Customer Reviews

The Perils of Pauline [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Once again, Betty Hutton plays a show girl whose talent overshadows her grouchy, envious boyfriend, making him cold and rejecting. (A device also used in "The Stork Club" and "Annie Get Your Gun"...) This time, she portrays silent movie actress Pearl White, star of the popular "Perils Of Pauline" cliffhanger serial adventures... The role is mainly dramatic, and though Frank Loesser is the film's songwriter, Hutton only gets in two good numbers before the schmaltz sets in. But what doozies they are! "Rumble Rumble Rumble," about an upstairs neighbor who plays the piano all night long, is a charming novelty song. Hutton's comedic inflection is better on the studio version (heard on Capitol's "Spotlight" collection), but it's a gas seeing her singing it live on film. She also really seems to enjoy herself a lot on "Papa Don't Preach To Me," a full-on dance number with a legion of smoothies in top hat and tails whirling her around... Hutton positively beams as she closes the number, knowing that she nailed the take, hands down. The film itself is a straightforward melodrama and once again her leading man, John Lund, plays a guy who is a real pill (...those uptight '40s "real men" characters really bug me somehow). The ending, in which a recently paralyzed Pearl still manages to rush to the train station to meet her man, is as preposterous as the Pauline serials the movie satirizes. Still, the film does give a nice glimpse at the early, early, early years of Hollywood, and the ramshackle, seat-of-their-pants production style of the one-reeler studios, and the film's scenes, which play with the transition of film from silent to sound, are pretty clever. Also, check out William Demarest as the grouchy director who makes White a star -- a role that was tailormade for his talents. Not the greatest film ever, but it has its charms.

Betty Hutton does it again! In one of her very best films, Hutton portrays silent film star Pearl White in a highly fictionalized and romanticized account of White's career. Beginning with her early days as a seamstress, to her tagging along with an amateur theatre group to the famed "Perils of Pauline" series, Hutton is so much fun to watch as her energetic performance steals scene after scene. White has romantic pangs for an uptight actor (John Lund) whose affections go unreturned until film's end, providing the show with a trademark musical happy ending. And what a songbook! Betty is great with her upbeat, staccato "Bob-bin' and bob-bin' and bob-bin" to the rhythm of a sewing machine, and the whole film is worth the boisterously delightful "Rumble, rumble, rumble" which Betty performs with gusto atop a piano. And she is charming with her sad romantic ballad, "I Wish I Didn't Love You So". If you're a Betty Hutton fan, or if you just love a great laugh or a great show, "The Perils of Pauline" is well worth every cent!

Betty Hutton, John Lund, and Billy De Wolfe chew a lot of scenery in this Paramount Technicolor musical broadly based on the life of Famed Silent Screen Serial Heroine Pearl White. We see Pearl(Betty Hutton) in her first clumsy attemts at stage acting when she joins the cast of a small time repetory company in the early 1900's, run by John Lund's Character. Billy DeWolfe as one of the company's players adds his acerbic wit and sarcasm to the proceedings. Pearl is in love with Lund's Character, and is tne only one in the Repetory company who becomes famous, when she gets involved in the Perils of Pauline Series. We see a montage of the scrapes her Character Pauline gets into and how, after she has achieved fane, she helps revive the career of her long time love, Lund, when she rescues him from a career as a Side show Barker, and discovers DeWolfe's character has become a Hobo. Of course, as often happens in Stage door muiscals, one character overwhelms the career of their beloved and must eventually decide what is more important, thier career or their love. In this case Pearl becomes famous as a Night Club performer in France, and Broadway eclipsing Lund's Character. When she is injures her legs in an accident it is her love of Lund's character and his love of Pearl that eventually unites them at the end of the film. The film is a Technicolor confection, with good Photography, effects and Art Direction. Yet it is a minor film in the Hutton canon never equaling her performances in "The Miracle at Morgan's Creek", or "Annie Get your Gun", yet it is entertaining giving intersting glimpses of the Silent Movie business, and features some of the Original Mack Sennet Keystone Kop's performers.

The Perils Of Pauline is a classic Hollywood musical comedy starring the multi-talented Betty Hutton, ably supported by a memorable cast which included John Lund and William Demarest. A fictionalized biography of Pearl White who began her career as a seamstress in a New York City Sweatshop, only to stumble into an acting career with a little troop of traveling players, then eventually (and accidentally!) stumble into a silent screen film career. Along the way are to be found true love, heartache, humor, and truly great musical numbers that have totally stood the test of time. This 96 minute musical comedy is a welcome, inexpensive, entertaining, and highly recommended addition to any personal or community library video movie collection!

The Perils of Pauline is a silent movie serial of 1914, followed by second serial in 1934, and finally the movie was made in 1947 starring Betty Hutton (1-3). Pearl White (Betty Hutton) stars as a working girl in a clothing factory. She sings while working and dreams of becoming a star someday. It is a typical story in which the boss hits on the little girl, and girl smacks him, and when she is about to be fired, she meets the famed stage actress Julia Gibbs (Constance Collier). Pearl reveals to Julia that she is her fan, and Julia invites her to audition for "The Farrington Players" a Shakespearian play. Although Pearl is a novice at acting, Michael "Mike" Farrington (John Lund) offers the role reluctantly. While working at the theater she falls in love with Mike, but at the same time the career of Pearl takes her to places and several opportunities in both movie and theater makes her a big star. When Pearl wants to Marry Mike, he has change of heart since Pearl is famous and he doesn't want to be married to a star. They take different ways but after many years of fame and fortune they get back together with a lot of help from Julia and George McGuire (William Demarest).

Betty is known for her work on Broadway and her early song, "The Sewing Machine", is nice, and "Rumble, Rumble, Rumble" is the highlight of the movie. Betty Hutton passed away on March 11, 2007 at the age of 86 in Palm Springs, California. Betty had a tumultuous life. After four unsuccessful marriages and three daughters she had problems with alcohol and controlled substances, which resulted in nervous breakdown. She is known to have attempted suicide after losing her singing voice in 1970. In her later life, she became a Roman Catholic and taught acting at Salve Regina University at New Port, RI, and prior to that she worked as a cook and housekeeper in a rectory. It is sad to know that none of her three estranged daughters attended her funeral.

The Perils of Pauline is an outstanding piece of work, and every fan becomes captivated by the beauty, passion, independence, and sheer determination of Pearl White. I recommend this DVD very highly to all fans of Betty Hutton, it is a great tribute.

1. Perils of Pauline (1914 Serial)
2. Perils of Pauline-12 Episodes
3. Perils of Pauline

This is a good buy, provided you love Betty Hutton. Otherwise, you might be greatly frustrated by her extremely physical and robust comedy style. She is about as sincere on screen as Carmen Miranda, Red Skelton and Danny Kaye put together, but never as graceful as Lucille Ball, let alone some of the drawingroom comediennes of the period. The quality of the DVD transfer is so-so, basically not bad, but never anything like the restored Gone With The Wind. There are no extras.
I can't escape the feeling that this film could have been so much better, since it at its best comes (subjectwise) close to "Singing in the Rain", but in spite of all the action and (unnecessary) drama sequences, this still is ONLY a Miss Hutton vehicle.

This musical comedy emphasizes the comedy. Yes, there is melodrama, but the movie is at least 70% comedy, I think. An example

"The President is calling a special session of Congress to declare war on Germany."

"War? That's horrible."

"You said it. Now we gotta rewrite the last six episodes."

Not very historically accurate, but who cares? If you want that, watch a documentary. A total Betty Hutton vehicle The love story is sweet and there are a number of cameos from old silent film stars. The songs are... I don't know... jazzy?

Haven't seen the DVD yet, but the VHS print I have doesn't look too good. Still, it's one of my all-time favorite movies, and I think it's worth a watch.

I had enjoyed Betty Hutton's and William Demarest's performances so much in "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" that I was naturally drawn to "The Perils of Pauline" where the two were reunited in starring roles. The film is fast moving, breezy and exudes a certain level of charm in its fun, nostalgic presentation of the classic silent movie serials. Hutton is very good in her teary-eyed portrayal of Pearl White, (Pauline) and gives a spirited, if not over the top performance, particularly in the song sequences. The Frank Loesser songs are quite memorable as well, one even being nominated for an Academy Award. Billy DeWolfe is very enjoyable as the requisite kooky but good-hearted sidekick, especially when playing the teeth-gnashing villain in the filmed serials. Demarest seems a bit on the subdued side, particularly after seeing him in several Sturges pictures just prior to this one. John Lund also seems to walk through this picture, stiff as a stuffed shirt, (which, to be fair, is the nature of his character) but, unfortunately, Lund carries that rigidity over into his warmer more sincere moments as well, implying perhaps that the direction on this picture was slightly less than stellar. Overall this film clearly drives home the point that MGM and Fox led the way when it came to big, Technicolor musicals of this era. And, speaking of Technicolor, I need to mention that this transfer is actually quite "contrasty" and somewhat soft compared to other musicals of the era out on DVD. I also notice a good bit of digital "monkeying" with the picture, notably at the end of scenes and through the transitions when the picture would actually slow down, strobe or even freeze frame for a moment sometimes with a jarring and annoying effect. I would suspect that this transfer to DVD may have been made from a "dupe" print and the sub standard quality of the picture had a somewhat negative effect on my overall enjoyment of this otherwise sweet little musical comedy.

I do not know what others have noticed, but the original Perils of Pauline is very entertaining. However, this version is not the original. This version from Synergy Archive removes about 30 minutes from the original. For anyone that has seen the original this is robbery!!!! Do not buy this version, hold out for the full-length movie.

The Perils of Pauline is loosely based on the life of serial queen Pearl White (Betty Hutton), the girl who constantly triumphed against the villians, but only after many suspenseful stunts. She begins as a seamstress who breaks into the theater by accident. She proves to be too unprofessional for the stage and accidentally falls into the movies (where Snub Pollard and Chester Conklin make appearances). There she finds real fame doing dangerous stunts but longing for the man who antagonized her so much in the theater.

Somehow I can't imagine that White behaved this way, but Hutton certainly did, and she is the attraction here anyway. It really doesn't matter whether the biographical information is correct because the movie itself is so much fun.

There are several songs in the film, and Hutton shines in them, as musical performances were her true forte. First is "The Sewing Machine," an ode to the appliance that women were strapped to at the early part of the century. Next is her most animated and funny performance; she sings "Rumble, Rumble, Rumble" in a typical and great manner. "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" was nominated for an Academy award. It is slow, romantic and beautiful. Last is "Papa Don't Preach to Me," a lesser song in many ways, but very upbeat and showy.