This 1945 Movie Really Has Nothing to Do with the Stork Club!

I decided to check out an older movie recently since I need a break from all these new and flashy movies that are out now. The plot of the Stork Club (1945) sounded interesting, and after watching I can definitely recommend it. Read on for more details.

Minor Plot Details
This black and white film starts with a older man walking along a bridge talking about something that happened there 40 years ago. He falls into the water and a young, pretty blonde, who was sunbathing nearby, dives in to save him. Judy assumes he is a homeless man and offers to help him get a job and he agrees to meet her later. We soon see this man is not broke in the least, in fact he is a millionaire, JB Bates, who's wife has just left him.

JB wants to repay Judy by "making her life beautiful". He is impressed that even though Judy is just a hat check girl at the Stork Club, she was willing to save his life and help him find work! He begins to anonymously help her out by sending her a charge account. That's real nice... at least until her boyfriend returns from overseas and wants to know who is giving her this money and why???

Actors
I can't really relate to older movie stars since I haven't seen that many older movies, so I'll just touch on the leads.

Betty Hutton played Judy, and she kind of reminded me of a little flashier version of Judy Garland. She was peppy, friendly and an overall good Samaritan. So her character teaches a lesson on helping people without expecting anything in return. She wants to help Pop get a job even though she'll get nothing out of it (at least she thinks she'll get nothing out of it)

Barry Fitzgerald played JB Bates. He was a funny older man and I thought his lines and the way he acted could be in a movie today. His jokes were silly, but just the same a lot of actors use silly lines like this today. He's a good man who just likes to help people with his money. What makes this character so great is that he wants to help but doesn't want Judy to know he's helping her. That's a lesson a lot of people in our century still need to learn! You don't help people just for the thanks, you help them for the simple fact that you are helping.

Driver: You're sneezing sir
JB: You don't say. (sneezes again)
Doorman: You're sneezing sir
JB: You know I figured that out for myself.

Iris Adrian plays Judy's friend, Gwen, who's a little more cynical than Judy and doesn't quite understand why Judy is willing to help this man so much.

Don DeFore plays Danny, her boyfriend, who shows up unexpectedly and is almost instantly jealous of the changes in her life.

Related to Today
I was surprised how much this plot and movie ended up relating to present day. Especially with the whole jealousy aspect. I mean if any boyfriend found out his girlfriend was suddenly in the money, he would certainly have questions! If this was remade today, I think it would be awesome, and very funny. It kind of reminds me of pretty woman but the plot is better because this girl had a good heart and just did a good deed.

My overall thoughts
This is a pretty funny movie for the time period. Sure I didn't laugh like crazy, but I couldn't help but giggle. Judy gets real excited when she first gets the money and goes on a spending spree just like many of us would. However also, just like any of us, she starts to worry and wonder who gave her this account and what they want from her. JB starts to get antsy when he sees Judy spending all this money and he's afraid soon he will be the homeless man she thinks he is! Then of course, there's the jealous boyfriend she has to deal with. The plot was pretty predictable and simple, but it was still a good story. These 3 main characters made it interesting enough that it was worth watching. You didn't know exactly what Judy was going to do from scene to scene, and you didn't know how long JB would let her believe where she thinks the money came from.

Like an episode of Three's Company, the movie is full of misunderstandings and bad circumstances that make everything just a mess. And just like one of those episodes, you wonder why everyone doesn't just explain everything and get rid of the misunderstandings! Of course, then the movie would end very early :) So if that kind of stuff annoys you, than you probably wouldn't want to watch this. However, I found it to be a refreshing, relaxing comedy.

You can tell the music and sound quality has lost some zing throughout the years and it could use some mild enhancing. They throw in some song and music performances so you could tell they are all great performers even with the bad sound issues. Take out these routines and the movie would be pretty short, so you can tell that the plot really isn't that complicated.

I enjoyed this movie and am now looking forward to more movies from this time period. Enjoy!!