Strictly G.I.

You can find this gem on Turner Classic Movies. Released when more than 2 more years of WWII lie ahead, this is great time capsule from those dark days. Bob Hope is not one of all-time favorites, but he's in top form here, as the radio emcee for 3 of Hollywood's hottest starlets of the time: Betty Hutton, Lana Turner & Judy Garland. Betty is up first, and is unbelievably dynamic in belting out a rousing "Murder, He Said"--this is absolutely top-notch, a show stealer. Next up is Lana, with some brief comic banter with Bob. Finally, it's Judy with a very nice version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" (did she ever do any other kind in those days?) It will be a matter of blind luck if you catch this little gem on TCM, but I trust that, like me, you will be glad that you did.

This short film was made for the troops serving abroad in order to bolster their spirits. It consists of Bob Hope emceeing a broadcast with Betty Hutton, Lana Turner and Judy Garland.

The best thing about this short, by far, is getting to see and hear Judy Garland singing "Over the Rainbow"...a true classic that melts your heart. The portion with Hutton is simply Hutton doing what she always does...singing VERY loudly and with lots of energy. I know she was popular...but I never particularly enjoyed her musical stylings! And as for Lana, she did not (naturally) sing but traded barbs with Hoppe.

Overall, this is a nice historical time capsule--letting us see some of the top stars of the day doing their part to help the troops.

If you catch this on TCM between movies, watch it and enjoy. Seeing Betty Hutton sing Murder, He Said is amazing. I pity anyone that would have to follow her. They say you never want to follow kids or dogs on stage, but it should be you never want to follow Betty Hutton.

Bob Hope does his usual good job as emcee and Lana Turner looks good bantering with Hope. Judy Garland finishes with Somewhere Over The Rainbow and it's interesting to contrast her with Hutton.

Over at The Annie Get Your Gun message board, there's always the debate about whether Garland would have been better than Hutton as Annie. My opinion is that the role called for a big voice like Hutton's and while I admire Garland, Hutton was perfect. This short is a way to compare their styles and make your own decision.

Only 13 minutes long, this is a real gem. Hutton's performance alone will blow you away.

Strictly G.I. (1943)

*** (out of 4)

Bob Hope hosts this filmed broadcast of "Command Performance", which also features Betty Hutton, Lana Turner and Judy Garland. I'd be lying if I said I was a big fan of Hope but he's very funny in this short and Hutton sings a great version of Murder, He Said. Garland sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".

Turner Classic Movies shows this every once in a while so if you're a fan of the cast then you should certainly keep your eyes open. Hopefully Warner will get around to releasing this one day on one of their box sets.

The version I watched on YouTube had a few extra audio clips (accompanied with stills and film from elsewhere) of what the rest of the radio broadcast was like when originally aired live: Bob Hope, the host, also introed an African-American singing group called The Charioteers and Jimmy Durante who did some banter with Hope before singing a song with his trademark asides. Those were pretty entertaining but it's easy to see why the likes of Betty Hutton-singing "Murder, He Says"-Lana Turner-mentioning a steak for dinner which gets brought out by the military guards during her time with Bob-and Judy Garland-belting her signature song, "Over the Rainbow", as well as also doing a couple of sketches with Hope with him impersonating Charles Boyer and James Cagney, a segment also not in the film version-are the ones preserved: they're charming eye candy for the men in uniform though they're also classy ladies while being so. So on that note, I highly recommend this version of Strictly G.I. P.S. This is the first of a series of Betty Hutton film appearances I'm reviewing for the next several weeks.