 |
| Betty Garrett in On the Town |
I was surprised to learn that Betty Garrett had been blacklisted in Hollywood along with her husband, Larry Parks. He had been called in front of the House of Un-American Activities Committee because of a past membership in the Communist party. Although Garrett wasn't asked to testify, both she and Parks felt the backlash of Hollywood's black list. But Garrett persevered and made herself a whole new career on television in the seventies.
I’ve loved Betty Garrett from the first time I saw her on film. I’m not sure if my initial admiration sprang from her comedic timing, great singing, or the fact that she always got her man (and her man was Frank Sinatra!). As I rewatched these two films again, I realized that another aspect of her character is probably what drew me – Betty Garrett was a strong woman and her character comes out in the kinds of characters she portrayed. You won’t find her as the helpless, fragile opera singer. She’s the kind of woman who knows what she wants and goes out to get it. I think my favorite line in On the Town is when the boys approach her cab and ask for a fare. They’re shocked to find that the driver is a woman (Garrett).
Chip (Sinatra) asks, “What’re you doing driving a cab? The war’s over.”
“I never give up anything I like,” Garrett says, her voice cool but sassy.
She definitely switches up the whole gender role process in the dating game, usually in contrast to the very traditional love story enacted by the two leads (Gabey and Ivy in On the Town; Eddie and Katherine in Take Me Out to the Ball Game). Let me do this movie by movie.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game was made in 1948 and released in 1949. It was the first time Garrett had been paired with Frank Sinatra, but he was not unaccustomed to being cast as the shy, nervous, inexperienced guy. But Betty is the powerhouse. From the outset we see her in the company of some big spenders (guys who turn out to be crooks and possibly mafiosi), where she holds her own. Then she falls for scrawny Dennis Ryan, the second baseman for the Wolves (nice play on words, by the way). She calls him a skinny little runt, but takes a kind of motherly interest in him when he gets hurt. After the game, they have a great duet when she chases him through the grandstand. “It’s Fate Baby, It’s Fate” is a great song that’s even better when Betty sings it. As Shirley, she knows at first sight that Denny is the guy for her, even if he hasn’t yet realized it. And I definitely didn’t catch the implications of this line until now:
 |
| "It's Fate, Baby!" |
Shirley: [to Dennis] You bad boy, I've got a good notion to take you on my knee.
Eddie: You mean over your knee, don't you?
Shirley: I know what I mean.
If anything, Shirley knows exactly what she means and what she’s after. That same spirit followed Betty Garrett into her next role as well, the one for which she is probably the best known – cab-driver Brunhilde Esterhazy in the 1949 musical On the Town. Brunhilde (or Hilde for short) sets her sights on Chip immediately; in fact, she probably only takes on the fare despite being off duty just because she likes how Chip looks in those fresh Navy whites.
 |
| "Come Up to My Place!" |
The more I watch On the Town, the more I love it. It’s really an ensemble film, with great performances from all of the players. Sure, Kelly and Vera-Ellen are the standout leads, but you can’t deny the funny and sweet romance between the innocent Chip and the wolfish Hilde. But she’s never too desperate or threatening. She’s just a woman who knows what she wants. There’s an undeniable chemistry between Sinatra and Garrett in this film, perhaps because it’s their second time working together. I adore their duet, “You’re Awful” as well as the classic “Come Up to My Place” (yup, that’s right – Garrett is the one trying to seduce Sinatra). What’s great is that Betty isn’t just there for comic relief or to overplay that stereotype of a woman-wanting-to-be-a-man. She’s playing a girl like any other, though more independent and forthright. Better still, she doesn’t want to do all the chasing, leading to a sort of give and take with Chip.
Although I have yet to see the film, I really want to watch Neptune’s Daughter. If you haven’t heard of it, I guarantee you know a song that was made famous in the picture. It’s a little duet called “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Now, in the movie, the male lead (Ricardo Montalban) is trying to seduce a woman he fancies (Esther Williams), and each takes the appropriate role (the script labels the parts as “wolf” and “mouse”). However, the song is later reprised with the second couple (Betty Garrett and Red Skelton), but with a role reversal where Garrett is again the wolf.
I think what it all really comes down to is charm and confidence, and Garrett has plenty of both. Her obituary called her a sunny singer and actress; sunny is definitely the word I’d pick too. I like this idea of a woman so self-assured that she has no problem doing the chasing. Her gumption reminds me a lot of Barbara Stanwyck and Katharine Hepburn, and reading further about her life makes me admire her more. I guess we’ll always be left wondering what would have happened if her career hadn’t halted in the 1950s, but I still feel very lucky to have grown up watching her in these films and hope to find more of her work soon. If you haven’t yet seen her, I recommend starting with On the Town and letting yourself enjoy the talent of such an extraordinary actress.
 |
| Betty Garrett and Esther Williams in Take Me Out to the Ball Game. |
Images are from Take Me Out to the Ball Game ( dir. Busby Berkeley, 1949, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) and On the Town (dir. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1949, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Loew's Incorporated). All rights belong to MGM.
No comments:
Post a Comment