Betty Hutton Film Festival to showcase Battle Creek's connection to Hollywood

Bill Broderick, Battle Creek Enquirer
·2 min read
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Betty Hutton became famous as a singer and an actress in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s.

But long before that, she was born in Battle Creek with dreams of making it big.

The Battle Creek Regional History Museum is telling her story and well as showing some of her movies as part of the Betty Hutton Film Festival, which will run over the next several weeks.

During the 1951 filming of a parade sequence in downtown Sarasota for the movie “The Greatest Show on Earth,” actresses Gloria Grahame, second from left, and Betty Hutton, are seen with director Cecil B. DeMille, who’s wearing a fedora and with his back to the camera.
During the 1951 filming of a parade sequence in downtown Sarasota for the movie “The Greatest Show on Earth,” actresses Gloria Grahame, second from left, and Betty Hutton, are seen with director Cecil B. DeMille, who’s wearing a fedora and with his back to the camera.

"The Battle Creek Regional History Museum has been trying to shed some light on some of the famous stars and entertainers that came from our city. In my mind, Betty Hutton is one of those stars as a film actress and a singer," said Michael Delaware of the Battle Creek Regional History Museum. "We wanted to celebrate her legacy and thought the best way to do that would be a film festival.

"It gives us a chance to celebrate a lady that came from Battle Creek and lived here as a young lady before making it big."

The Betty Hutton Film Festival starts Friday with a showing of the 1950 film "Let's Dance" at 7 p.m. The event will continue on Oct. 29 with a 1 p.m. showing of "The Greatest Show On Earth", a Nov. 10 showing of "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" at 7 p.m. and will finish on Nov. 17 with a 7 p.m. showing of "Dream Girl."

All movies are free admission with the museum accepting donations for the film festival.

"The films are all kind of special on their own and we will talk about them prior to each showing as well as talk about her," Delaware said.

Born as Elizabeth Thornburg in 1921, Hutton lived in Battle Creek until about the age of 8. She was later raised in Detroit by a single mother who worked at a speakeasy, which is where Hutton first began performing at a young age.

In 1940, Hutton was in two shows on Broadway and then relocated to Los Angeles in 1941 and was signed by Paramount Pictures. She also had numerous singles as a singer for Capital Records. After several movies, she also had a television show called 'The Betty Hutton Show" from 1959-60.

"She was a very fascinating woman and had a fascinating life," Delaware said. "This is just another way to share some information and get excited about the people that came from our town."

Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick.

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Betty Hutton Film Festival to showcase Battle Creek-born movie star