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Betty Hutton has died, age 86. Never a favorite of mine, but I loved her in "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek."

Ms. Hutton’s electric presence in films like “The Fleet’s In” and Preston Sturges’s “Miracle of Morgan’s Creek,” masked emotional problems rooted in a poverty-stricken childhood. As a young girl, she sang for coins on street corners and in speakeasies to help support her alcoholic mother, who had been abandoned by Ms. Hutton’s father.

Years after her film career ended, those emotional problems still plagued her. “I tried to kill myself,” Ms. Hutton said in 1983, recalling her decline after she faded from public notice.

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She was great in 'Miracle of Morgan's Creek'--literally an original piece of performance. Also great in 'Annie', I thought. I liked Ethel better later in the TV version (with 'Old Fashioned Wedding'), but Hutton might have been better for the movie than Garland (that should have been Ethel too, though, shouldn't it? Almost anything should have, if it needed tough and hard)

What is terrible is that I thought she had been dead for 25 years. But I'm glad she hadn't, both for the obvious reasons and because it seems she did have some worthwhile years after the addiction period and did some good, if less glamorous, work.

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I always loved Betty Hutton, even when she seemed to be wired to the point of mania., The persona was huge and WAY out front, but the vulnerable very sweet kid was always appealing from behind, and as a queer with a necessary front-persona myself, I recognized the problem and sympathized and enjoyed her solutions.

There used to be LOTS of live-wires in American theater, and it was actually a social fact, it was one of the accepted personae in real life; seems like there were lots in Mark Twain, and in Sinclair Lewis novels. Kinda disappeared after the 60's. But Danny Kaye was a male version.

She was fantastic in miracle of Morgan's Creek," but Preston Sturges (who wrote and directed) was himself talent with a marked admixture of mania. Actually, he was a genius....

Joan Cusack seems to me to have some of Betty Hutton's appeal -- there's a noticeable admixture of sadness in the humor, especially in the play of the eyes. I love Joan Cusack, anyway, in much the same way. " Check out "My Blue Heaven," you'll see.

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There used to be LOTS of live-wires in American theater, and it was actually a social fact, it was one of the accepted personae in real life; seems like there were lots in Mark Twain, and in Sinclair Lewis novels. Kinda disappeared after the 60's. But Danny Kaye was a male version.
I never thought of that before. It's a marvellous insight. Some of the manic tap-dancers in 30s film musical fill this bill as well -- especially the chorus girls who grinned and grinned and tapped and tapped their little feet off, as if frantically trying to avoid getting fired and being thrown out onto the street.

Nowadays I guess we'd think about of bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or something like that.

I think it was possible to feel very fond of Betty Hutton without necessarily admiring the intensity she projected -- or even being able to stand it for very long. She seemed to try so hard. And she kept smiling. And that made her Annie Oakley, for instance, both vulnerable and sad in my book.

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She was great in 'Miracle of Morgan's Creek'--literally an original piece of performance. Also great in 'Annie', I thought. I liked Ethel better later in the TV version (with 'Old Fashioned Wedding'), but Hutton might have been better for the movie than Garland (that should have been Ethel too, though, shouldn't it? Almost anything should have, if it needed tough and hard)

What is terrible is that I thought she had been dead for 25 years. But I'm glad she hadn't, both for the obvious reasons and because it seems she did have some worthwhile years after the addiction period and did some good, if less glamorous, work.

I'm afraid I thought she was already gone, too. But she had a happy ending in a way, and that's good.

I think that if Garland had been in prime shape she might have been an interesting Annie, softer and more vulnerable. As it was, Hutton was fine, and it’s just as well Garland wasn’t able to pull herself together and stagger on – those photographs of her in costume for the role are some of the worst I’ve ever seen.

Hutton and Fred Astaire are an interesting contrast in “Let’s Dance."

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Some of the manic tap-dancers in 30s film musical fill this bill as well -- especially the chorus girls who grinned and grinned and tapped and tapped their little feet off, as if frantically trying to avoid getting fired and being thrown out onto the street.

In retrospect, there is a very "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" element to it, isn't there?

I think that if Garland had been in prime shape she might have been an interesting Annie, softer and more vulnerable. As it was, Hutton was fine, and it’s just as well Garland wasn’t able to pull herself together and stagger on – those photographs of her in costume for the role are some of the worst I’ve ever seen.

I think there is still some footage of Garland playing Annie in a few scenes before she was let go. I believe some of it was included in "That's Entertainment III" ("Doin' What Comes Naturally").

She still manages to make some magic, but she is obviously unwell. I think she had gotten to the point where she could at times still do well for three minutes like when she pulled it together for "Get Happy" in "Summer Stock" but it's pretty clear that she would not have made it through a full shooting schedule, especially without a familiar co-star and director like Kelly and Walters to support her like on "Summer Stock." (Actually, it reminds me of Andrew Lloyd Webber's comments that the real inspiration of "Evita" was Judy Garland.)

I think Hutton did pretty well with Annie. It's a difficult part to pull off well. I'm not sure that I've seen anyone really completely pull off. For me, it might have been Mary Martin who came closest (I've only heard the Merman recordings).

I do think that she's another of the many actresses who her best work with Preston Sturges. Surprisingly her manic performing style meshed beautifully with the Sturges. I think "Miracle of Morgan's Creek" is what she's going to be remembered for as time passes, and it's pretty heady stuff.

(that should have been Ethel too, though, shouldn't it? Almost anything should have, if it needed tough and hard)

Ethel never came across very well on screen, being Exhibit A of "Superstar on Broadway but TOO BIG FOR MOVIES." She was still okay in her younger years in films like "Alexander's Ragtime Band," but by the 1950s her personality and performance style was just way too much and her age never would have survived the close-ups for "Annie." She all but runs over Donald O'Connor in "You're Just in Love" in the film of "Call Me Madam" and it's not like Donald was ever Mr. Subdued and Restrained.

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Ethel never came across very well on screen, being Exhibit A of "Superstar on Broadway but TOO BIG FOR MOVIES." She was still okay in her younger years in films like "Alexander's Ragtime Band," but by the 1950s her personality and performance style was just way too much and her age never would have survived the close-ups for "Annie." She all but runs over Donald O'Connor in "You're Just in Love" in the film of "Call Me Madam" and it's not like Donald was ever Mr. Subdued and Restrained.

Except this is also true of Streisand, which is why she inhabits 'Hello, Dolly!', the dinosaur, as if it were a mere trifle. That's why I'm still one of the few glad she did the part--production too big for other ladies, including Carol Channing, who doesn't look so great on film in 'Thoroughly Modern Millie', only thing I can remember her in, and can't stand it. And I think most of Streisand's films are not big enough for her; her best performances are in the big ones (she was right about her labour of love 'Yentl', and she did pull it off), even if the movies are not so hot.

But then there are different kinds of 'big' in these performers, and I know mostly what you mean about Ethel in movies, although she is very funny in some of them (isn't she in 'Love Your Neighbor?' or some such nonsense?) However, can you seriously imagine what the world would be like without her in 'There's No Business Like Show Business'. I even like Monroe a lot in it, but there is no movie without Merman doing that song. It's so beautiful I could scream, and when I do watch it, I go around singing it for a few days, and as a result I always get a star hung on my dressing room...

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I was sad to hear about Betty Hutton. It's been several years since I last saw her version of Annie Get Your Gun, but I used to watch it all the time. I saw her in The Greatest Show on Earth fairly recently, which comes off as somewhat bizarre today (mainly due to the subplot involving Jimmy Stewart's character). I haven't seen "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek," but I'll look for it now.

Going back to Annie--I saw Reba McEntire in the role in 2001. That trip to New York was my birthday present for the year.

By the way, the scenes filmed with Judy Garland are on the DVD of the 1950 film, if anyone's interested.

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Regarding the casting of Annie Get Your Gun, someone once suggested that the singer/comedienne Betty Garrett would have been a strong choice to replace Judy Garland. (Garrett was under contract to M-G-M at the time.) I don't know if M-G-M ever gave serious consideration to Garrett since the blacklist of the time was about to snare her in its nets. (Her husband was Larry Parks.)

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Ethel Merman was notoriously inflexible--not a great thing for filmaking--and did the same performance year in and year out. In her obit she was quoted saying to Irving Berlin (or another songwriter) something like, "I won't change. It's set and frozen. Call me Miss Birds Eyes peas, if you like."

Yes, Bette Garrett or Mary Martin would have been great in Annie Get Your Gun, probably better than Bette (who I liked most in the Greatest Show on Earth with Cornel Wilde.)

Another "live wire" of early tv might have been Joan Davis of I Married Joan, a sort of "B" version of I Love Lucy (Jim Backus was the "I"; the car he faithfully came home in--for lunch and dinner--was a Kaiser-Fraser). She had big eyes and what they used to call a "horseface." Jerry Seinfeld has some of the same look.

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Another "live wire" of early tv might have been Joan Davis of I Married Joan [ ... ] She had big eyes and what they used to call a "horseface." Jerry Seinfeld has some of the same look.
Wow -- your right!

Believe it or not, this is still being shown on some rerun channel or other ... can't remember which. I stumbled on part of an episode of this (one of my childhood favorites) recently. I didn't listen very closely, but I think their friends were giving Joan a birthday party. All the women were dressed in those tight little suits, or in real dresses of the sort that seem to have disappeared entirely, and are wearing hats, and then men wore ties. Just like many Moms and Dad in suburbia in those days, at least at parties. I think the birthday cake exploded, but that just might have been what I wanted to see happen when I was a kid. :)

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There used to be LOTS of live-wires in American theater, and it was actually a social fact, it was one of the accepted personae in real life; seems like there were lots in Mark Twain, and in Sinclair Lewis novels. Kinda disappeared after the 60's. But Danny Kaye was a male version.

Interesting point, but I'd suggest that the live wire a/o eccentric performer hasn't gone away but just appears in different forms and venues -- standup comedy produces a lot of such types, for example, and, if the comedian is successful, thence to television or movies.

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Yes, Bette Garrett or Mary Martin would have been great in Annie Get Your Gun, probably better than Bette (who I liked most in the Greatest Show on Earth with Cornel Wilde.)

Mary Martin did the National Tour of "Annie Get Your Gun" during the original Broadway run, back in the 40s. It was filmed for TV with John Raitt, and she's quite wonderful in it. I think the album is still available, and it's actually my favorite of the ones available.

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Interesting point, but I'd suggest that the live wire a/o eccentric performer hasn't gone away but just appears in different forms and venues -- standup comedy produces a lot of such types, for example, and, if the comedian is successful, thence to television or movies.
It might be hard to tell a "live wire" nowadays from a run-of-the-mill comic performer. The rare ones are the subtles.

We're all so agitated, and few do it with artistry. Would Jim Carey be considered part of the distinguished "live wire" tradition?

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Stand-up, you're right -- they're chock-a-block over there. They had to go SOMEWHERE.

And yes, Bart, i'd say Jim Carey fits , as do Robin WIlliams in his more maniacal phases, and Jonathan Winters was one too.

in fact, in some ways, rap artists fit in here, too, since they're improvising at top speed and work at the edge of disaster, weaving freak thoughts into a network of rhymes that billow along and barely make sense.

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Stand-up, you're right -- they're chock-a-block over there. They had to go SOMEWHERE.

And yes, Bart, i'd say Jim Carey fits , as do Robin WIlliams in his more maniacal phases, and Jonathan Winters was one too.

in fact, in some ways, rap artists fit in here, too, since they're improvising at top speed and work at the edge of disaster, weaving freak thoughts into a network of rhymes that billow along and barely make sense.

Carrey (who is also a very good actor, better than Williams IMO) certainly qualifies. I’d put Jack Black in the same category.

It's notable that men dominate the category, highlighting how unusual Hutton was in her approach. It may be that some who were put off by her were affected not only by her "out there" quality but by her sex as well.

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It's notable that men dominate the category, highlighting how unusual Hutton was in her approach. It may be that some who were put off by her were affected not only by her "out there" quality but by her sex as well.
It can work the other way, as well. I prefer Hutton and Davis to the men because of the qualitiy of vulnerability I (at least) see in them. Carey, come to think of it, has it. Most of the other male "live wires" don't -- they tend to be one-note and often in your face. Robin Williams can switch to other levels, too, but I sometimes get the sense that he's turning to another chapter in the Acting Manual.
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In the female category, how about Rosie Perez?

The mania of these live wires is such a turn-off to me.

I think much has to do with the way we see performances. In the large vaudeville halls, you really needed that energy to project throughout the house. When we're watching actors on film -- and even more on tv (as papeetepatrick suggests vis-a-vis Merman) -- the force of the personality can feel like an assault. Those modern media require more intimacy, which never would have worked in vaudeville.

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