Satins and Spurs

Betty Hutton was one of those rare stars for whom an original television musical was written. There are few others, Julie Andrews with Cinderella, Bing Crosby with High Tor and Frank Sinatra in Our Town. That's a mighty select company for Betty do be in.

Sad to say Satins and Spurs did not quite measure up to these efforts. Betty basically hauls out her Annie Get Your Gun character with a little of Calamity Jane thrown in for good measure. Even the songs that Jay Livingston and Ray Evans wrote for the score sound like they were heavily influenced by what Irving Berlin had written for his show. And Berlin's songs were a lot better.

I think the problem was Betty was too large a personality for the small screen. She overwhelms the story which is about a rodeo performer who attracts the attention of a Life Magazine photographer, first as a subject and then as romantic interest. The problem is we don't know where one leaves off and the other begins. Hutton also overwhelms Kevin McCarthy and the rest of the cast.

McCarthy actually sings a contrapuntal duet song with Hutton, the kind that Irving Berlin made famous. I'm not sure, but that might not have been McCarthy's singing voice. Of course back in those days that would have been scandal. Such an incident nearly sank Mario Lanza's career.

Satins and Spurs was much ballyhooed and then it was much lampooned. Seen over 50 years later, it's not a terribly bad effort. But it might better have been done on the big screen just as Bing Crosby's High Tor should have been. And maybe with a real singing co-star.

After abruptly leaving Paramount, Betty Hutton decided to try her luck on a live TV musical on NBC. This was one of the few productions to be broadcast in color at the time but only a black-and-white kinescope exists of this now. She plays a rodeo star being photographed for Life magazine by Kevin McCarthy. He tries to change her but then falls for her as she is. The songs are by Jay Livingston & Ray Evans and Betty knocks the park out of many of them including one that mentions the new sound called Rock 'n' Roll! Yes, her personality can be overwhelming but if you like her that way, this should be enjoyable enough for her fans. So on that a note, Satins and Spurs should be worth a look. P.S. Her hubby of the time, Charles O'Curran, was one of the directors.

Few people will remember this rather incredible production, advertised at the time as the "first" 90-minute color television "spectacular." A big, splashy, Broadway type musical comedy starring the incomparable Betty Hutton in a role not that far removed from the character she played in "Annie Get Your Gun." How could it miss?

Well, it missed about as big as a "special" could miss. First, the nation, per TV Guide at the time, tuned in to see color on their black and white sets. Angry, disappointed, the show itself was overlooked and apparently many tuned it out. Critics lambasted the entire production as a cartoon with songs to fill in the slow spots. Betty Hutton was criticized the most, deemed to be "working too hard" and not in good voice. It was a disaster and certainly another nail in the coffin that was becoming Hutton's career.

The original cast recording on a 10 inch RCA vinyl documents the above, but it also documents an often amazing vocal performance by Betty Hutton who belted the tunes out of the ball park as always. The songs were somewhat reminiscent of "Annie Get Your Gun," particularly a duet sung with Kevin McCarthy. If anyone wants to know what was so special about Hutton, why you cannot get away from any of her songs, why she was one of the great "actresses" on record, this is the soundtrack. I do not remember much about the show itself, telecast only once in 1954, but I bought the soundtrack back then and still have a pristine copy and have played it again and again. Just listen to how Hutton "reads" the words and how you are able to visualize much of the action. Her voice was a bit ragged around the edges because she had just had vocal surgery two years earlier and clearly, this being a "live" production, she had little control over the state of her voice at any given minute. But still, it is 100% Hutton and it just doesn't get much better than that. I am not aware that NBC ever released this on any media. But the recording is there and another time capsule of what was once Betty Hutton

To add a note: I bought a copy of the kinescope of Satins and Spurs where the picture is not good but the sound is passable. Quite a trip to relive this unique production and see how hard Betty worked. Following the "show," she comes on screen and introduces the cast and thanks everyone - just like closing night on Broadway.