Evening star., 1952-11-27
By Harry Macarthur

There is what might as well
be called a new Betty Hutton on
display in Somebody Loves Me-
at the Ontario. She is quite SUBJ
dued (for Betty Hutton) as she
perpetrates an impersonation OF
Blossom Seeley in Paramount s
king size Technicolor musical. She
gets along quite we'll in the new
role. too, though she could have
livened things UP considerably by
breaking into an old Hutton shout
and taking a leap for the chan
delier.
Somebody Loves Me-" written
and directed by Irving Brecher
is announced as inspired by the
careers of Blossom Seeley and
Benny Fields. If there is any close
resemblance between their actual
lives and this account. fate needs
a new writer. This yarn has more
mileage on it than anything Hol-
lywood has touched. 1t long since
has been kicked and pummelled
into a coma if not complete life
lesSnesS.
Miss Seeley, as it transpires
here, has a meteoric rise as q
vaudeville thrush. With the fluSl
of fame upon her, she encounters
Benny Fields singing with a trio
in a Hoboken night club. Felleo
by a great wave of true love, she
takes the trio into her act. MI
Fields (as impersonated here by
Ralph Meeker, that Isl weds hel
to further his career.
Everything is fine until he falls
in love with her. In normal life
this is not considered detrimental
to happy wedlock. In the Holly
wood scenario writer's guide book
however, this is listed under ca
tastrophes. Fields takes off tc
make good on his own, as a
straight man for a couple of bur-
lesque comics in San Francisco.
He is rescued from this fate
worse than death by Blossoms
agent, who sends him back to his
bride. She tells him what he needs
is style and devotes her life to
coaching him, even though it
means putting the Rolls Royce
phaeton in hook.
In time Fields is ready and is
booked into the Chez Paree in
Chicago. All is well. He is on his
own. Then, on his opening night
he overhears pair OF musicians
discussing how Miss Seeley got
him the job by promising to play
out the contract herself If he
Topped.
Do you need to know more? II
you do, you'll have to see Some
body Loves Me-" There are exits
as well as entrances at the On
tario and it seemed safe yester-
day afternoon to assume that no
picture which has plodded this
path for 81 minutes is going to
Ipull any surprises in the last five
minutes.
Ordinarily. the plot of musical
film can be dismissed as having no
particular bearing. Writer-Direc-
tor Brecher and his players be-
labor this one so much. however,
that you can't ignore it, which is
too bad. When it is sticking to
music, Somebody Loves Me" gets
along fine.
Fortunately, there are some 20
musical numbers. three new and
the others familiar hits of an
earlier day, sprinkled along the
path of the Ontario's film. All
are given top-notch treatment
by Miss Hutton and somebody who
managed to sound a lot like Benny
Fields while clubbing songs for
Meeker. Miss Hutton, even some
what Subdued, has a special talent
for selling a song and it could be
that she is quite enough to make
you overlook the duller aspects
of Somebody Loves Me-" AT
least, while they are taking place
you can console yourself with the
assurance that she will be singing
again in few minutes.