Betty Hutton is a chorus girl hoping for a big break who is all of a sudden the target of the mob. She recounts her story for the gangsters (and the audience) of how she got involved. It includes lecherous producers, backers and a loyal boyfriend (Victor Mature), and features several wacky numbers, including a burlesque of "Hamlet" that refers to the story of Shakespeare's classic play with the lyrics, "And the name of this omelet is Hamlet!" (And you thought "Gilligan's Island"'s Hamlet parody was camp!) Typically, this "omelet" really could have laid an egg itself, but thanks to Hutton's vivacity (which everybody came to expect in her films), it doesn't. June Havoc ("Gypsy's" real-life Dainty June) plays a secondary role, an irony over the fact that Hutton later played her mother in a summer stock production of that classic Jule Style/Stephen Sondheim musical. Broadway's Frank Loesser, who later wrote songs for the gangsters of "Guys and Dolls", wrote the music for this, and plays a featured role.
Review of Red, Hot and Blue
