Somebody Loves Me
Cast & Crew
Irving Brecher
Betty Hutton
Ralph Meeker
Robert Keith
Adele Jergens
Billie Bird
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In 1906, in a San Francisco cabaret, young, enthusiastic performer Blossom Seeley struggles to impress her drunken audience, and is advised by an older patron to sing more softly. Blossom instead belts out her next number, but is interrupted by the shaking of a powerful earthquake. During the rumbling, the old man gives Blossom his calling card, and she is stunned to discover he is famous theatrical producer "Pop" Grauman. Later, after the city begins to recover, Blossom prepares for her appearance in one of Pop's vaudeville shows. Just before the opening, however, the show's haughty star, Nola Beech, demands she be given Blossom's best number. Blossom protests Nola's selfishness to no avail, but as Nola is singing the number, Blossom's friend, former stripper Essie, coaxes the show's chimpanzee to eat a banana on the train of Nola's dress. The audience roars with laughter, and after Nola storms off, humiliated, Blossom takes her place. Performing with her characteristic liveliness, Blossom is a hit, and her career takes off. After World War I, the now-wealthy Blossom tells her agent, Sam Doyle, that she wants to incorporate other performers in her act so she can change costumes between numbers. Sam is reluctant to alter Blossom's successful act, but accompanies her to Hoboken, New Jersey, to hear the trio Forrest, Lake and Fields. Blossom is immediately attracted to the trio's young singer, Benny Fields, and offers to hire the three for her new Broadway revue. Neil Forrest and Harry Lake jump at the chance, but Benny, aware of Blossom's infatuation with him, acts nonchalant. Blossom's revamped show is a hit, but Forrest and Lake infuriate the singer when they insist on performing their own encore. After Blossom upbraids them for overstepping their bounds, Forrest and Lake quit in protest. Benny then becomes Blossom's accompanist, using her affections for him to his own advantage. One night, after Benny tricks her into singing "Jealous" for her encore, Blossom finally explodes in frustration. Just as Blossom is about to fire him, however, Benny proposes marriage. Blossom accepts, and the husband-and-wife team play many concert dates. Eventually, Blossom's voice gives out, and she realizes she must stop singing and take a vacation. While Blossom is recuperating at a resort, Benny overhears some men in his New York barbershop discussing gigolos. Recognizing himself in their comments, Benny bolts from the shop and announces to Sam that he is going to see Blossom. Blossom is delighted by Benny's unexpected visit, until he informs her that he is leaving her. Benny explains that while he did not love her when they married, he has since fallen in love and wants to prove himself as a man. Though heartbroken, Blossom accepts Benny's promise that he will return to her once he has made a name for himself. Benny's solo career does not take off, however, and Blossom, mourning his absence, quits her latest Broadway show. One day, while Benny is appearing in a dreary San Francisco vaudeville house, playing a stooge, Sam, who is deeply concerned about Blossom's mental and financial state, visits and lectures him about being a good husband. Taking Sam's words to heart, Benny returns to Blossom and declares that he is quitting show business. Blossom convinces him to find a good style instead and offers to coach him, agreeing that she will not use her influence to get him a job once he is ready to perform. Blossom then shows Benny how to spice up his singing with some dance steps and a hat and cane. Despite Blossom's rigorous training, Benny searches fruitlessly for a job until an old friend of Blossom's hires him to sing in his Chicago club. On opening night, Benny's joyous anticipation turns to anger when he learns that Blossom made an agreement with the club's owner to go on if Benny's act was a flop. Benny confronts Blossom and she confesses that she did indeed get him the job. Enraged, Benny vows to be a hit just to spite her, then puts on a dazzling show. When Sam tells Benny that Blossom had been planning all along to quit show business if Benny were a hit, however, Benny forgives her and invites her onstage for his encore. After Blossom announces she is retiring to become "Mrs. Benny Fields," she and Benny sing "Somebody Loves Me" and kiss.
Director
Irving Brecher
Cast
Betty Hutton
Ralph Meeker
Robert Keith
Adele Jergens
Billie Bird
Henry Slate
Sid Tomack
The Chez Paree Adorables
Jack Benny
Ludwig Stossel
Sydney Mason
Irene Martin
Virginia Hall
Jill Jackson
Harry Rose
Robert Carney
Jeni Le Gon
Bea Allen
Les Clark
Jock Casasus
Donald Kerr
Howard Joslin
Jimmie Dundee
Ralph Sanford
Jack Bruce
George Chandler
Henry Tyndall
Harris Brown
John Sheehan
John Brown
Lester Dorr
Franklyn Farnum
Karl E. Miller
June Mccall
Tito Vuolo
Julius Aicardi
Hal K. Dawson
Joe Mell
Herbert Vigran
Fred Sherman
Kenneth R. Macdonald
Milton Parsons
Ralph Montgomery
Jim Hope
Anthony Marsh
Carli Elinor
Vivian Mason
Lillian Porter
Louise Saraydar
Norman Leavitt
Gus Taillon
Charles O'curran
Jerry James
Benny Baker
Dick Ryan
John Trebach
Nick Adams
James Cross
Len Hendry
James Cornell
Richard H. Gordon
Charles Quirk
Sue Casey
Jack Richardson
Crew
Gus Arnheim
George Barnes
Frank Bracht
Irving Brecher
Vincent P. Bryan
J. Will Callahan
Grant Clarke
N. J. Clesi
Herb Coleman
Sam Comer
John Cope
Henry Creamer
B. G. Desylva
Ross Dowd
Ray Evans
Benny Fields
Dick Finch
Arthur Freed
George Gershwin
E. Ray Goetz
Hugo Grenzbach
Doane Harrison
Edith Head
Earl Hedrick
Art Hickman
Gertrude Hoffman
Arthur Jacobson
Gordon Jennings
Arthur Johnston
Isham Jones
Joe Jordan
J. Turner Layton
Joseph J. Lilley
Jack Little
Jay Livingston
Abe Lyman
Ballard Macdonald
Tommie Malie
George W. Meyer
Pat Morgan
Gus Mueller
Richard Mueller
William Mull
Charles Newman
Emil Newman
Charles O'curran
Hal Pereira
William Perlberg
Lee G. Roberts
George Seaton
Blossom Seeley
A. Baldwin Sloane
Roy Turk
Wally Westmore
Harry Williams
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
As noted in the onscreen credits, Somebody Loves Me was suggested by the careers of Blossom Seeley and Benny Fields. In an August 1952 Los Angeles Times interview, Seeley and Fields, who served as technical advisors on the picture, claimed that the story was "99 3/4% accurate." Seeley (1891-1974) started in vaudeville at the age of ten, making a name for herself singing and dancing in an animated, sultry style. In 1911, she opened on Broadway with Lew Fields, a vaudevillian with whom she teamed for many years. Her first two husbands, who are not mentioned in the film, were theatrical manager Joseph Kane, whom she divorced in 1913, and Hall of Fame pitcher Rube Marquard. In 1921, Seeley saw Benny Fields [no relation to Lew] (1894-1959) at an inn in Chicago (not New Jersey, as depicted in the film), performing in the trio Fields, Davis & Salisbury. Seeley and Fields began performing together and, in 1922, married.
As depicted in the film, despite being part of a duo, Seeley was always billed as the star of the act. In 1936, after Fields had established a successful solo career, Seeley dropped out of show business in deference to her husband. Seeley and Fields, who is often described as the original "crooner," appeared together in the 1933 independent film Mr. Broadway (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40). Mr. Broadway was Seeley's final feature; Fields had roles in two other films, including the starring role in PRC's 1944 release Mr. Minstrel Man (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1941-50). According to the Los Angeles Times interview, Seeley and Fields recorded the musical numbers for Somebody Loves Me so that Hutton could study Seeley's style. Modern sources note that Seeley came out of retirement to make these recordings, which were released commercially, and then performed live with Fields at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles. Seeley and Fields also performed on television many times, becoming regulars on The Ed Sullivan Show. "Somebody Loves Me" was one of Seeley's signature songs.
Somebody Loves Me marked Jack Benny's first feature film appearance since a guest role in the 1946 RKO release Without Reservations (see AFI Catalog of Feature films, 1941-50). Paramount borrowed Ralph Meeker from M-G-M for the role of "Benny." Modern sources state that Hutton wanted Frank Sinatra for the role but was overruled because Sinatra's career was in a decline at the time. Choreographer Charles O'Curran, who also appears in the picture as a French soldier, was Hutton's husband at the time of production. Although The Greatest Show on Earth, which co-starred Hutton , had its national release shortly after Somebody Loves Me, Somebody Loves Me marked Hutton's last major film, although her final screen role was in the 1957 United Artists release Spring Reunion . According to modern sources, Hutton terminated her contract at Paramount in 1952 because the studio refused to give in to her demand that O'Curran be allowed to direct her pictures. A Hollywood Reporter news item adds Eddie Borden to the cast, but his appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. On April 27, 1953, Hutton appeared in a Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the story, co-starring Gene Barry.
