Any die-hard William Talman fans may blow a gasket waiting for "Perry Mason" actor William Talman to appear in John Farrow's screwball comedy "Red, Hot, and Blue," co-starring William Demarest, June Havoc, and Frank Loesser. Talman plays a smooth as silk mobster who wants to produce a Broadway play. He invites Eleanor Collier (Betty Hutton), a young, naïve, wannabe actress from Ohio, to his apartment to discuss a role in his proposed forthcoming play. Incidentally, Bob Hope once called Hutton "a vitamin with legs," and his assessment is painfully accurate. Eleanor makes nothing but trouble for her boyfriend, Danny James (Victor Mature of "Kiss of Death"), who is trying to launch a play he has been rehearsing for stage. William Demarest is cast as Eleanor's agent; Danny and he don't see eye to eye about Eleanor's career. Meantime, Hutton is loud, obnoxious, and never seems to shut up as she barrels through this romantic farce with the screws coming loose. No matter how many times Danny and Eleanor break up, they wind up back in each other's arms, only to break up again. Seems Hutton had gone to see Talman when a mysterious assassin interrupted them and shot him dead on the spot with a silenced pistol. Bunny's hired guns henchmen kidnap Hutton, and this half-baked crime comedy occurs largely in flashback. Mind you, there are some amusing moments, although William Shakespeare might spin in his grave at the silly version of "Hamlet" that Mature's song and dance troupe perform for prospective Broadway producers. Personally, the best way to survive this fast-paced nonsense is to mute Hutton when she turns into a brassy bombshell.
Review of Red, Hot and Blue
