Betty Hutton - The Mike Douglas Show (1977) Part 3

[MrBooBoo15]

I agree with post from pt 2...They need to make a movie based on her life!! wow Betty Hutton says Berndette Peters is great..she knows talent!

[MrBooBoo15]

I agree with post from pt 2...They need to make a movie based on her life!!

[defundthewar]

Merman's cutting out Betty's song in Panama Hattie can be found in Jackie Susann's Valley of the Dolls. I don't know what song she meant, but it can't be "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun" because that was in Annie Get Your Gun. Actually, Betty looks great for her mid-50s. People forget now, but she was a superstar for a while.

[mkrobinson95]

@defundthewar - Betty is referring to the song "All I've Got to Get Now Is My Man" ... that is the nunber Merman had cut out of the show right before they opened on Broadway.

[defundthewar]

@mkrobinson95 Thanks, you know your Betty. I don't believe everything she says, but I sure believe Merman cut her big number. What she says about Judy finishing "Annie" is pretty silly. Now, I have no proof, but I am dubious about her financing "Goldie" with her own $600k, if she in fact ever had $600k at one time. It would have made more sense for Desilu to back the show, and own it.

[mkrobinson95]

@defundthewar - I hear you on the comment about Judy finishing AGYG ... perhaps she meant (though it's not what she said) is that Judy had recorded the entire soundtrack ... but, again, that isn't what she says here. As you probably know, she only did two film sequences ("Doing What Comes Naturally" and "I'm An Indian Too").

[defundthewar]

@mkrobinson95 I think she was pretty clear that the whole film was shot, then decided it couldn't be shown, which is nonsense... it's not necessary to film a whole movie before it occurs to anybody it's not working. There are stars who keep telling a story over and over again until they themselves believe it. Of course, that sort of fantasy mindset helps a lot being an actress. However, in their personal lives, it doesn't come in so handy.

[mkrobinson95]

@defundthewar - AGYG, according to Betty, caused emotional damage to Hutton (or let's say she LET it damage her). Now we can watch a movie on DVD, watch "special features" & learn things about the film even the principle players might not even know. Example:  During a TCM interview Bob Osborne showed June Allyson a deleted scene from Good News and she was shocked and claimed she didn't remember the song or the scene!

Happy New Year!

[defundthewar]

@mkrobinson95 June had trouble throughout her life remembering her birth year, too. 1917. (Although she finally fessed up.) Happy New Yr to you, too.

[mkrobinson95]

@defundthewar - lol! Yes, that is true! I have done some census research on a few stars where their birthyear was in dispute ... and I have the census for June's (aka Ella Geisman) family in 1920 ... shows her as "2" as of January of that year ... so yes, her birthyear was definitely 1917. Joan Crawford is another one who fudged her birthyear as 1908, which I believe was really 1906 or 05. You and I have discussed Crawford before, in the context of a Judy Garland discussion on another video.

[defundthewar]

@mkrobinson95 Then there's the matter of Doris Day, who didn't exactly correct the widespread notion she was born in 1924 (she was born in 1922), among other things she kept close to the vest, so to speak. People don't understand, by fudging 2 years, a star might- just might- add 2 years to her shelf life, if she is lucky. And that stars are human, there is the impulse to fudge to get what we want.

[uofjim]

I'll take Bettys word for it - not what things say or do not say in a Playbill - Betty was there, we were not.

[steveb1164]

HONEST???? She went to her grave saying Merman had her songs cut from "Panama Hattie". However, many sources (playbills, biographies of Merman) state there is no proof this happened. It was nothing but a desperate grasp for attention.

[mkrobinson95]

@steveb1164 - I suggest you read page 90 of "Ethel Merman: a life" by Brian Kellow ... you will see that one of Hutton's numbers WAS cut from Panama Hattie ... and I quote ... "If an attractive young actress was cast in a Merman show, her agent was apt to warn her to give Ethel a wide berth and not call attention to herself; otherwise her part was likely to be cut to shreds." Hmmmm

[JJJBRICE]

ms hutton mentions her failed tv show of 1959-60 : she sunk 600,000 dollars of her money , no writing talent since they were strike. lack of syndication after the first run. sometype unclear agreement with desilu/ lucille ball......also when asked about leading men she mentioned a saying about (blank) in macys window...what does this mean ?

[mkrobinson95]

The expression was/is "kiss my ass in Macy's window!" ... not sure how it fits in her discussion here, but Mike seemed to understand the intention of how she was using it.

[JayPhilosopher]

Extraordinary. She was so warm and open and honest.

I thought her first song was poor, but the duet was terrific.

Mike Douglas was an excellent interviewer. He really got her to open up and talk.

Thanks, satinsandspurs for putting this up.