The Stork Club (1945)

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Am I Missing Something?

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

A lowly hatcheck girl at the Stork Club saves a wealthy old guy from drowning. Grateful, he sets up big expense accounts for her, anonymously. As a result, she can only guess at her benefactor, which she and her jealous boyfriend usually get really wrong. And if that's not enough, she and her boyfriend are trying to make it in musical show business. It's like the production is trying to crowd in too much plot and the parts fail to blend into a satisfying whole. That leaves us with a few stellar parts (the amusing expense accounts stampede) amid too much meandering talk and plot shenanigans. Hutton generally lights up the screen, especially with her scintillating "Doctor, Lawyer …" But her numbers are few and far between. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald was a star and so gets a lot of screen time as the sly old Croesus, who follows Judy (Hutton) around giving advice. Unfortunately, for we curious provincials, there's not enough of the Stork Club or its sophisticates despite the title. There is, however, an edifying look at styles and hip lingo, circa 1945. Then too, I'm guessing that the notoriously sassy Iris Adrian had to tone down her usual act so as not to interfere with Hutton. Add too much dawdling direction from Hal Walker, an underused Robert Benchley (Curtis), plus an oddly wooden Don DeFore (Danny) conducting his band with all the verve of a sleepwalker, and the overall result is a disappointing 100-minutes. For sure, it's not the best showcase for fans of that human dynamo, Betty Hutton.

Plied with mostly forgettable songs, Betty Hutton seems only out to upstage herself in this amusing but noisy musical comedy. She is a hatcheck girl at the Stork Club who saves the life of hobo Barry Fitzgerald who is really rich and ends up becoming a head liner there. Having money and success however is not always the key to happiness which she realizes because of boyfriend Don't DeFore's jealousy. Robert Benchley adds acerbic humor while character performers like Bill Goodwin, Iris Adrian and Grady Sutton add light-hearted humor.Betty was at the height of her popularity at this time and leaves no stone unturned to beg for the audiences love. She can tone it down when necessary but at times seems like a blonde version of Virginia O'Brien. Her best jazzy song is "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" which is probably her greatest hit. The supporting players do their best to try to not fade behind her but it is difficult. The always lovable Fitzgerald manages to not be relegated to the background. While she is definitely an acquired taste, it is certainty difficult to ignore her. Unfortunately, her temperament and ego soon took hold and even as Paramount's top leading lady, she quickly burned out her welcome.

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.

I cannot believe how mean-spirited so many of the comments are on this delightful piece of froth. It is a Rom-Com, a fun way for a war-weary people to loosen up and forget about their troubles. Betty Hutton does yell. And how. Her sense of rhythm, quick gestures and dance moves are extremely well-honed, and she nails these songs with a precision and joie-de-vivre that is a lesson to anyone in show business. The story is implausible. Good! That's what makes it so fun and such good escapist value. Look at Rom-Coms today and they're not that much more plausible... The set design is fabulous, the gowns are gorgeous, the girls vivacious, and the band excellent. The songs aren't amongst the forty best tunes of the century, but they're memorable enough that I'm humming one of them right now. Can't say fairer than that.