benchley

The first forty minutes of the movie is delightful with Barry Fitzgerald playing a millionaire in disguise who turns hatcheck girl Betty Hutton's life upside down. The last ten minutes are also fine with a cute and satisfying ending. Its the forty-five minutes in-between that gets bogged down. The biggest problem is the subplot with Don Defore. Defore plays an ex-marine returned from the war and the leader of an orchestra looking for a job. He is passionless and dull in both roles. He rejects long time girl friend Judy (Hutton) because he finds her in a wealthy apartment wearing rich clothes and assumes (incorrectly) that she got the goodies by whoring around. This might have made him noble in 1945, but now he seems like a "holier than thou" male chauvinist. One feels like telling the distraught Judy that she was lucky to get rid of the creep. Unfortunately, she has to feel guilty for having had good fortune without the help of her "man". She spends the rest of the movie trying to win him back.

The other problem is that Betty sings just four musical numbers and only two ("Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" and "Square in a Social Circle") are in her inimitable jitterbug-swing style. These two numbers are the highlights in the film. Andy Russell, a rather lifeless Bing Crosby/Frank Sinatra type crooner is given three numbers, including a duet with Hutton, which just slows the film down.

In sum, the delightful performance of Barry Fitzgerald and the comical energy and singing talent of Betty Hutton start the movie in a glowing fashion and eventually get us over the finish line, but the middle part is dated and a bit wearisome.

I think the movie is worth seeing for two scenes - Hutton's dynamic delivery of "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" and her jarring scene where she welcomes her soldier boyfriend back from the war, saying "Move, Danny, Move, Do Something," I think at that moment she captured some of the extraordinary happiness that people felt about the war ending at that time.

Betty Hutton works overtime at being indefatigable playing a hat-check girl/band singer who saves a bum's life, not knowing he's really a multimillionaire; he becomes her secret benefactor, much to the dismay of her jealous orchestra-leader boyfriend. Overwritten comedy from B.G. DeSylva and John McGowan is mercilessly talky and comically complicated, with bosses, lovers, husbands and wives all trying to fool one another into happiness. Hutton is remarkable, however; she's terribly aware of the camera and keeps playing to the collective funny bone, yet she radiates chummy charm and her musical numbers are memorably spirited. The excellent supporting cast includes Barry Fitzgerald, Robert Benchley, Don DeFore, and the wisecracking Iris Adrian, a stitch as Hutton's gal-pal. **1/2 from ****

Betty Hutton really puts her heart and soul into this film. Although she may come across as bonkers in a lot of her films, she is definitely a talented actress with a lot of energy and spirit. Here she takes pity on an old man by trying to get him a job. This is an endearing quality, and makes you connect with her character from the early stages. Eventually, she realises that this man is carrying a torch for a woman who left him. Although you may not necessarily connect with the man, you connect with the writing that has drawn the character. In other words, it is a good script which is sensitively played by Hutton. You see her eyes in conversation with her boyfriend whilst she is singing, and you can't help feeling for her on her journey through this film. Definitely one of her better performances with a good script to take you through the film.