Did Ralph Meeker do his own singing in this movie? He had been a music major in college, so it's possible, and rendered more likely to my twisty mind because his singing voice is nothing at all like his speaking voice. Anyway, this movie starts off in 1906, with Betty Hutton as Blossom Seeley about to debut, but the San Francisco Earthquake intervenes. After a brief interlude in which a temperamental star tries to steal "Toddling the Todalo", she becomes a great star herself and in a couple of minutes and one medley, we get to the armistice and Mr. Meeker; another half hour and they get married, but he isn't standing for being "Mr. Seeley", so he has to be a big success on his own, making everyone miserable.Like many another biopic the amount of truth in this picture is debatable. The point is to hear those good old songs, which had fallen out of favor, and they're well performed, with some nice choreography. More than that, this was an attempt to recast Betty Hutton's screen image. She had come into the movies fourteen years earlier as a jitterbug wailing "Dipsy Doodle", but for the past seven years, Paramount had taken notice of the fact that she was over 21. She's definitely an adult in this movie, and quite lovely and talented, but this was the last movie on her Paramount contract.

This film is noted as the last of the big Betty Hutton films before her first "retirement" from the spotlight. The story is a biography of the famous Vaudevillian Blossom Seeley and her husband Benny Fields. What really distinguishes this film is the soundtrack of Betty's singing of a bushel of old-time songs in her inimitable style. She acts with her usual panache. Ralph Meeker plays Benny Fields in much the same way that John Lund played Betty's paramour in "The Perils of Pauline." Billie Bird is a standout as Essie, Blossoms' friend and confidant. Betty would come out of her "retirement" to play in the 1957 film "Spring Reunion" and then appear in the 1959-60 CBS sitcom "The Betty Hutton Show."

Betty's last major film for her home studio Pararmount was one of her best. Her acting is toned down,her singing is warm and mellow. Vocal surgery had kept her from the shouting type of singing she did so in a way this was a more mature role for her. Ralph Meeker is good as her husband Benny Fields. The sets,costumes and color are very lush and typical of the big studio's fifties product. Billy Bird is a riot as Betty's companion. Ironically,in real life Blossom Seely did retire so Benny Fields could be the star of the family but his career fizzled and he retired a year later,also. There was a soundtrack issued at the time but it hasn't resurfaced. I never was a big fan of Hutton's but thought her role in this film was very good.

This was Betty Hutton's last major film at Paramount and she gave her all playing Blossom Seeley. She looked beautiful and was singing better than ever. Blossom worked with Betty on the songs and movements. If Paramount ever releases this film on DVD, it would be a good idea to track down some of Blossom's early musical shorts and include them. Blossom's partner, Benny Fields, is played by Ralph Meeker and he does a fine job with his numbers. His singing is dubbed by Pat Morgan, but it's a good match. Betty wanted Frank Sinatra. Great idea. Too bad it didn't happen, but everything turned out quite well and it's one of my favorite movies starring my favorite bombshell. There are nearly 20 songs and maybe someday there will be a decent soundtrack released on CD. The 10 inch LP that RCA put out at the time was a very sloppy mix of Paramount studio tracks and RCA studio sessions. You can hear the splices.