Somebody Loves Me (1952) DVD-R

Starring Betty Hutton, Ralph Meeker, Robert Keith, Adele Jergens, Billie
Bird, Jack Benny
Directed by Irving Brecher

Print: color
Runtime: 97 min.
Genre: musical
Print Quality: B

Written and directed by Irving Brecher, best known for his weekly TV
series Life of Riley and The People's Choice, Somebody Loves Me is the
highly fictionalized life story of vaudeville and Broadway star Blossom
Seeley (Betty Hutton) and her husband-partner Benny Fields (Ralph
Meeker). Unflatteringly, the film depicts Fields as something of an
opportunist, who maneuvers Blossom into marriage for the benefit of his
own career. Eventually he does penance for his callousness, particularly
in a scene wherein Fields is reduced to playing straight for a pair of
crummy Burlesque comedians. Meanwhile, Blossom also goes into an
eclipse as a "single." The tearful finale is, like the rest of the film, a bit at
odds with the truth, but effective nonetheless. Betty Hutton does pretty
well as Seeley, even though she looks and sounds nothing like genuine
article; Meeker seems uncomfortable, except when lip-synching to the
prerecorded voice of Pat Morgan as Benny Fields. Jack Benny makes an
amusing cameo appearance.